The Echo

Published Online: January 27, 2011


Tennessee Teacher Evaluation System Still Lacks Specifics 6 Months Before Launch

By Julie Hubbard, The Tennessean, Nashville (MCT)

A new teacher evaluation system is set to kick in across the state in six months, even though parts of it haven't been written and principals haven't been trained how to use it.

Tennessee's legislature passed it a year ago as part of an education reform initiative that secured $500 million in federal Race to the Top grant money.

Critics said the old evaluation system, which monitored most tenured teachers once every five years, left too many ineffective teachers in the classroom too long, was vague and largely didn't help teachers improve. The new system will judge teachers and principals using student learning gains—called value-added scores—along with a prescribed checklist to determine their placement, pay and, ultimately, whether they will keep their jobs.

Forty-nine schools across the state, including some in Sumner County and Metro Nashville, are field-testing parts of the new system. But with many specifics still undecided, state officials say they hope educators will be patient.

READ THE REST HERE:  http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/01/27/19mct_tnteacherevals.h30.html?tkn=VPVFtubYNfU72f8P5fGPZ7GGppmPiUsOjNg4&cmp=clp-edweek