Andrew Cuomo's Teacher Evaluation Overhaul Meets Diane Ravitch's Maudlin Mind

RiShawn Biddle:

One would think education traditionalists would be as slightly relieved by the deal New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo forced the state's education department to strike with the American Federation of Teachers' state affiliate as school reformers are (slightly irrationally) exuberant. While Value-Added analysis of student test score growth over time culled from the state's standardized tests would account for at least a fifth -- and as much as 40 percent -- of the overall evaluation, the overall evaluation will still be largely based on classroom observations that are generally less accurate in reflecting their performance than student surveys. Considering that districts can still base half of the test portion of evaluations from third-party instruments (instead of from state tests, as Cuomo had wanted), teacher evaluations will still remain less useful than they could be in rewarding high-quality teaching and helping teachers improve performance. From where your editor sits, the deal is just a slight change for the better, either for good-to-great teachers or for our children. For reformers, it's a cosmetic victory, and for education traditionalists, it's far less of a defeat than they could have otherwise expected.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at February 27, 2012 2:37 AM
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