United States Education Dashboard The Department of Education Seal
Goal: Improve preparation, recruitment, development, evaluation, and rewarding of effective teachers, principals, and administrators.
Objective: In light of the importance of teachers and school leadership for student success, the nation has to do more to ensure that every student has an effective teacher, every school has effective leaders, and every teacher and leader has access to the preparation, on-going support, recognition, and collaboration opportunities he or she needs to succeed.
How progress is measured: Number of states reporting that any school districts are evaluating the performance of teachers that include student growth as an evaluation criterion
Why is this measure important? Research consistently finds that teacher effectiveness is the most important in-school factor in student learning, but existing evaluation systems generally do not meaningfully differentiate teachers by their effectiveness in improving student learning, and do not provide information and feedback to teachers and school leaders that can inform instruction and decision-making and help educators improve their practice. Establishing fair and rigorous teacher evaluation systems is a crucial first step towards building systems that provide teachers with the preparation, professional development, compensation, and advancement opportunities that will support them in being effective, and that provide school and district leaders with the information they need to inform personnel and policy decisions that will increase the number and equitable distribution of effective teachers.
What do the data tell us at the national level? In 2010, 8 states reported that any school districts are using teacher evaluation systems that include student achievement outcomes or student growth data. This is the first year that states reported this information.
What are the limitations of the indicator? Data were last collected in August 2010. Progress following this date is not represented. States will update these data in the next round of data collection for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which will likely occur in early 2011. Additionally, the Dashboard does not currently provide data on the effectiveness of teachers; such data will be provided when it becomes available.
Documentation for the indicator: As a part of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF), a one-time appropriation of $53.6 billion under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), states were required to submit data on a number of factors, including the number of school districts within the state that are evaluating the performance of teachers that include student growth as an evaluation criterion. The data were last collected in August 2010. States will report new data for the SFSF annual report, which will occur in early 2011.
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