Gov. Phil Bredesen’s proposed changes to teacher evaluations have raised concerns among teachers unions in rural Marion and Sequatchie counties.
The governor called a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly this week in hopes of passing reforms in time to qualify for federal Race to the Top funds. Tennessee could get as much as $485 million.
Gov. Bredesen has said teacher and principal evaluations, tenure and pay should be based at least 50 percent on student achievement. The Tennessee Education Association had held out for 35 percent, but agreed Wednesday to the 50 percent mark.
“Of this number, only 35 percent will be based on value-added scores,” TEA President Earl Whitman said in a statement. “The remaining 15 percent will be based on data sources selected from a menu of items and collaboratively determined by the teacher and principal.”
But the compromise wasn’t reassuring to Melissa Cordell, president of the Sequatchie County Education Association, which is represented by the TEA.
“Teachers have expressed to me that there are so many factors affecting a child’s performance,” Mrs. Cordell said. “Some we can control, some we can’t. It’s hard to see how such a high percentage will show how good a teacher actually is at his or her job.”
She also noted that, at this point, evaluation guidelines haven’t been made clear to teachers.
“We feel like this is so vague,” she said. “How will the evaluations be done? Will it be every teacher every year? That will have to be explained to us.”
Marion County Education Association President Bobby McCulley said that county’s educators prefer the compromise to the initial proposal.
“It is not quite as gloomy as everybody thought in the beginning,” said Mr. McCulley, “but they still haven’t explained much about it and, until the details are figured out, there will be concerns among educators.”
Mr. McCulley added that for the new system of evaluation to be successful, there would have to be a method to ensure evenhanded application of standards that take into account each school district’s distinct needs and situation.
“Every school has its own culture and you have to have varied means of evaluation to accurately show success,” she said. “They will have to observe those factors affecting a child’s education that we as educators have no control over.”