Good teachers are crucial to student learning, but just how do you measure a teacher’s effectiveness? That’s something many districts in Illinois and around the country are grappling with as new laws prompted by Race to the Top go into effect.
Last week, Chicago Public Schools released its new plan for evaluating teachers after months of unsuccessful negotiations between the district and the Chicago Teachers Union. The new system will factor in improvements in student test scores to rate teachers, a move that doesn’t sit well with the Chicago Teachers Union.
So what do we know about what makes a good teacher, and what’s the best way to gauge a teacher’s skills? We’ll put those questions and more to Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Senior Fellow Thomas Toch and Sara Ray Stoelinga from the University of Chicago’s Urban Education Institute on the Afternoon Shift today just after 2:00pm.