The Tennessee Department of Education released highlights from Year 4 of Tennessee’s multiple-measure, student outcomes-based educator evaluation system. Notably, more than two-thirds of educators and 85 percent of principals reported at the end of 2015 that evaluation improved their performance during the fourth year of implementation.
The Year 4 report reflects on evaluation during the 2014-15 school year and draws from the state’s 2015 Educator Survey results, providing an overview of the fourth-year of evaluation implementation, including the adoption of key changes, specific levers that reveal strengths and challenges associated with evaluation, and a look forward.
“Educator and district feedback have driven changes to the evaluation system over the past four years, “ Commissioner McQueen said.
“These changes have strengthened the system, which in turn provided better support and feedback to our teachers. We will continue to make changes to tailor the evaluation system to meet the needs of the educators it is designed to serve.”
As the report explains, administrator attitudes reflected a belief that evaluation serves not only educators, but fosters improvement in students’ learning and outcomes. Eighty-five percent of administrators surveyed reported that they believe principal evaluation will lead to better school leadership, and 81 percent reported that changes in leadership brought about by the principal evaluation system can lead to improved student outcomes.
While teachers overwhelming reported that the evaluation system was improving their performance, only 60 percent of teachers reported having adequate time to focus on areas of improvement. The department has launched several support strategies to provide educators and principals with additional collaborative space.
This includes the Instructional Partnership Initiative, designed to create partnerships within schools for teachers with complementary strengths and areas for growth; an extensive network of TEAM Coaches in all eight CORE regions, working to provide a system of collaboration and support for instructional leaders; and the Teacher Leader Network, comprised of highly effective district-leadership teams from across the state tasked with building out and implementing individualized teacher leader models.
The Year 4 evaluation report also highlights four key trends from the fourth year of evaluation implementation.
- Teacher and administrator attitudes reflect a belief that evaluation serves not only educators but fosters improvement in students’ learning and outcomes.
- Educators believe the evaluation system can drive professional growth.
- Educators want feedback to improve, and they believe the evaluation process provides that feedback.
- The misalignment between student growth scores and observation scores for both educators and administrators in the state reinforces the need to strengthen observation practices and feedback.
The Year 5 evaluation report will be released in 2017, featuring findings from the 2015-16 school year. For more information, contact Ashley Ball at (615) 532-6260 or Ashley.M.Ball@tn.gov.