Evaluation

n at ion a l e duc at ion a sso c i at ion | 1201 16th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 2 0 0 3 6
The challenges of teaching
Teaching is a demanding and complex profession.
Each school day, countless dedicated, talented teachers
report to work intent on being the caring, competent, and
effective educator that every student deserves. Many
teaching professionals work in under resourced schools
and in jobs that are incredibly challenging and complex.
They can attest to the fact that teaching is not rocket
science. In many ways, teaching can be even more
challenging than scientific endeavors. Meeting the
demands of the teaching profession requires tremendous
will, ability, and preparation. It also requires continuous
learning and support.
The role of teacher evaluation
Evaluation is only one component of a
comprehensive teacher growth and development
system. The U.S. public education system involves many
stakeholders whose various roles and responsibilities aim
to support and enhance student learning. Unfortunately,
within the education system itself, there is a lack of
alignment and coherence. Efforts to reform a single
component, such as teacher evaluation, cannot produce a
“silver bullet.” Focusing on only one component can lead
to reforms that merely tinker around the edges. When
trying to fix what appears to be broken, we may end up
leaving flawed systems and structures intact. True reform
of teacher evaluation and assessment needs to be
considered in the larger context of transforming the
education system.
NEA advocates the development of new systems of
teaching and learning that align student and teacher
assessment with the ultimate goal of improving both.
The following concept map shows how student learning
standards can have a systemic connection with teacher
education and assessment.
To design and implement productive evaluation and
assessment programs, we need to recognize two
essential points:
Initially, preparation and hiring are the most critical
ways to assure teacher effectiveness. Before becoming
Teacher Assessment and Evaluation:
The National Education Association’s Framework for Transforming Education
Systems to Support Effective Teaching and Improve Student Learning
NEA recognizes the urgent need to transform the U.S. education system to support effective
teaching and improve student learning. Based on its vision of great public schools for every
child, NEA has identified the core purposes and values of a comprehensive teacher growth and
development system to meet the demands of the 21st century.
Concept Map for Standards-Based Learning and Assessment System
Teacher Standards
Teacher Preparation
and Licensure
Job-Embedded PD
Assessment of
Teacher Practice
Assessment of
Student Learning
Teaching and
Learning Process
Student
Learning:
Academic Content
Critical Thinking
Caring and Creative
NewTeacher
Introduction and
Support
Rich,
Meaningful
Curriculum
Productive
Structure and
Climate
Adequate
Learning
Resources
Student Standards

2 n at ion a l e duc at ion a sso c i at ion | 1201 16th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 2 0 0 3 6
Teacher Assessment and Evaluation
a teacher-of-record, every teacher should demonstrate
subject-area knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and
professional teaching ability. Current efforts to develop
performance assessments for beginning teachers show
promise in ensuring that teachers enter the profession
with the necessary qualifications, regardless of their
preparation route to the classroom. In addition, hiring
practices support teaching effectiveness when the criteria
used for hiring are aligned with the criteria used for
evaluating teachers.
High quality professional development must be
available to every teacher. Professional development
programs should be based on state standards, district
and school learning goals, and the identified needs of
students and teachers. In addition, all new teachers
should receive targeted support and participate in an
induction and mentoring program. Novice teachers
should have less demanding assignments than more
experienced teachers and more time for planning. They
should also have opportunities to observe experienced
teachers.
Even the best teacher assessment and evaluation systems
are likely to fail in an education system that fails to
provide the necessary training and preparation to ensure
that prospective teachers acquire appropriate skills,
knowledge, and dispositions from the very first day of
independent professional practice.
Failure of the current system
Current systems for assessing, evaluating, and supporting
teachers too often fail to improve teacher practice and
enhance student growth and learning. Annual
observations are often performed by school principals
who are not adequately trained to conduct classroom
observations and are unable to provide teachers with
constructive, actionable feedback. The use of evaluation
checklists is often meaningless when the checklists are
not designed to depict good practice. Current evaluation
systems have largely failed to identify teachers’
professional growth needs and failed to provide the
support and professional learning opportunities required
to meet those needs. We must develop ways to
transform teacher evaluation systems to ensure that all
students have effective, highly-skilled teachers.
The purpose of teacher assessment
and evaluation
Current policy discourse about teacher evaluation is
mired in a rewards-and-punishment framework that too
often aims to: 1) measure the effectiveness of each
teacher, 2) categorize and rank teachers, 3) reward
those at the top, and 4) fire those at the bottom.
Such a simplistic approach not only ignores the
complexity of teaching but also overlooks the real
purpose of teacher assessment and evaluation.
The core purpose of teacher assessment and evaluation
should be to strengthen the knowledge, skills,
dispositions, and classroom practices of professional
educators. This goal serves to promote student growth
and learning while also inspiring great teachers to remain
in the classroom. Comprehensive systems of continuous
teacher education and professional growth help teachers
master content, refine their teaching skills, critically
analyze their own performance and their students’
performance, and implement the changes needed to
improve teaching and learning. Comprehensive
performance assessment systems provide targeted
support, assistance, and professional growth
opportunities based on teachers’ individual needs as well
as the needs of their students, schools, and districts.
Principles for teacher assessment and
evaluation
Safe and open collaboration is necessary. When
assessment of teacher practices is transparent and openly
collaborative, teachers can build professional

3n at ion a l e duc at ion a sso c i at ion | 1201 16th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 2 0 0 3 6
communities and learn from one another. This process
can only occur in non-threatening environments of
formative assessment and growth.
Measures of teacher performance are most helpful
and meaningful when they are based on multiple
ratings and clear teaching standards in the formative
growth process. Teachers need clear and actionable
feedback based on standards for teaching and student
learning that are comprehensive and transparent and on
criterion-referenced assessments of teacher practice.
Feedback is most useful as part of a comprehensive
teacher development system. Summative evaluations of
teachers should be based primarily on a single standard
of effectiveness required for all teachers. After extensive
support and intervention, a process to remove chronically
ineffective teachers from the classroom, which
guarantees due process measures, should commence.
Integrated systems must link evaluation procedures
with curricular standards, professional development
activities, targeted support, and human capital decisions.
Validated evaluation measures are essential.
Measures of teacher effectiveness need to be based on
widely accepted standards of teaching that attempt to
capture a range of teaching behaviors, use multiple
evaluation methods.
Teachers’ input in determining performance and
learning outcomes should be part of the evaluation
process. While standards for teaching practice and
student learning are essential, each teacher should also
help to define a set of practices and student learning
objectives to be assessed. Teacher input can provide vital
learning goals for the unique, contextualized
circumstances of each particular classroom.
Assessment and evaluation systems need to be
co-created or designed with teachers at the local
level through collective bargaining or, where there is
no collective bargaining, agreed to by the
organization representing teachers. This may be the
most important principle of all. Ideals and visions need to
be balanced with local context and political reality. There
is no one-size-fits-all solution at a national level. Rather,
NEA needs to work with its affiliates to craft local
solutions based on the principles outlined in this report.
Process for teacher assessment and
development
The following chart identifies how a successful teacher
assessment and development process could proceed. It is
also designed to help NEA members and affiliates take
proactive leadership in redesigning policies, programs,
and processes for teacher growth.
PURPOSE: Improve teacher practice in order to improve student learning
PREREQUISITES:
Before becoming a teacher-of-record, every teacher must demonstrate subject-area
knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and professional teaching ability.
STEP ONE:
Provide high-quality professional development for every teacher based on state
standards, district and school learning goals, and identified needs of students and
teachers.
Assess outcomes of professional development.
Support teachers’ new knowledge and skills.

STEP TWO:
Conduct ongoing, formative assessments of teachers’ skills, knowledge, and practices.
The assessments should inform teacher growth and development. Assessments may
be conducted by administrators, mentors, coaches, teachers themselves, or teachers’
peers. Criteria should include evidence of student learning and feedback from
parents and students.
STEP THREE:
Provide individual and school wide professional education based on formative
assessment results.
If results of formative assessments are positive, then professional education should
include self-directed learning and professional development. Ideally, it should be
offered as part of a professional learning community or other supportive system.
If results of formative assessments identify significant shortcomings, then professional
development and intensive intervention should focus on areas in need of
improvement and should be sustained for a significant period of time.
STEP FOUR:
Conduct summative evaluation of each teacher. This should be done at relatively frequent
intervals for new or probationary teachers and less frequently for non-probationary
continuing contract teachers.
Summative assessments of a particular teacher may become optional if formative
assessments of that teacher remain positive over a reasonable period.
Teachers who need to improve to meet quality standards should receive intensive
intervention, support, and individualized professional development.
STEP FIVE:
Implement evaluation results. Inform teachers of evaluation results and the impact on
continued employment status, tenure, license renewal, and career ladder
opportunities for high performers.
STEP SIX:
Conduct a comprehensive internal and external examination of the teacher
evaluation and development process.
The school and district should conduct the examination in partnership with teachers
and their representatives.
The purpose is to identify workforce needs and support ongoing professional
development.

Dimensions Formative Assessment Summative Evaluation
Purpose Growth and improved practice Continued employment
Data and Evidence
Various written or observable
demonstrations of teaching and
contributions to student learning
Standards-based measures of practice
(student performance measures are
inappropriate)
Frequency Ongoing and continuous Periodic and scheduled
Formative assessment to foster
teacher growth
A comprehensive teacher assessment and evaluation
system should have two distinct components:
1) ongoing, consistent, formative assessments of
performance for the sole purpose of fostering
professional growth and improved practice; and
2) periodic summative evaluations of teacher
performance for the purpose of approving continued
employment. These two assessment components should
share the same standards for growth and performance.
However, they must remain distinctly separate from one
another.
Teachers’ engagement in formative, ongoing assessment
to improve their practice should involve neither threat of
punishment nor promise of reward. Assessments should
occur on a regular basis. Formative assessments should
also facilitate interaction and feedback among
colleagues. They should allow peers, mentors, and
professional coaches to provide teachers with feedback
about their practice and engage teachers in learning
processes that are free from employment-related
decisions. Formative assessments may also use student
learning measures to inform teachers of student
progress and thereby help to improve student learning.
Summative assessment to guide
employment decisions
Summative evaluations of performance for the purpose
of authorizing continued employment should occur at
appropriate time intervals that comply with local
bargaining agreements or state statutes. Where
collective bargaining does not exist, criteria for
summative evaluations should be developed
cooperatively with administrators, teachers, and teacher
associations.
Summative evaluations must be based on a clear set of
performance standards that are identical to standards
used in the ongoing formative process. They must
employ a rubric of criterion-referenced assessments, in
which teachers either do or do not meet acceptable
standards of practice. Teachers who fail to meet
acceptable standards should be offered professional
development, remediation plans, and opportunities to
observe peers. They should also be given sufficient time,
support, and assistance toward meeting the standards.
A process to remove chronically ineffective teachers
from the classroom should begin only after extensive
support and intervention that guarantees due process
measures.

Dimensions Formative Assessment Summative Evaluation
Reporting Structure
Collaborative, using flexible
forms of feedback
Adherence to strict guidelines, forms,
and timelines
Use of Findings
Diagnostic – designed to improve
practice
Judgmental – designed to arrive at a
verdict
Relationship between
Administrator and Teacher
Collegial – to encourage
reflection and discussion
Hierarchical – to prescribe a course of
action
Process
Teacher self-reflection, peer
feedback, peer input, peer
review, or a combination of these
Administrator or supervisor-led
Process
Open, exploratory, and
integrated into practice; focused
on practitioner development and
practice
Precisely defined, limited to required
documentation; poorly identified
long-term implications for practice
Adaptability of Criteria
Allows flexibility and revision
of documents in response to
individual teaching and learning
environments
Fixed set of responses and
demonstrations that do not allow
for adaptations to meet individual
situations
Standards of Measurement
Individualized; multiple
systems of demonstration and
documentation; pursuit of
excellence in one’s own practice
Limited responses (yes/no; met/did
not meet); sorting or ranking

Focus on professional growth
Teachers’ continuous engagement in learning, skill
acquisition, and refinements to practice is essential for
meeting student learning needs. Assessment and
evaluation are crucial for determining whether teachers
are, in fact, acquiring and applying the content, skills,
and dispositions necessary to meet school and district
standards for student learning. Assessment and
evaluation are also essential for identifying any additional
or alternative professional learning that a teacher may
need. Therefore, professional growth and
assessment/evaluation should be seen as
complementary and integrally-related parts of the same
process. Developers of evaluation instruments and
systems increasingly recognize the wisdom and benefits
of designing evaluation processes that intentionally
foster and support teacher growth.
In Teacher Evaluation to Enhance Professional Practice
(Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, 2000), authors Danielson and McGreal
describe elements of evaluation systems that contribute
to professional learning: reflection on practice;
collaboration with colleagues; self-assessment and self-
directed inquiry; and participation in a community of
learners.
The authors conclude:
Some newly developed evaluation systems require
that teachers conduct a self-assessment, establish
professional growth goals, and participate in a
study group with colleagues to pursue a topic of
common interest….Then, in addition to classroom
observations, teachers are asked to submit evidence
of their professional skill in the form of planning
documents, samples of student work (with a
commentary), and other elements of their
professionalism (such as parent communication,
contributions to the school and district, etc.)
Assembling and selecting these documents requires
deep reflection on practice; describing them to an
administrator engages the teacher and
administrator in professional conversation.
Similarly, in Research Brief—Teacher Evaluation (The
Principals’ Partnership, May 2007), Gary Marx of Eastern
Michigan University notes:
Efforts to improve the technical quality of
evaluation systems over the past two decades have
not produced evidence of improved teaching and
increased student achievement. Thus, newer
thinking treats teacher evaluation as an
organizational problem that includes improving
school climate, having the principal become an
instructional leader, and building links between
school improvement, professional development,
teacher evaluation and student learning.
Marx recommends that principals interested in robust
and useful teacher evaluations take the following action:
Assess school culture and climate to ensure that the
evaluation environment is supportive of ongoing
professional learning. The literature cites school
cultures that focus on teaching and learning for all
students, collaboration among teachers, and
teacher reflective practice as characteristics of
supportive evaluation environments.
In 2000, the NEA Foundation for the Improvement of
Education issued a report stating that schools where
teachers focus on student work, interact with colleagues
to plan how to improve their teaching, and continuously
bring new skills and knowledge to bear on their practice
are also schools that produce the best results for
children.
Because of NEA’s access to millions of classroom
teachers, supporters in Congress, and affiliates that can
influence policy at the local and state levels, it is in a
unique position to promote models of teacher evaluation

that strengthen teaching and thereby increase student
growth and learning. By initiating and supporting
strategic partnerships with universities, researchers,
administrator organizations, and teacher leaders, NEA is
poised to accelerate the development and dissemination
of effective evaluation models.
Using evidence of student learning
Using evidence of student learning and other student
outcomes is a fundamental component of the teacher
learning and development process. Teachers must
understand how their teaching practice influences
student growth and learning. They need to use that
understanding to adjust their practice in ways that allow
them to become more effective.
Unfortunately, the use of student learning measures to
improve teaching practice has too often translated into
using “value-added” analyses of state standardized test
scores as the primary, or even sole, means for making
summative decisions about teachers. Such use of test
data is inappropriate for many reasons that are well-
documented. The following are just some of the
problems and concerns associated with so-called value-
added methodology:
A single test score cannot accurately represent student
learning. Students need to acquire a broad array of skills,
knowledge, and critical thinking tools that a single
multiple-choice standardized test cannot reflect.
Teachers’ measured effectiveness tends to vary
considerably with the use different statistical
methodologies. Significant percentages of teachers—
more than 50 percent in some cases—who may be rated
as “effective” using one method would be rated
“ineffective” under another method with the same
student test data. In addition, researchers have found
that teachers’ effectiveness ratings differ from class to
class, from year to year, and even from test to test, even
when ratings are within the same content area.
Teachers’ ratings are influenced by differences among
groups of students who are assigned to them. Students
are not randomly assigned to teachers, and statistical
models cannot fully adjust for the fact that some
teachers are assigned a disproportionate number of
students who may be exceptionally difficult to teach
because of poor attendance, homelessness, severe family
problems, or other challenges. Some teachers may also
have disproportionate numbers of students who are
English language learners, have special education needs,
or face other roadblocks that tend to distort students’
test scores.
It is impossible to fully identify the influences of a
student’s other teachers and additional factors that
affect student performance. No single teacher accounts
for all of a student’s learning.
Value-added analyses do not provide any information to
explain teachers’ performance. They offer no feedback to
identify what makes a teacher effective or ineffective.
Approximately 70 percent of all teachers are engaged in
subject areas for which no test data are available.
Over the past several years, numerous studies have
concluded that value-added methodology is neither fair
enough, nor reliable enough, nor valid enough to be
used as a basis for high-stakes decisions about teachers.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to find any education
researchers who support the use of value-added
methodologies for high-stakes decisions about teachers,
other than several researchers who have developed and
promoted the use of value-added methodologies.
Despite the clear limitations of value-added
methodologies, many states, districts, and even teacher
associations are embracing the use of such
methodologies, primarily in pursuit of federal grants
during a time when resources are scarce. NEA urges that

teacher assessment and evaluation systems consider
including value-added measures only within a clear and
meaningful system of multiple measures of evidence.
Using multiple measures
Education analysts now commonly accept the notion that
using multiple measures of student learning and teacher
effectiveness is a necessary component of teacher
assessment and evaluation. However, the current political
environment has contributed to a misconstruing of this
notion. Some school districts have used student
achievement, often measured by a single test, as the key
measure of teacher effectiveness. In some instances,
student achievement has accounted for 50 percent of a
teacher’s evaluation. Such myopic reliance on a single
measure fails to capture the complexities and nuances of
teaching. It also fails to recognize the wide range of ways in
which teachers contribute to student growth and learning.
To be effective, a teacher assessment and evaluation
system must employ a carefully constructed set of
multiple measures. At NEA’s Multiple Measures of
Student Learning Working Group meeting in August
2010, Laura Goe identified several specific benefits of
such an approach. For example, she said the use of
multiple measures strengthens teacher evaluation by
providing a more complete picture of a teacher’s
contribution to student learning; by increasing
confidence in the results of a teacher’s evaluation; and by
increasing the information available about collaboration
for student success.
Goe also said the use of a carefully constructed set of
multiple measures contributes to teachers’ professional
growth by creating opportunities for teachers to learn
from their colleagues, and by providing teachers with
greater insight into how their instruction is affecting
student learning.
Furthermore, the use of appropriate multiple measures
sets the stage for improved teaching and learning by
offering more complete evidence about student learning
growth, particularly in areas where students are not
tested; by offering more complete evidence of learning
growth for English language learners and students with
disabilities; and by contributing to a comprehensive view
of students’ strengths and weaknesses.
Examples of multiple measures
The following examples identify multiple measures of
student learning and multiple measures of teacher
effectiveness that could be integrated into a
comprehensive teacher evaluation system:
Multiple measures of student growth and learning:
Standardized test scores are only one indicator of student
growth and learning and should not be the primary
source of information used for measuring student
growth. Other forms of evidence and data include:
 Local and district-wide achievement test results
 Student work that shows evidence of student
growth
 Subject matter assessments
 Students’ oral and written presentations
 Learning goals developed by the teacher or
principal
 Project-based inquiry activities
 Teacher-generated information about student
growth and goals
 Formative and summative student assessments
 Evaluations of effective engagement, critical
thinking, self-efficacy or a combination thereof.
Multiple measures of teacher effectiveness: Student
learning data should not be the only significant
source of information for measuring teacher
performance, nor should it be the primary source.

Other possible sources include:
 Assessment of teacher practice based on
comprehensive standards of practice, which could
include classroom observations, administrator
evaluations, and teacher-evaluator conferences
 Use of portfolios, evidence binders, conference
presentations, and instructional artifacts to show
demonstrated attainment and use of new
knowledge and skills
 Use of information provided through formative
assessments, peer reviews, professional learning
communities, and other forms of feedback and
support
 Evidence of student growth and learning based
on multiple measures
Conclusion
Effective teaching contributes to student learning,
regardless of the circumstances and conditions. When a
school also has strong leadership, adequate resources,
and the meaningful engagement of stakeholders,
effective teaching has the power to transform public
education and ensure great public schools for every
student.
Teachers are responsible for making their own practice as
effective as possible. Teachers also need to take control
of their own profession and share in the school system’s
responsibility for transforming education. For far too
long, policymakers outside of the teaching profession
have offered short-sighted solutions to improving
education that overlook the value and complexity of
teaching as a profession. Teachers and their
representatives best understand the shortcomings in the
system and as such must respond with new ideas and
innovations. Identifying a comprehensive, rigorous
process for assessing, supporting, and evaluating
teachers is a critical first step toward reclaiming the
profession of teaching.
Teachers must continue to address key questions about
their profession, such as: What forms of preparation do
prospective teachers need for success in today’s
classroom? How can new teachers demonstrate the
skills, knowledge, and capacity required for competent
practice from the outset and for accomplished practice
over time? What current practices do we need to reform,
transform, or eliminate? With what do we replace them?
How can compensation systems that support
professional pay and professional development help
teachers improve their practice in meaningful ways?
Teachers possess the knowledge, the experience, and the
will to address these challenges.
Neglecting to do so would most assuredly result in a
decline of professionalism in teaching. With the
appropriate framework for support and feedback,
teachers will be able to make continual improvements in
their practice and continue to ensure that every student
has access to a great education.

References
Braun, H. (2010). “Getting Value Out of Value-Added: Report of a Workshop.” Washington, D.C.: The
National Academies Press.
Brookhart, S. (2009). “Accountability Policies and Measures.” Washington, D.C.: National Education
Association.
Danielson, C. and McGreal, T. (2000). “Teacher Evaluation to Enhance Professional Practice.” Alexandria, Va.:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). “Recognizing and Developing Effective Teachers: What Policy Brief: Policy
Makers Should Know and Do.” Washington, D.C.: National Association of Education and American Association
of Colleges for Teacher Evaluation.
Economic Policy Institute (2010). “Problems with the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers.”
Retrieved August 2010, http://www/epi.org/publications/entry/6276.
Goe, L. and Croft, A. (2009). “Research -To-Practice Brief: Methods of Evaluating Teacher
Effectiveness.” Washington, D.C.: National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality.
Little, O; Goe, L, and Bell, C (2009). “A Practical Guide to Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness.”
Washington, D.C.: National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality.
Marx, G. (2007). “Research Brief—Teacher Evaluation.” Retrieved April 2010, http://www.principalspartneship.com.
NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education (2000). “Engaging Public Support for Teachers’
Professional Development.” Washington, D.C.: National Education Association.
Rand Education Research Brief (2004).“The Promise and Peril of Using Value-Added Modeling to Measure
Teacher Effectiveness.”Santa Monica, Ca.: Rand Education.

n a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n a s s o c i a t i o n - T e a c h e r Q u a l i t y
1201 16th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 2 0 0 3 6
12/10

Evaluation

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to Evaluation

Recently uploaded

Evaluation