Do New Evaluation Systems Favor Younger Teachers?

 Across the country, school districts are figuring how (and whether) to incorporate multiple measures into teacher evaluation systems. In 2009, DC Public Schools unveiled IMPACT, one of the first evaluation systems in the country to incorporate student test scores in teacher ratings. “The D.C. IMPACT system, originally developed under former Chancellor Michelle Rhee, is a rigid, numerically based teacher evaluation system that rates teachers on the basis of classroom observations and student performance data” (Headden, “Inside IMPACT”). The implementation of IMPACT has led to the firing of many educators, put hundreds on notice, and left the rest either encouraged and re-energized, or frustrated and scared, says Headden in Inside Impact.

            Bill Turque’s article, “IMPACT: Does it Favor Younger Teachers?” raises some interesting questions related to the DC evaluation system for teachers. His report hints at a trend that the best teachers improve quickly in their first few years on the job and then hit a kind of plateau. His age data also suggests that younger teachers may have an easier time navigating the IMPACT system.

            The most telling tale from this data depicts the attrition rate common to teachers across America in large, urban public school systems. The plateau of teacher improvement and high rates of teacher turnover may reflect the daily struggles that teachers encounter within these large school systems. High rates of student failure, low feelings of adequacy and appreciation among teachers, and constant fear of not making test score benchmarks leads to high teacher burnout and cynicism.

The easy conclusion to draw is that as we continue to reform America’s failing school system, we must find a way to keep good teachers from burning out. The more pressing and difficult question is how? How are evaluation systems, such as IMPACT in DC Public Schools, supporting educators in their professional growth and enabling them to increase student achievement? On a larger level, how sustainable is standards-based reform, and to what extent is it actually working and actually educating our children?