Memphis City Schools students will get to grade their teachers

By Jane Roberts

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Starting this fall, city school teachers will be evaluated not only on what they know but how effective their students think they are.

On Tuesday, the state Board of Education unanimously approved the district's evaluation rubric, created largely by a panel of Memphis teachers working on the task since October 2009.

Instead of relying on a principal's observation of a teacher's performance, the Memphis model incorporates stakeholder perceptions and tests of how well teachers actually know their subject area.

"No other district in the country is doing it this way," Deputy Supt. Irving Hamer said.

"We understand this is the best and most effective way to evaluate teacher work. It is the anchor piece of our plan," he said, adding that state approval is "a major acknowledgement of the work that is going on here."

Student and content knowledge will each count for 5 percent of a teacher's evaluation. The remainder will be a mix of test scores (35 percent), principal observation (40 percent), and other measures of student achievement (15 percent).

Keith Williams, president of the Memphis Teachers Association, said the union agrees that teachers need to be evaluated on multiple measures. But he cited concerns with how accurate student perceptions will be.

"How well can a first- or second-grader do on this? Will it be favoritism? Will it be based on popularity or will it be some objective data?" he asked.

Until now, teachers have been evaluated entirely on a principal's observation. Tenured teachers were observed once every five years. Under the new law, they will be observed four times a year, and test scores will comprise half the performance review.

New teachers will be observed six times a year.

Teachers have options to prove competency, including GPA from the highest degree they received or the score from one of two state-approved teacher exams.

There is no reliable way to poll parents, so the district will rely entirely on student perceptions for now.

The state board approved two other models that do not assess content knowledge or stakeholder perception. With the approval, any district in Tennessee may use the Memphis model.