Chicago's new teacher evaluation system deeply flawed
[Editor's Note: The following brief critique of the new teacher evaluation system in Chicago from Stephen Krashen was published in the Chicago Sun-Times as a letter to the editor on April 1, 2012. It is reprinted here with Dr. Krashen's permission].
Teacher-rating plan flawed
The Chicago Public Schools have decided that student test scores gains will be used as part of teacher evaluation ["Teacher ratings overhaul forges on despite lack of union approval," March 31].
Everything is wrong with this plan. A number of studies have shown that rating teachers using test score gains does not give consistent results. Different tests produce different ratings, and the same teacher’s ratings can vary from year to year, sometimes quite a bit.
In addition, using test score gains for evaluation encourages gaming the system, trying to produce increases in scores by teaching test-taking strategies, not by encouraging real learning.
This is like putting a match under the thermometer and claiming you have raised the temperature of the room.
We are all interested in finding the best ways of evaluating teachers, but using student test-score gains is a lousy way to do it.
