Grading of CPS Teachers

The Saturday, November 19th issue of the Chicago Tribune carried a fairly concise article regarding the impact that student performance would have in arriving at an evaluation of CPS teachers.

It is possible that by next year, 2012-13, up to 25% of a teacher's evaluation will be based on the academic success, or lack thereof, of students. According to the Tribune 'The teacher and principal assessments are required under the Illinois Performance Evaluation Reform Act' which passed the state legislature in 2010.

Senate Bill 7 essentially makes teacher performance, not seniority, the focal point relative to job security. Up to the point in time, within CPS, seniority had more of an impact relative to a teacher and/or principal retaining their posiition.

The key point going forward concerns the issue of the extent to which student achievement counts toward teacher and principal assessment. This sounds pretty simple but, as I've mentioned in past blogs, student achievement is affected by many issues outside of the school environment.

The CPS braintrust and the Chicago Teachers Union will have to sit down and 'negotiate how large the student growth proportion would count in a teacher's evaluation.' That's as it should be!

From my vantage point, I hope that many factors are looked at, aside from student achievement, when assessing the quality of the teacher. The whole idea of evaluating a teacher is to help them improve their performance. Let's hope the whole idea of using student achievement doesn't simply get rid of teachers.

Dick