The Washington New Millennium Initiative (NMI) unites an innovative, energized group of early-career teachers based largely in the Seattle metro area, diverse in experience, and committed to making a difference for students. We teach in a variety of school and classroom environments throughout the state and entered the profession through a myriad of pathways. We share common beliefs about teaching and learning, fortified through our diverse experiences, which motivate us to advocate for a new vision for transforming education in Seattle, in Washington and nationally.

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Our Vision for the Future of Teaching and Learning

Every student deserves an effective teacher in every classroom every day. No other school-based factor plays a greater role in affecting student learning. Yet much work remains to be done to nurture and retain effective teachers in our schools. We believe that better systems of teacher evaluation and student assessment are essential levers for improving teaching quality in schools. To make our vision for change a reality, we offer the following recommendations to create a results-oriented teaching profession.

Recommendation 1: A two-tiered assessment system with improved national- and state-level standardized tests.
Assessment systems must be changed to focus on students’ abilities to solve problems, analyze and synthesize data and communicate their ideas in a variety of ways. We suggest that local, state and national leaders envision an assessment system balanced between the uses of high-quality, national standardized tests that can act as benchmarks and local assessment systems that truly support the work of teaching and learning. We are encouraged by recent efforts to create national tests that seek to measure problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. But we remain concerned by the lack of attention, at all levels of administration, to systematic support for the formative assessments that must be used by teachers weekly in order to assess student learning on a regular basis. 

Recommendation 2: A two-tiered teacher evaluation system with improved school-level, annual evaluations.
A growing body of research is making it more and more clear that we cannot rely on students’ standardized test scores alone to measure teaching effectiveness. We suggest reframing the dominant model of teacher evaluation into a two-tiered model. In one tier, 3–4 annual observations and evaluations are conducted by competent, trained evaluators using a rubric that includes at least several of the following measurements: value-added measures of student learning, teacher self-evaluation with selected artifacts, peer evaluations, classroom videotape or observations, student feedback, parent evaluations, evidence of pedagogical/subject-area knowledge or evidence of teacher leadership. In the second tier, trained teams of teachers should be formed to observe, evaluate and provide feedback to each other on an on going, classroom-level basis.

Recommendation 3: Implement results-oriented professional learning communities.
Professional learning communities (PLCs), teams of teachers organized by subject area, grade level or professional development interest, allow teachers to come together to collaborate, share ideas, reflect on best practices and offer one another feedback. We recommend that states and districts promote PLCs not just as a forum for professional development and collaboration, but as a strategy for implementing formative teaching evaluation systems that drive a results-oriented profession. PLCs must:

• Promote leadership in which teachers and administrators share decision-making
• Encourage collective creativity and solve common problems
• Create conditions that include ample time and access to necessary resources
• Require colleagues to open their classrooms for peer observation, discussion, and critique
• Sustain a strong focus on student success, and expect teachers to enforce standards of effective teaching among team members

To learn more about the Washington NMI, contact Alesha Daughtrey at adaughtrey@teachingquality.org.