Evaluating America’s Teachers

When teacher evaluations are fair, everyone wins.

Poor evaluation systems don’t just hurt teachers—they hurt students, too. That’s why America can’t afford to wait for the teacher-evaluation problem to be solved. To provide balanced, accurate, and rigorous evaluations that take into account each teacher’s particular circumstances, only one system can work: evidence-governed collegial judgment.

As states and schools scramble to find workable responses to accountability mandates, well-informed educators can make key contributions. Start here with

• A discussion of common evaluation systems, including testing, value-added models, and observations
• Analysis of federal guidelines and state responses
• Action steps teachers and school leaders can take to influence policy
• A clear rationale and strategies for implementing a teacher evaluation model based on human judgment

Evaluating America’s Teachers demonstrates that the vision is possible: effective teacher evaluations that benefit schools as a whole.

_"Teachers, administrators, and policy makers rejoice! Here is a single book, from a nationally recognized scholar, that makes sense of the issues involved with the evaluation of teachers."
_—David C. Berliner, Regents’ Professor Emeritus
Arizona State University

_"Once again Jim Popham has brought insight and clarity to a complex topic that only a person of his stature and expertise could provide."
_—Robert J. Marzano, CEO
Marzano Research Laboratory

_"In an effective and diplomatic manner, Jim suggests concrete ways policymakers, along with local school leaders and teachers, can make sure our students are protected from summative teacher-evaluation systems that do more harm than good. No one should make policy at any level or strive to build a defensible teacher evaluation system without studying this book."
_—Rick Stiggins, Retired Executive Director
Assessment Training Institute