Global Breaking News - Sunday, October 4, 2026

Can a Few Years’ Data Reveal Bad Teachers?

With years of data, it seems possible to distinguish good teachers from poor ones. Does that indicate that, after collecting two or three years’ data on each new hire, districts should be using test scores for decisions about firings, tenure and pay?

 2~3년의 새로운 선생님에 대한 자료를 수집한 후, (학교)구역들은 시험 점수를, 해고, 재임 기간,
급여를 결정하는데 사용해야 하나요?

* The Value of Test Scores
Like batting averages in baseball, value-added data can be a useful statistic even though it’s not perfect.
 
* Let's Not Rush Into Value-Added Evaluations
Some teachers are ineffective at first but improve as they age, while others start strong but then burn out.
 
* Test Scores Are Only a Snapshot
Teachers need to be held accountable for 180 days of teaching, not for the one day students were tested.
 
* We Know Which Teachers to Fire
The ability to discern good teachers from bad must be accompanied by the power to push out the bad.
 
* Results Are In; How Will We Respond?
Good teachers get good results. But African-American, Latino and low-income students are far less likely to have access to the best teachers.
 
* Use the Data, but Constructively
Teachers have always intuitively known that what we do has far-reaching impact. Performance measures should help us to do more and better.