Dive Brief:
- Over the last year and a half, the Obama administration has allowed states more latitude in how they implement teacher evaluation systems, as part of the No Child Left Behind waiver system, Education Week reports.
- Teacher evaluation systems, a core part of the administration's waiver requirements have been a sticking point for states.
- In the past year, two states, Arkansas and Massachusetts, have gotten extended timelines to tie teacher evaluations to state tests, timelines that extend past the 2016 election and place enforcement in the hands of a future president. Others have slightly longer rollouts than past waivers as well.
Dive Insight:
The shift in policy marks a change from the administration's hard-nosed push for test-based teacher accountability. Washington state lost its waiver last year after it failed to link teacher evaluations to new state tests. Other states had their waivers delayed for setting long implementation timelines.
But it may be more realistic. Neither of the NCLB rewrites currently in Congress include language that would continue to link teacher accountability to state testing, making it unlikely the practice would continue after 2016. That could change if the current effort fails and Congress returns to the drawing board. But given the unpopularity of the practice, it seems unlikely.