Drive On to Improve Evaluation Systems for Teachers

Washington

The profile of teacher evaluation—in many school districts almost a pro forma exercise—is getting a boost.

A new report will warn that schools risk stalling the campaign to raise teacher quality if they do not take evaluation seriously. A panel discussion linked to the report last week echoed that conclusion. And the American Federation of Teachers recently set up a task force to promote a widely respected but little-used teacher-evaluation program pioneered by its Toledo, Ohio, affiliate.

“The troubled state of teacher evaluation is a glaring, and largely ignored, problem in public education,” argued Thomas Toch, a co-director of the think tank Education Sector, introducing last week’s discussion of evaluation. “It’s a lever of teacher and school...