Survey: Teachers Support Evaluations Based On Student Growth

The Christian Science Monitor (3/19, Paulson) reports that despite the common perception that "it's teachers versus reformers on most key issues," a new report from Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation based on teacher surveys "paints a very different picture of teachers and their views," noting that it "offers a nuanced look at how they feel about their profession, testing, controversial reforms, and what needs to change. Far from wanting fewer evaluations of their teaching, for instance, they want more. Teachers want more formalized self-evaluations, more evaluations by principals and district leaders, and more assessments of their knowledge in the subjects they teach." Moreover, respondents support using student growth as a factor, but stop short of the notion of using standardized tests to assess that growth. Roughly 90% of respondents also say that ineffective teachers should not be protected by tenure.