Proposals going to legislators and the governor today suggest giant steps for education reform . . . and a big challenge to teachers' unions.
By 2015-16, a new report recommends, half of a teacher’s evaluation should be based on classroom practices and half on students' test scores.
A Lansing group, the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness, recommends a new teacher evaluation approach that it developed over two years and tried in 13 districts. Free Press education writer Chastity Pratt Dawsey describes what's proposed:
Michigan’s teachers could soon see their jobs hinge on how well they perform for trained observers and on their students’ growth on tests under a sweeping proposal being submitted to the Legislature and Gov. Rick Snyder. . . .
The council, a state-appointed panel of education experts, is recommending that by 2015-16, half of a teacher’s evaluation should be based on classroom practices and the other half on student growth as determined by scores on tests. The panel also is recommending that a teacher be dismissed after two years of ineffective ratings. . . .
Evaluations for teachers in subjects that are not tested — such as art and music — must take into account other factors such as student portfolios and locally determined measures, the council said. . . .
Teacher evaluation ratings would not be publicized.
Michigan teachers now can be booted only if rated ineffective for three straight years, and evaluations don't hinge on student growth.
The new system also would apply to superintendents, principals and assistant principals. They and classroom educators would be rated “professional,” “provisional” or “ineffective,” Jennifer Chambers writes in The Detroit News.
The recommendation for a teacher tenure law change sets the stage for a possible fight.
Nancy Knight, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Education Association, said . . . any new process the state adopts should employ multiple measures.
“We want a workable teacher evaluation system that increases teacher effectiveness and supports ongoing professional learning,” she said.
The independent council's full recommendations are in this 152-page report.
