High-quality assessments of student performance provide useful information on gains in student subject matter knowledge, but fail to account for all aspects of student learning and teaching effectiveness. Research shows that drawing on multiple measures can be a much more accurate way to gauge teaching effectiveness. Teachers need a more comprehensive, accurate approach to measuring teaching effectiveness that is well-designed and implemented, and draws on multiple measures.

Use the resources below to learn about the characteristics of well-designed systems for measuring teaching effectiveness.

RESOURCES

Defining Effective Teaching

• “Defining and Measuring Effective Teaching.” This backgrounder looks into challenges of how we define – and then how we measure – teaching effectiveness. Read more >
• “What Makes a Great Teacher.” This article from the Atlantic examines Teach for America’s approach to cultivating effective teaching. Read more >

Designing Stronger Teaching Evaluation Systems

• “Learning About Teaching: Initial Findings from the Measures of Effective Teaching Project.” The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s MET Project is conducting research into multiple, reliable measures of teaching effectiveness, which can help states and districts build evaluation system that help teachers hone their practice and guide smart human capital decisions. This initial report offers preliminary results from the research as of December 2010. Read more >
• “Rush to Judgement: Teacher Evaluation in Public Education.” Thomas Toch and Robert Rothman offer recommendations for improving teacher evaluation practices, with an eye toward improving observations and incentives for teachers and administrators, and how we can redefine “qualified” teachers. Read more >
• “Evaluating and Rewarding the Quality of Teachers: International Practices.” This OECD report looks into efforts to evaluate and reward teaching quality in different countries. Read more >

Student Growth and Value-added Measures

• “Value Added Methods for Measuring Teaching and Learning.” This resource explores the use of value-added methods in measures of teaching effectiveness. Read more >
• “Tested: Covering Schools in the Age of Micro-measurement.” LyNell Hancock writes about the media’s portrayal of how student scores are used in teacher evaluations. The article is a great help in thinking not just about how student measures are and should be used, but about how to talk more effectively about these issues in today’s policy and political climate. Read more >
• “Beware of Geeks Bearing Formulas: Reflections on Growth Models for School Accountability.” This article looks into drawbacks of using growth models for school accountability. Read more >
• “Should Value-added Measures Be Used for Performance Pay?” Jonathan Eckert and Joan Dabrowski examine how – and whether – value-added measures should be used in determining teachers’ effectiveness for the purpose of making decisions about compensation. Read more >