The level of student engagement in a class is a better measure of teaching success than standardized-test results, according to a survey of nearly 900 teachers.
Released last week, the survey shows that 92 percent of teachers rate student engagement as an “excellent” or “good” measure of teaching performance, while 72 percent gave the same ratings to measuring how their own students compare with other students. Seventy percent of the teachers surveyed also gave “excellent” or “good” ratings to using feedback from principals and administrators as a measure of effectiveness. Only 56 percent of teachers, however, gave such high marks to the use of standardized tests.
The study also found that less experienced teachers were more likely to have concerns about standardized tests.
The report is the third in a series of studies that draw on surveys and focus-group interviews conducted last year to determine teachers views on education policy issues. All three studies were conducted by Learning Point Associates, a research group based in Naperville, Ill., and the opinion-survey group Public Agenda, of New York City.
