The Teacher/Principal Evaluation System will be test piloted in four school districts in PA.

Great teachers and education leaders are critical to advancing student learning. In fact, research has demonstrated that an effective teacher is the single most important factor impacting student achievement.

All students deserve to be educated by effective teachers. To achieve this requires a quality evaluation system that is designed with the goal of improving teacher performance and increasing student access to effective instruction. Such a system recognizes exceptional educators, helps those in need of improvement, and results in a better understanding of what practices drive student achievement.

Team Pennsylvania Foundation is helping to lead a statewide effort to develop a teacher evaluation system.

Through the Phase I Teacher Evaluation Committee, which is being administered by Team PA in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and funded through the generous support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Pennsylvania developed tools for observing teacher practice and piloted in Allentown, Cornell and Mohawk school districts and Northwest Tri-Community Intermediate Unit 5. The summary of the Phase I Teacher Evaluation pilot and reports can be found here.

Our work has caught the attention of the State Legislature, which has introduced bills concerning this initiative. Read more on how legislation would drastically alter the antiquated teacher evaluation system in Pennsylvania.

This work has led to a second phase pilot launched in October of 2011 involving over 5,000 teachers in more than 100 school districts.

Read our coverage on this important initiative.