A Poll in Which Teachers are “Graded” 

In this article in Education Next, Michael Henderson, Paul Peterson, and Martin West report the results of a recent poll on educational issues. Among the findings [some others were covered in Marshall Memo 559] were opinions on the proficiency of American public-school teachers. Representative samples of the general population and of teachers were asked to anonymously give overall A-B-C-D-F grades to teachers in their local public schools. The ratings of teachers by the general population:

A – 25%

B – 26%

C – 25%

D – 13%

F – 9%

The ratings of teachers by other teachers:

A – 41%

B – 28%

C – 18%

D – 8%

F – 5%

Henderson, Peterson, and West note that teachers gave higher “grades” to their colleagues, but were struck by the fact that the percent of teachers deemed unsatisfactory (grades of D or F) was quite high for both samples: 22 percent among the general population and 13 percent among teachers. Both figures are considerably above the percent of unsatisfactory ratings given by principals using new performance evaluation systems.

“No Common Opinion on the Common Core” by Michael Henderson, Paul Peterson, and Martin West in Education Next, Winter 2015 (Vol. 15, #1, p. 8-19), www.educationnext.org

From the Marshall Memo #563