Editorial: Use Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers' Performance
With Gov. Jim Doyle's signature on a school reform bill now dry, Wisconsin can make its case for some of the $4.5 billion President Obama is offering to improve education in the U.S.
The bill Doyle signed Monday allows the state to use the results of standardized student test scores in teacher evaluations. Wisconsin was one of two states that prohibited including test results in assessing teacher performance.
However, the bill, which was approved by a single vote, prohibits school districts from using the scores to discipline or fire teachers.
While the bill as passed will put the state in line to cash in on federal money that can improve education throughout the state, the issue of teacher evaluation may be more important in the long run.
We think school districts should have the ability to use any and all tools available when evaluating the quality of teachers. Student scores on standardized tests should be one of those tools.
School districts already rely on observations of teacher performance in the classroom and other criteria to determine whether to retain or fire a teacher. Why shouldn't test scores be included?
Opponents will argue that these scores are often determined by factors outside the teacher's control. True, but test scores would only be part of the evaluation, not the sole basis. Socio-economic conditions should also be part of the evaluation process.
Student performance should also be a factor in teacher pay, the same way advance degrees, national certification or continuing education determines how much a teacher will earn. Presumably, teachers will point to good test scores to win a higher rate of pay. Shouldn't the opposite follow if the test scores are poor?
If the goal of a school district is to attract and retain the best teachers, pay is an important consideration. Factors such as class size and available educational resources are important to prospective teachers, but nearly every job is valued by the rate of pay and teachers are no different.
We don't doubt that it can be difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of a teacher. Unlinke a manufacturing process, there are few tangible measurements that can be used to rate teachers.
But test scores are one, and should be one of many factors on which a teacher's classrom performance can be graded.
And teachers' unions should not stand in the way of weeding out treachers who under-perform in the classroom.
This is an opportunity for teachers' unions and school districts to jointly deveop sound and reasonable policies regarding teacher evaluation.
Such a cooperative effort is the best way to keep the best teachers in the classroom.
