Using Teacher Evaluation Reform and Professional Development to Support Common Core Assessments
In this report, Peter Youngs, an associate professor of educational policy at Michigan State University, discusses the efforts to develop and implement Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and assessments and outlines how past attempts to enact standards-based reform have been impeded by limitations in teacher evaluation. Youngs states that new approaches to teacher evaluation, combined with comprehensive professional development for teachers and school leaders and changes in the organization and capacities of school districts, can “support the types of teacher knowledge acquisition and changes in instructional practices called for by the Common Core Standards and assessments” (p. 5). This report includes several recommendations for how schools and districts can use the previously stated new approaches to support the classroom implementation of the CCSS and to measure and promote rigorous instruction.
This report is valuable for various education stakeholders as they attempt to better understand issues around teacher evaluation related to the CCSS. This report provides very practical, research-based recommendations for implementing effective teacher evaluation systems; an example of a state’s implementation practice; and descriptions of various measures the author recommends should be included in a fair and reliable evaluation system for teachers.