Zac Kunzer

English 1102
Professor Hughes
5/7/15
Teacher Evaluation
In recent years the feud over basing teacher evaluation on their
students standardized tests has escalated greatly. The United States
government prefers policies to that are based on standardized test scores to
evaluate teacher performance. According to Patrick Welsh, a teacher at T.C.
Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, President Obamas Race to the
Top grant program has standardized tests scores at the heart of the program
(Welsh). The government wants to be sure students are receiving the
education they deserve and are holding teachers more accountable for what
happens in their classroom. Nearly every state has some sort of policy
evaluating teacher performance on standardized tests scores and from the
looks of it these polices arent going anywhere. If anything these policies are
going to spread and could possibly become the only way teachers are
evaluated. Currently these policies are only about forty percent of what
determines a teachers performance.
Teachers are not very happy with these policies because their jobs are
more vulnerable now. Teacher curriculum is not as free as it used to be.
Teachers must focus on preparing each student for standardized testing
because those test scores are what picks out poor teachers from great

teachers. At least thats the way the government views what they think is a
fair way to evaluate teachers. Both sides of this argument have been very
aggressive with their ideas. A majority of teachers would prefer to have their
performance evaluated in a different way. But unfortunately since the
government gets to make these decisions, those policies are staying in place.
The main objective of teacher evaluation based on standardized test
scores is to keep teachers accountable for how well they teach in the
classroom. A good way to put it is in the words of Michelle Rhee, the public
school chancellor in Washington, D.C. Rhee says, In order to have the
privilege of teaching kids you have to be able to show you can significantly
move their academic achievement levels and if you cant show that you need
to find another profession (Hanford). As harsh as Rhees statement may
sound it is a good example of why the government has put these evaluation
policies in place. By holding teachers accountable for their students test
scores the government can be sure every student is receiving the attention
they need to succeed and to weed out the complacent teachers not giving all
their effort to prepare students for the next grade level.
Many politicians would agree with Rhee. Those in favor of these
evaluation policies can all agree that it is a fair system and that teachers are
not being cheated out of jobs. The New York times supports this idea that it is
a fair system because they say, a value-added analysis compares teachers by
evaluating the progress of each individual student in their classrooms against that student's own
progress in earlier school years. By comparing a student's achievement only to his or her own

record, the value-added approach takes into account such factors as poverty and learning
disabilities, over which an individual teacher has no control (Clemmit). So to sum up the point
made by the New York Times, these policies are not meant to hurt teachers. They take into
account the factors that affect student scores because those who wrote these polices know that
there are certain factors that cant be controlled when it comes to testing.
Many teachers have taken advantage of these polices to take a look at their teaching and
their students and work to better the way they handle their classroom. Teachers are now paying
more attention to every student in the classroom. In an article by Valerie Strauss she talks about
benefits and disadvantages of these policies. One of the advantage she points out is that,
Reformers can certainly point to teachers who say that the pressure of standardized testing has
been useful, has forced them to pay attention to students they previously ignored, and could rid
their schools of lazy and incompetent teachers (Strauss). Now that teachers are being held
accountable for every students education they are more focused on giving the special attention
needed to those students that struggle. Many would say these policies are doing their job and
teachers are taking the initiative to see to it that every student succeeds and can have continued
success moving on to each grade level.
While those in favor of these polices are seeing improvement in schools and teacher
performance, it is upsetting those teachers who are succeeding and those who are not. Many feel
that the pressure is so great that it has led them to narrow and manipulate the curriculum to
match the test, now teachers tend to cover only what is likely to be on the next exam (Fairtest).
This idea that teachers are only teaching test material puts students at a disadvantage from
learning everything they need to know that isnt on standardized tests. Now those polices that

were created to help students are starting to build up disadvantages and limiting what can be
learned in the classroom
Those who disagree with the idea that teachers should be evaluated based on their
students scores, also believe that it takes away from the joy of teaching. Teachers are now
regulated by what the government thinks should be learned in the classroom. One woman who
agrees that teaching is losing its joy is Nancie Atwell. Atwell is a language arts teacher at the
Center for Learning and Teaching in Edgewood, Maine. She won the Global Teacher prize on
March 15th this year, and she feels as though the teaching profession has become constrained
by the Common Core Standards and schools emphasis on standardized tests as the way to
determine how good a teachers classroom performance is. In an interview with CNN shortly
after the award ceremony, Atwell said, Public school teachers are so constrained by commoncore standards and tests that are developed to monitor what teachers are doing with them, if you
are a creative, smart young person I dont think this is the time to go into teaching unless an
independent school would suit you (Moeny). Teachers believe that teaching has become so
constricted to teaching test material, that teaching professionals such as Atwell are now
discouraging students from joining their job field.
As teachers become more constricted by standardized test policies, students are becoming
a part of this situation. In a 2014 survey given to teachers, it was found that, A school district in
the Southwest that awarded bonuses based on test scores found that many tried to avoid both
gifted students and those not yet proficient in English whose grades were tough to improve
(Porter). The fact that teachers are picking and choosing their students adds to Ms. Atwells
feelings that the teaching profession has become so constrained. These constraints are causing
teachers to be so worried about their career or getting a bonus check, that less fortunate students

are left behind without the best education. The less smart students are not getting the care and
attention they need because teachers are now picking all the smart kids for their class and the
teachers that could care less get the runts of the group which is not fair to those students.
Similarly to those teachers picking and choosing students, there are now teachers trying
to cheat the system. Teachers are changing students test scores to show improvement on their
teaching performance. In some states teachers are even getting jail time for their actions. In one
of the biggest teacher corruption cases, 11 educators from Atlanta were convicted of racketeering
by altering students test answers in March of this year (Blinder). The constrained teaching field
has now brought teachers to committing crime just to satisfy state requirements. There cant be
much joy in cheating, but for these teachers that is what they felt they needed to do.
Unfortunately it sets a very bad example for students and cheats them out of really knowing what
they need to improve on because their score may not be real. The constricted teaching field has
put a lot of pressure on teachers in recent years and is only getting worse with teachers cheating
the system.
So with so many people divided across America on this topic the question is how do we
make everyone happy? While it is quit a complex issue there is definitely a chance for
compromise. The main purpose of the policies is to benefit the students and see to it that every
student gets the best education possible. So to work towards better education of students the
teachers need to be happy doing their job. A change that could be made is reducing the percent of
how much standardized tests scores are used to evaluate teachers. This would take some of the
pressure off teachers and reduce the amount of teachers trying to cheat the system. It could also
give teachers some more freedom to not only teach to the test. If there is less teaching to the test

students will also benefit because they will be able to learn much more than just standardized test
material.
Secondly, standardized tests could be reformed to fit what teachers want to teach in their
curriculum and reduce time set aside for preparing students for the standardized tests. If there is
less time spent on standardized test prep students can learn many more things than standardized
test based material. Teachers will also not be on a time crunch to fit in standardized test material
if the tests are based on what they already have planned to teach their students for the year. With
a reform like this teachers will have much less stress on their shoulders along with the ability to
run their classroom on their own and not based on regulations set by the government.
To make both sides happy the government could put more weight of the evaluation in
other places besides standardized tests. A good place to start is by taking a look at teachers grade
books. By analyzing a teachers grade they can see if teachers are supplying the attention that
every student needs. If there are students with low grades in class by the end of the year that can
show that a teacher was not paying specific attention to those students. Therefore the government
is still able to evaluate teachers and see to it they are providing their students with the proper
education they deserve. With reforms like these to teacher evaluation everyone can benefit.
Teachers will feel less pressured and the government can still weed out the teachers who are
doing a poor job of preparing students for future grade levels and things they may face in their
own lives.

Works Cited
Blinder, Alan, Richard Prez-Pea, and Motoko Rich. "Atlanta Educators Are
Convicted of Racketeering." New York Times 02 Apr. 2015: A12+. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
Clemmitt, Marcia. "School Reform." CQ Researcher 29 Apr. 2011: 385-408. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
Hanford, Emily. "Testing Teachers." American RadioWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2015.
"How Standardized Testing Damages Education." Fairtest.org. N.p., 28 Aug. 2007. Web. 01
May 2015.
Moeny, Jordan. "Honored Educator Decries Current Climate For Teaching." Education
Week 34.26 (2015): 8. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
Porter, Eduardo. "Relying On Tests In Grading The Teacher." New York Times 25
Mar. 2015: B1+. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.
Strauss, Valerie. "What Research Really Says on Teacher Evaluation." Washington Post. The
Washington Post, 16 Sept. 2012. Web. 01 May 2015.
Welsh, Patrick. "Grading Teachers on Test Scores: Column." USAtoday, 4 June 2013. Web. 28
Apr. 2015