It turns out holding teachers to the same standards as employees in other professions works:
“A closer look at one high-stakes evaluation system, however, shows the positive consequences such systems can have for students. Since 2012, we have been studying IMPACT, a seminal effort by the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) to link teacher retention and pay to their performance. Under IMPACT, the district sets detailed standards for high-quality instruction, conducts multiple observations, assesses individual performance based on evidence of student progress, and retains and rewards teachers based on annual ratings. Looking across our analyses, we see that under IMPACT, DCPS has dramatically improved the quality of teaching in its schools—likely contributing to its status as the fastest-improving large urban school system in the United States as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.”
Members of the nation’s teachers unions will be appalled to learn teachers are being treated like regular employees, and parents will rejoice at the results of doing so.
SOURCE: Educationnext.org
IN THIS ISSUE:
- HOMESCHOOLING: Homeschooling isn’t just for super Christian conservatives or super liberals living in communes anymore.
- DeVOS: U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos talks about school choice in Michigan.
- COLORADO: Colorado’s online school system might be getting more funding.
- NYC: Charter schools in New York City are prompting neighboring district schools to improve.
Common Core and Curriculum Watch
- CURSIVE: A Maryland school is being blasted for one of its graduates’ inability to read cursive.
- TEXTBOOKS: A new law in Florida enables parents to challenge textbooks they don’t like.
- STEM: Teachers unions in California really don’t want a new STEM school to open.
- CLASS TIME: Kids are spending a lot more time in school than they did 20 years ago.
- RACE ISSUES: District officials in Portland, Maine are working to recruit more non-white teachers.
- LIFO: Last in, first out hiring and firing policies are on their way out, according to a new report.
- DETROIT: Detroit teachers are getting a 7 percent raise.
Teresa Mull is a policy advisor for education and an editor at The Heartland Institute.
