Recent test results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate that states with aggressive teacher evaluation plans outpace the nation.
In an op-ed, the New York Daily News notes that Washington D.C. and Tennessee have seen improvements in teacher performance due to evaluation systems that hold teachers accountable:
In 2009, the school district in the nation’s capital, then led by Michelle Rhee, put in place a bold, mega-controversial teacher evaluation system that systematically rated instructors, rewarded top performers with bonuses of up to $25,000 and gave low performers a year to improve or find another line of work.
The Daily News calls for newly elected mayor Bill de Blasio and United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew to implement similar policies in NYC:
The two must not be allowed to rob the city’s kids of the best hope in a generation of getting a high-quality teacher in every classroom.