In Defense of Colorado Teacher Reform

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/04/05/in-defense-of-teacher-evaluation-reform.html



Take-Aways
- New law wiped out "an arcane and ineffective evaluation and tenure system.
-  It required annual performance evaluations, ensured tenure was earned and not guaranteed, ended seniority-based layoffs, and did away with forced placement of teachers into schools where they neither wanted to be nor fit well.
- Main objective:  "was to open a policy window around evaluation and tenure to promote local innovation and improve human-capital practices.

- Teachers feels they are receiving frequent, meaningful feedback about performance.
- "Now it's really about teaching and learning systems that support continuous improvement both for teachers and principals and also for the profession."
- PARCC and Smarter Balance exams are just rolling out.  Locally developed assessment are still being validated.  Such delays are not an indication of failure but the result of the "need to make sure the academic-growth data educators are held accountable to are fair, reliable, and measure student learning.