Missing Link in the Teacher Quality Debate

Spurred by new evidence of the importance of effective teaching to student achievement, education policymakers are seeking out new teacher compensation systems and other ways to ratchet up teacher quality. Nearly two dozen governors have proposed performance-based teacher pay plans this year, and teacher compensation reform has already surfaced in the 2008 presidential campaign.

But today's teacher quality debate has neglected a key barrier to teacher and school reform: the troubled state of teacher evaluation in much of public education. Education Sector Co-director Thomas Toch and Robert Rothman of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform address in a forthcoming Education Sector report the causes, consequences, and solutions to public education's failure to measure teacher performance.

The event featured:

Chris Cerf, Deputy Chancellor, New York City Department of Education

Kai Ivory, Teacher, DC Preparatory Academy

Ray Pecheone, Co-executive Director, School Redesign Network, Stanford University

Marcia Reback, Vice President, American Federation of Teachers, President, Rhode Island Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals

Thomas Toch, Co-director, Education Sector, and

Elena Silva, Senior Policy Analyst, Education Sector (as moderator)

This project was made possible with grants from KnowledgeWorks Foundation and The W.T. Grant Foundation.