About 94 percent of Ohio school districts did not rate a single teacher as “ineffective,” the lowest rating on the state’s four-rung teacher-evaluation scale, according to the 2016-17 state report card.
And some 44 percent did not rate any teachers as “developing” either, meaning they placed every single teacher in the top half of the rating system, calling them “accomplished” or “skilled.”
Teacher evaluations are completed primarily by school principals, with 50 percent of the grade based on observation of teacher planning, instruction, and professionalism. The other half is based on student growth, which can be measured in multiple ways, including “value added” data from state tests. An alternative method allows for only 35 percent focus on student growth.