Letters: The Pitfalls of Evaluating Teachers

Re "Curious Grade for Teachers: Nearly All Pass" (front page, March 31):

What your article calls "curious" is, sadly, not very surprising.

A new generation of teacher evaluation systems has emerged since we published our 2009 report "The Widget Effect," which documented how the old systems labeled nearly all teachers "satisfactory" and encouraged school districts to treat them like interchangeable parts. But while policy can change overnight, changing the culture of schools and districts is more complex.

America's schools have been largely inattentive to differences in teacher effectiveness for decades. Today, most teachers remain unaccustomed to receiving anything less than above-average evaluation ratings.

Most principals have never before been asked to assess teacher effectiveness so rigorously. Many education leaders continue to resist the very notion that some teachers perform better than others. So it should come as no surprise that many districts and states are struggling against rating inflation and other challenges as they begin instituting better systems.

The answer is not to throw up our hands but to acknowledge that eradicating the widget effect requires a shift in perspective and everyday practice — one that demands not just smarter policies but also strong training, effective oversight and, critically, courage and resolve.

TIMOTHY DALY
New York, April 2, 2013

The writer is president of TNTP, a national nonprofit organization that consults with school districts and states to improve teacher effectiveness.

To the Editor:

Most evaluations comprise a single, 20-minute observation of classroom activity once a year and one meeting. What about other important parts of good teaching: composing a lesson, creating an evaluation, collaborating with other members of a department or grade-level team, reviewing what worked and what didn't?

In many schools, teachers all know one another's strengths and weaknesses from working together every day and from the caliber of students they pass on to one another. They compare projects, approaches, assignments, tests and quizzes, and how their children are doing.

Schools need master teachers to do this kind of in-depth evaluation: talented, midcareer professionals, willing to step away from their own classrooms after years of teaching, who have the skill and experience to help their peers improve and to identify who needs to go.

ALEX PEARSON
Director of Technology
The Episcopal Academy
Newtown Square, Pa., March 31, 2013

To the Editor:

Why is it surprising that so many teachers are rated effective even with new evaluation systems in place?

In New York City, half of the teachers hired leave the profession within five years because of the demands of the job. How many bad teachers remain?

When I was a new teacher, all my supervisors had more than 20 years of classroom experience. Observations were done at least six times a year, and new teachers were critiqued rigorously, yet the feedback received was reasonable, instructive and intended to help us develop the skills necessary to thrive in an inner-city school. It was not the method of evaluation that mattered; it was the skill of the evaluator.

In our current system, many administrators have little or no actual teaching experience so "reformers" seek new, "objective" evaluation methods rather than using the wisdom and experience of one generation to help advance the next one.

ALAN ETTMAN
Bronx, March 31, 2013

The writer teaches English at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx.

To the Editor:

We need to take one step back when "grading" teachers and consider two critical factors.

First, children and young adults spend much more time out of school than in school between 5 and 18. So it isn't fair that teachers should be held fully responsible for what students learn.

Second, teachers are the only helping profession that does not start the evaluation process with a look at their professional practice. In every other helping profession, the professional's practice is considered first before judging the outcome of their practice. Doctors are not responsible for the death of a patient if their professional practice is deemed appropriate and effective.

Teachers should be given the same professional respect. They should not be held solely responsible for student achievement if their professional practice was deemed appropriate and effective.

DAN LORITZ
Senior Fellow and President
Center for Policy Studies
Lake Elmo, Minn., March 31, 2013

To the Editor:

Your article advances the idea that costly teacher evaluation systems are required to remove ineffective teachers. But according to the article, only 5 percent of teachers are supposed to be ineffective. Are all of the effort, money and testing worth it? What if we focused on engaging the other 95 percent with effective teaching and learning environments?

For example, teachers can be more effective if they have the means to modify curriculums, instruction, assessments and policy to meet the needs of their students. Effective learning environments emphasize the use of student projects and portfolios — not standardized tests — as indicators of student growth. At the core of any worthwhile evaluation system is teacher stewardship.

GAMAL SHERIF
Communications Coordinator
Teachers Lead Philly
Philadelphia, March 31, 2013

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