A Policy Research Brief produced by the National Council of Teachers of English Evaluating English / Language Arts Teachers

Educators, politicians, the general public—everyone wants excellent teachers in our nation’s classrooms. Teachers want to be held to high standards, teacher educators want to inspire quality teaching in prospective teachers, educational researchers want to ascertain the most effective methods for evaluating teachers, and community members and policymakers want to make sure American teachers challenge students to achieve and become future leaders. This attention to teacher quality is justified because research has long acknowledged that teachers are the single most important factor when it comes to student learning.1 However, recent expressions of concern about teacher quality and Race to the Top legislation have led to policies that define teacher quality in terms of student performance on standardized tests. As of October 2011, 24 states require that determinations of teacher quality include measures of student achievement, and 13 of these states require that student standardized test scores be the majority determinant of teacher quality.2 Defining teacher quality in terms of student test scores has a significant impact on the evaluation of English/language arts teachers. Accordingly, this brief interrogates teacher quality, including the meanings attached to it and ways of evaluating it. This brief also offers approaches that will support policymakers, researchers, and educators in their common pursuit of excellent teaching in our nation’s classrooms.