Combining Classroom Observations and Value-Added for the Evaluation and Professional Development of Teachers

• In Event: Designing Teacher Evaluation and Support Systems: New Guidance for Educators and Policy Makers Emerging From the Measures of Effective Teaching Study

Abstract

School district administrators and state officials are faced with the challenging task of creating teacher evaluation systems that distribute teachers across a continuum of effectiveness and provide comprehensive and actionable information. We contend that these systems must incorporate both observational measures of instruction and measures of student achievement gains that are attributable to teachers (value-added). Using value-added data and scores on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System from the first year of the MET project, we present four strategies that districts might employ to create categories of teacher effectiveness. We consider the implications of each strategy on teacher evaluation and the allocation of professional development resources for the continued improvement of classroom instruction and student learning.

Authors

• Erik Ruzek, University of Virginia

• Christopher Hafen, University of Virginia

• Bridget Kathleen Hamre, University of Virginia

• Robert Pianta, University of Virginia