The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) has released a pair of memos highlighting how annual teacher evaluations and assessments have worked together to significantly impact student success in Tennessee.¶
According to a news release emailed to Tennessee Firefly, the two memos titled “Teacher Evaluation: Driving Improved Instruction and Student Achievement” and “Standards and Assessment: Setting High Expectations and Monitoring Progress” mark the launch of a new memo series dubbed “Policy Pillars: Supporting What Works,” which will examine how state initiatives have worked to improve student performance.¶
The first two memos on evaluations and assessments come after state House leaders proposed significantly scaling back teacher evaluations and student assessments in their version of the Education Freedom Scholarship plan. Supporters of the House plan argue that the decrease in testing and evaluation will give teachers more hours to focus on instruction.¶
SCORE's memo focusing on teacher evaluations noted that Tennessee’s foundational commitments to evaluating educators and providing high-quality feedback “have led to increasingly effective instruction and significant advances in student achievement.” It said evaluations also play a critical role in planning for professional development, determining classroom assignments, awarding tenure status, and making decisions relating to promotions, retention and compensation.¶
“Without teacher evaluation, there would be no basis on which to implement these essential strategies,” the memo read.¶
According to the memo, a study by the Tennessee Education Research Alliance (TERA) at Vanderbilt University found that student performance in Tennessee districts increased at a much faster rate after evaluation reform. In addition, it said, evidence shows that Tennessee teachers’ positive perceptions have grown over time, with a 43-percentage point increase of teachers agreeing that evaluations led to improvements in student learning from 2012-19. On the most recent Tennessee Educator Survey, nearly 80 percent of Tennessee teachers agreed or strongly agreed that the evaluation process has led to improvements in their teaching.¶
The memo recommended that Tennessee should preserve its evaluation system “as a valuable tool for educators that drives improved student achievement.”“As Tennessee works to advance student achievement and outcomes, our state should also aim to bolster and strengthen its teacher evaluation system so that educators continue receiving high-quality feedback that will in turn benefit all students,” the memo read.¶
According to the memo relating to assessments, annual Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) assessments and end-of-course exams play a critical role in measuring student proficiency and growth and giving students and families transparent information about college and career readiness. It said these assessments are also important for informing instruction and academic intervention strategies. It noted that following the implementation of state academic standards and aligned assessments to hold students to higher expectations, student performance across the state has gradually improved, with Tennessee “no longer at the bottom of the pack in national comparisons.” ¶
The memo added that Tennessee’s academic performance notably stood out as one of the “fastest growing in the nation.”¶
The memo said that foundational policies that monitor performance and guide improvement strategies “are more important than ever” as Tennessee continues investments to bolster student outcomes.“Tennessee should maintain high expectations through rigorous academic standards and aligned assessments that reflect student preparation for school, careers, and life. Moving forward, the state should also commit to better connecting education and work data and making data insights about long-term student success more accessible and actionable for all Tennesseans,” the memo read.¶
