Examining Some Fundamental Assumptions of Teacher Evaluation Systems: An Investigation of Teacher Performance and Effectiveness

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: Division L Section 5 Poster Session

Abstract

With President Obama’s “Race to the Top” program, increased attention has been focused on teacher accountability and establishing valid and reliable ways to measure teacher performance and effectiveness. To date, most studies in this area have focused only on the differences in effectiveness between teachers; few studies have examined the stability of teacher performance and effectiveness estimates of individual teachers across time. This study seeks to address this gap in the literature. Using longitudinal data, results suggest that neither teacher performance nor effectiveness estimates were consistent for individual teachers across four years. Although the desirability of estimate stability should depend on how the estimates are being used, we argue that stability is necessary for certain types of teacher quality evaluation.

Authors

• Grant B. Morgan, Baylor University

• Kari Hodge, Baylor University

• Tonya Marie Trepinski, Texas A&M International University