New teacher evaluations get positive reviews

Most administrators and teachers say that the district’s new evaluation system is providing helpful feedback, finds a report released today by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. But there are several challenges ahead, including an increasing workload for principals and anxiety among teachers about using test scores.

“Even in the face of teachers’ apprehension and mistrust, and the time burden on principals… they see it could be a tool for improvement,” says Sue Sporte, lead author of the report, “Teacher Evaluation in Practice.” “Majorities of teachers and administrators see great promise in REACH as an instructional improvement tool.”