Traditionally, teachers have been observed by their principal once a year, and evaluated solely on that one encounter. Long-time teachers would often go years without having an observation, or even a casual walk-through by an administrator. Fortunately, times are changing.

In North Carolina, we are in our second year of using a new teacher evaluation system, developed by Mid-continent Research for Education and Leadership. Through a series of rubrics, teachers are evaluated in five areas — leadership, respect for diversity, understanding the content they teach, the lessons they create and execute, and their reflection on their own teaching. Sub-topics include use of technology, global awareness, relationships with parents, and the use of data from standardized tests to drive instruction. It is a yearlong process that includes several observations, by principals and peers, conferences between administrators and teachers, and a collection of artifacts that teachers present to demonstrate the many things they do that may not be seen in an observation, which includes parent conferences, teacher collaboration, working with community organizations, professional development, committee work and much more.

This system is comprehensive and time-consuming but gives a clear, well-rounded sense of how well a teacher does his or her job. We have been told that test scores will soon be added to this process, and I am concerned with where we are headed. This seems to be a dangerous path. If this becomes the standard by which we are judged, I can imagine teachers “teaching to the test” at the expense of a well-balanced education. I have worked in schools, for example, that taught nothing but reading and math in third grade, because those were the tested areas for that year. No science was included until fifth grade, because that is when students are tested in this subject. The students might pass those tests, but what kind of education are they getting? And what will become of the low-performing schools? No good teachers will want to go there. How does this serve the students?

Yes, there are poor teachers who need to be weeded out, but this should be done based on the work they do throughout the year. Teachers need to be held accountable for 180 days of teaching to prepare the student for that testing moment, not for that moment itself.