Does Better Observation Make Better Teachers?

This article examines the Excellence in Teaching Project (EITP), a teacher evaluation system based on the Danielson framework, that was piloted in Chicago Public Schools beginning in the fall of 2008. Leveraging the random assignment of schools to the EITP intervention, research found large effects of the intervention on school reading performance. The program had the largest impact in low-poverty and high-achieving schools, but little or no impact in less-advantaged schools. These effects seem to be a consequence not only of the design and focus of the EITP pilot but also of the extent to which CPS supported the implementation of the new evaluation process. Similar benefits were not observed in schools implementing the same program the following year, with less support from the central office, suggesting the importance of sustained support for teacher evaluation reform to translate into improved student performance.