What’s an Effective Teacher?

Today, 27 states and the District of Columbia require annual, yearly teacher evaluations when only 15 states had that requirement in 2009, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). Also, this year there were 18 states and the District of Columbia that tied tenure to teacher evaluations and student performance.

In 10 states, there were no requirements of student achievement in teacher evaluations and only five states had “objective measures of student achievement” included in these evaluations. Sixteen other states had “significant” criteria of student achievement and 20 other states had “preponderant criterion” (which meant a teacher cannot be rated as an effective one without meeting predetermined student achievement goals).

Here are the states that require annual teacher evaluations:

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• D.C.
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Indiana
• Louisiana
• Maryland
• Mississippi
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Tennessee
• Utah
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

 

Spencer Irvine is a staff writer at Accuracy in Academia.
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