Just a few years ago, tenure appeared low on the reform list for state policy makers and district administrators, viewed as too hot an issue politically to challenge. But it was front and center in the 2014 landmark "Vergara v. California" lawsuit, which challenged teacher tenure and related policies. Yet whether to grant tenure or not…

In the 2012-2013 school year, Chicago Public Schools unveiled its new teacher evaluation system in all of its almost 600 schools. This study draws on 32 interviews from a random sample of teachers and 2 years of survey data from more than 12,000 teachers per year to measure their perceptions of the clarity, practicality, and cost of the new…

Moving teacher evaluation systems from measuring teachers' performance to improving their practice requires much greater attention to communication and support. In the fall of 2012, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) instituted a sweeping reform of its teacher evaluation system with the introduction of REACH Students (Recognizing Educators Advancing…

In December 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB), as the nation's major law governing public schools. ESSA retains the requirement that states test all students in reading and math in grades three through eight and once in high school, as well as the requirement that…

After decades of disinterest, evaluation of the performance of elementary and secondary teachers in the United States has become an important educational policy issue. As U.S. states and districts have tried to upgrade their evaluation processes, one of the models that has been increasingly used is the Framework for Teaching. This paper summarizes…

What happens when local school leaders sit down to talk with teachers, parents, and other members of the community about the ends and means of local education? Can people bringing different perspectives and experiences to the issue agree on top goals for their communities? Can they settle on needed changes and decide what signifies genuine…

The presence of selected standards and criteria found within special education teacher evaluation forms was investigated. In 1979, directors of special education districts, assistants to the directors, and directors of joint agreements were requested to send a copy of the teacher evaluation form most commonly used in their schools. In 1982, the…

Highland Community College (Illinois) is currently developing procedures for the formal evaluation of its instruction, and will use this study on current practices and problems as a foundation. A review of recent research on the purposes of evaluation indicates that the most widely acceptable is the improvement of instruction. Appropriate criteria…

Concludes that teacher evaluations should focus more on teacher improvement, that there should be more student involvement in the evaluation process, that there should be fewer but more comprehensive evaluations, and that administrators who carry out the evaluations should be better trained. (FL)

The performance evaluation of tenured teachers in the public schools raises significant legal issues particularly in the context of recent education reform efforts. Collective bargaining has expanded to become a central part of labor relations in public schools and has served often to neutralize threatening evaluations. As reform efforts demand…

This document contains an evaluation checklist developed to assess home economic programs in Illinois in order to determine if they are conducive to meeting the needs of students enrolled in the programs. The quality indicators in this booklet were derived from the "Standards for Vocational Home Economics Education" published by the U.S.…