Of all the reform elements in the $4.3 billion federal Race to the Top program, which was formally rolled out last Friday, the one that has the potential to move tectonic plates in the education world is teacher accountability.
Put simply, it asks states to link student test scores to decisions about a teacher’s effectiveness.
We favor such a concept for many reasons. But let us emphasize at the outset, the latest techniques to analyze student achievement have moved far beyond using annual test scores as a crude measure lacking in context.
No, we’re talking about gauging each student’s progress in a school year, be they high or low achievers, and determining which teachers and principals show themselves to be gifted — or not — in moving students forward.
If done properly, and we acknowledge that is an important if, there is no reason good teachers should fear such a measure.
We’re glad to see Education Secretary Arne Duncan and President Obama go toe-to-toe on the issue with the teachers unions, traditional Democratic supporters. Teachers unions have qualms about such measures, fearing teachers will be unfairly fired if the models are flawed.
It’s a valid concern. No one wants to see good teachers unfairly punished. Teachers should be included in the shaping of such measures, but in no way should they be allowed to stop the progress of such a system.
Obama acknowledged last week that there would be elements, as he put it, within teachers unions who would resist such change.
But in announcing the Race to the Top parameters on Friday, he said that the nation has to be honest in admitting that in many parts of the country, there is no good way to distinguish good teachers from bad ones.
That has to change, he said, and we agree.
“We can’t ignore facts,” he said. “We can’t ignore data.”
Shares of the $4.3 billion will go to states that use the data effectively to “reward effective teachers, to support teachers who are struggling, and when necessary, to replace teachers who aren’t up to the job,” the president said.
Colorado has passed bills that seek to create such a system. In the last session, several measures were crafted to dovetail with the ideals coming out of Washington, not just on teacher evaluation via data, but other items on the Race to the Top agenda as well.
Matt Gianneschi, Gov. Bill Ritter’s senior education policy analyst, told us he believes Colorado’s outcomes- based evaluation model is the “clearest and most robust” in the country.
State law, he said, requires student outcomes to be used in evaluating teachers. Such reviews will be done at the local level, Gianneschi said, since the state is not authorized to evaluate teachers, who are employed by individual school districts.
We look forward to seeing how each Colorado school district moves forward with such evaluations, not only because it could direct significant federal education money to the state, but because it’s the right direction for education reform.
