Should Legislature Reform Teacher Evaluations?

In the editorial, “Legislature Should Reform Teacher Evaluations”, the writer suggests to a general audience, that legislature should be used to update the teacher evaluation form in order to encourage effective teachers. The new evaluation however may seem unfair to some, based on schools whose majority consists of a minority and which are at an academic disability compared with other schools with a greater participation rating. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel did not think this was unfair and pursued to “increase the percentage of a teacher’s evaluation that would be based on classroom performance data". However, Mayor Rahm Emanuel didn’t get the full percentage he wanted; student’s scores now effect teacher evaluations more than ever before.  Furthermore, Texas legislators sought to introduce a bill that would also require districts to include classroom performance in their teacher evaluations and it called for half of the evaluation to be based upon student data. To their dismay, the legislation never made it passed the house. On the other hand, Houston has already adopted a new teacher assessment and Dallas is currently working on theirs. Personally, I believe the idea of using a standardized test to evaluate a student’s success is ineffective. We need to provide environments and opportunities which allow children to be nurtured and flourish according to the many ways they learn. Teachers have lost the power to divert from standardized education and the power to deviate from real and true learning.  Reform in evaluating teachers must be accompanied by reviewing our goals for education.