Supporting Effective Teaching in Tennessee:
Listening and Gathering Feedback on Tennessee’s Teacher Evaluations
While Tennessee has shown early signs of success in preparing students for the rigors of postsecondary education and
the workforce, significant work remains to ensure policy changes create positive results for our students. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data released in 2011 indicated that although there was no statistical change in the
state’s fourth and eighth grade reading and math scores from 2009, other states made improvements during this period
that pushed Tennessee further down in the rankings. (Tennessee currently ranks 46th among states in math proficiency
levels and 41st in reading, based on fourth-grade results.) Similarly, only 15 percent of students are considered college-ready
across all four ACT college benchmarks (English, reading, math, and science).3
These education outcomes have implications not only for our students’ futures, but for the economic strength of our
state. The ability for our students to be prepared for college and high-quality jobs and for our state to attract business
investments rests on the quality of our public education system.
While the work is difficult, the pathway to improvement is clear. Research shows that effective teaching is the most
important school-based factor in improving student growth and achievement.4 In order to help teachers improve, they
need meaningful and ongoing feedback on their performance. This feedback must be closely linked to supports and
training that help teachers learn, build on their strengths, and address their areas for development.5
Tennessee’s Teacher Evaluation System
In the past, meaningful feedback for teachers has been an important missing link in the efforts to improve instruction
in classrooms across Tennessee. Under the old system, tenured teachers could go years without evaluations and the feedback they needed to improve instruction. While the state did not routinely collect evaluation results from districts under
the previous system, the vast majority of teachers were typically deemed to be performing at high levels. In such cases,
evaluations failed to effectively differentiate teachers and were inconsistent with student educational outcomes.6 To address
this issue, Tennessee’s First to the Top plan prioritizes improving the state’s system of providing feedback to teachers.
Old Teacher Evaluation System
Evaluation was based on classroom observations,
teacher self-reflection, and a review of teachers’
professional growth
Evaluation is based on multiple measures, including
classroom observations, student achievement data, and
student growth data
Teachers with less than three years of experience were
formally evaluated once a year. Teachers who had taught
three years or more were formally evaluated twice over a
10-year period
All teachers receive a formal annual evaluation
Teachers with two years of experience were observed
three times each year. Teachers with three or more years
of experience were observed two times during the year
they were evaluated
Teachers without a professional license receive six
observations each year (with the option of combining a
portion of the observations for a minimum total of four classroom visits). Teachers with a professional license receive four
observations each year (with the option of combining a
portion of the observations for a minimum total of two classroom visits). Half of the observations must be unannounced
Teachers received one of four ratings: Unsatisfactory,
Level A – Developing, Level B – Proficient, and Level
C – Advanced
Evaluations differentiate teachers into one of five
effectiveness groups, from significantly above
expectations to significantly below expectations
Evaluators were required to provide teachers feedback
after each observation cycle, which ranged from three
times a year to four times in a decade
All teachers receive timely feedback from observations
throughout the year
Evaluations were not required to be used to inform
pers onnel decisions
2
New Teacher Evaluation System
Evaluations are used to inform human capital decisions,
including professional development, assignment,
promotion, tenure, and compensation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY