Capturing the Dimensions of Effective Teaching: Student Achievement Gains, Student Surveys, and Classroom Observations
In this article, Thomas Kane describes findings from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project, the largest study of instructional practice ever conducted. So far, the findings of the project reveal that for teacher evaluation systems should rely on multiple indicators (e.g., classroom observations, study surveys) rather than a single indicator (e.g., student achievement gains on state assessments). Kane also discusses how the MET findings have a number of implications to provide more meaningful feedback to teachers.
This article makes a compelling argument for including three measures of teacher effectiveness in combination: student achievement scores, teacher observations, and student surveys. Together they provide a generally reliable and valid measure of teacher effectiveness. Additionally, the teacher observations can be used as a source of data for teacher improvement and the student surveys can be used in untested subjects in a cost efficient manner.