2011 issue brief: teacher development and evaluation

Fair and thorough teacher evaluations are the cornerstone of quality teaching and learning. A good evaluation system helps teachers understand their strengths and weaknesses and helps them improve their teaching practice. Students benefit because their learning also improves.

However, Minnesota’s current teacher evaluation system is inadequate to support and develop teachers. Many teachers go years without a performance review. A stronger evaluation system is essential to help teachers be more effective.

The evaluation system should be improved by:

Requiring that evaluators be trained.
Including mentoring and induction in the development and evaluation process.
Requiring school districts and teachers unions either to negotiate an annual teacher evaluation and peer review process or to implement a plan developed by the Minnesota Department of Education.
Creating a three-year evaluation cycle that includes an individual teacher growth plan, professional learning communities, a peer review process and at least one formal evaluation by a school administrator.
Requiring multiple measures of student learning, which could include test results, to be taken into account as evaluation components.
Allowing teachers to present portfolios demonstrating their professional growth and accomplishments.
Requiring teachers who do not meet professional teaching standards to go through a Teacher Improvement Process to help them improve. If teachers still do not improve sufficiently, they would be referred to the district administration for appropriate action.

For more information, contact:
Jan Alswager, chief lobbyist, 651-292-4890
Jodee Buhr, lobbyist, 651-292-4830

January 25, 2011