Evaluating Teacher Performance Should Be A National Initiative, Report Finds

From Diverseeducation.com
by Joyce Jones , October 20, 2010

Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond is an education professor at Stanford University.

WASHINGTON — Although more than 30 states are embracing the need to evaluate the nation’s elementary and secondary school students’ academic progress and achievement based on common-core standards, a similar consensus has not yet been built around a national set of standards and assessments, also based on common standards, to evaluate teacher competence and effectiveness.

But according to a report authored by Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, an education professor at Stanford University, there is evidence that raising the bar for licensure and creating a common standard for entry into the profession can make an enormous difference in teacher effectiveness and student learning. It is a lesson that most high-achieving nations learned long ago but one with which the United States continues to struggle even though it is critical to the success of school reform efforts.