Summary of "Expert Forum on the Evaluation of Teachers of English Language Learners." Forum Summary

In response to federal initiatives such as Race to the Top (RTTT), Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) flexibility waiver requests, and the Teacher Incentive Fund competition, states have made dramatic changes in their policies related to teacher evaluation during the past three years. Historically, teacher evaluation systems have been developed at the district level and have relied heavily on principals' assessments of teacher performance based on annual classroom observations. In contrast, Race to the Top requires states to create fair and transparent teacher evaluation systems that: (1) are developed in collaboration with teachers; (2) use multiple rating categories; and (3) include student growth data as a significant factor in determining teacher effectiveness. Evaluations of teachers must be conducted annually to inform decisions related to professional development, compensation, retention, tenure, certification, and removal. These requirements have also been included in the U.S. Department of Education's ESEA flexibility waiver request process. To qualify for these waivers, states must commit to developing and implementing a teacher evaluation system that will improve instruction and increase student learning. The evaluation system must: include at least three performance levels; use multiple measures of performance, including student growth; evaluate teachers on a regular basis; provide educators with constructive feedback; and use evaluation data to inform personnel decisions. In response to ESEA waiver and RTTT application requirements, states and districts across the country are currently designing and implementing new teacher evaluation systems. These systems are being developed at a rapid pace, and most have not fully addressed the challenges that are specific to evaluating teachers of English language learners (ELLs). In response to this need in the field, the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center) convened a forum of distinguished experts in December 2011 to discuss current efforts to develop evaluation systems designed to assess how well teachers of ELLs are educating these students. Forum participants worked to identify challenges to the development of these systems and to provide recommendations to states and districts for creating them. Appended are: (1) National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality Expert Forum on the Evaluation of Teachers of English Language Learners; and (2) National Comprehensive