Mapping America’s teacher evaluation plans under ESSA

Abstract

In 2016, the federal government proposed and adopted the Every Student Succeeds Act, which retracted the federal government’s prior control over states’ teacher evaluation systems, permitting more local control. Kevin Close, Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, and Clarin Collins collected information from states to determine the degree to which states were shifting away from the value-added models (VAMs) that were ascendant under No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top and to understand what kinds of evaluation methods they are employing instead. States do appear to be moving slowly away from VAMs, continuing to use teacher observations, and incorporating student learning objectives as growth measures. Local control and more formative use of teacher evaluations also appear to be on the rise.