Tennessee Teacher Evaluation Systems - Rough Road Ahead

According to Sarah Garland, of the Huffington Post, states, like Tennessee, aided by hundreds of millions of federal and philanthropic dollars, are developing intensive evaluation systems meant to identify teachers who need help, and pinpoint which skills they need help with. Under a state law passed last spring in Tennessee, teachers must be formally observed at least four times a year, or six if they're new to the profession. A teacher's observation scores are supplemented by a "value-added" rating, which is calculated by determining whether a teacher's students made greater gains on standardized tests than statistical models would have predicted.

However, the road ahead is bumpy for teacher evaluation. Because value-added ratings don't come out until after the school year is over—and because the majority of teachers don't teach subjects with annual standardized testing—the revamped observations have become a major piece of the reform effort.