Personnel evaluation systems have historically failed to identify and remediate low-performing teachers. In 2012, Chicago Public Schools implemented an evaluation system that incorporated remediation and dismissal plans for low-rated teachers. Regression discontinuity estimates indicate that the evaluation reform increased the exit of low-rated…

The two recently-filed New York lawsuits claiming that teacher tenure laws violate children's constitutional right to a "sound basic education" are finally dragging the long-obscure Section 3020-a of the state's Education Law into the spotlight. This attention is badly overdue because for decades § 3020-a has impeded efforts to ensure a…

In an effort to scrutinize the evaluative criteria used by public schools throughout the State of Washington and how these criteria resulted in the placement of certificated employees on probation, a questionnaire was sent to superintendents of 179 school districts. Fifty-one percent responded. The results of the questionnaire provide an…

This report discusses the new Oregon fair dismissal law, and examines the role of district administrators in the procedures leading to dismissal of certificated staff. The text provides (1) pertinent excerpts from the law, (2) major points of two dismissal case studies showing subtle variables in the dismissal process, (3) suggestions regarding…

This book focuses on how school administrators deal with the problem of teacher incompetence. Data were derived from three research studies conducted in California: interviews with 30 school administrators; a mailed survey of 141 school district superintendents; and a case study of a school district with a relatively high rate of induced teacher…