Designing and Implementing the Next Generation of Teacher Evaluation Systems: Lessons Learned from Case Studies in Five Illinois Districts - Paperback

by Jennifer R. Cowhy (Author), W. David Stevens (Author), Susan E. Sporte (Author)

Teacher evaluation is a pressing issue for school personnel and district administrators across the country, as an increasing number of states mandate that their districts develop and implement new evaluation systems. In 2010, Illinois enacted the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA), requiring every district in the state to adopt new teacher evaluation systems by 2016-17 that address both teacher performance and student growth. "Designing and Implementing the Next Generation of Teacher Evaluation Systems" examines the experiences of five case study districts in north, central, and southern Illinois - representing a variety of evaluation approaches, each at different stages of planning and implementation - as they designed and implemented new teacher evaluation systems to fulfill the requirements of PERA. Based on qualitative interviews with members of each district's evaluation committee, the brief provides a snapshot of how districts assessed and dealt with challenges around cultivating buy-in and understanding; using evaluations for instructional improvement; and reducing the burden on principals. In addition, it examines the on-going challenge of incorporating measures of student growth into teacher evaluation systems. The challenges faced by these early adopter districts and the strategies they used to overcome them are relevant to other districts as they engage in their own design and implementation processes.

Author Biography

BRADFORD R. WHITE is a Senior Researcher with the Illinois Education Research Council located at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where his work focuses on supporting effective teachers and principals throughout Illinois. JENNIFER COWHY is a Research Assistant at UChicago CCSR. She received her BA with distinction from the University of Michigan and is currently pursuing an MPP and an MA from the University of Chicago's Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy and School of Social Service Administration. W. DAVID STEVENS is Director for Research Engagement at UChicago CCSR. He received his PhD in sociology from Northwestern University. SUSAN E. SPORTE is Director for Research Operations at UChicago CCSR. She serves as the main point of contact with Chicago Public Schools regarding data sharing and research priorities; she also oversees UChicago CCSR's data archive. The University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (UChicago CCSR) builds the capacity for school reform by conducting research that identifies what matters for student success and school improvement. Created in 1990 after the passage of the Chicago School Reform Act that decentralized governance of the city's public schools, UChicago CCSR conducts research of high technical quality that can inform and assess policy and practice in the Chicago Public Schools. UChicago CCSR studies also have informed broader national movements in public education. UChicago CCSR encourages the use of research in policy action and improvement of practice but does not argue for particular policies or programs. Rather, UChicago CCSR helps to build capacity for school reform by identifying what matters for student success and school improvement, creating critical indicators to chart progress, and conducting theory-driven evaluation to identify how programs and policies are working.