The implementation of the Massachusetts educator evaluation system was phased in starting in 2013. The chart shows how many teachers were evaluated in each of the past five years, the percentage of teachers evaluated and the percentage of teachers who have been rated “Proficiency” or “Exemplary” by their evaluators
- Since 2012-13, the number of teachers who have been evaluated annual has doubled, with almost 70,000 teachers, representing 96% of all teachers, being evaluated under this system.
- In 2016-17, 96% of teachers were rated “Exemplary” or “Proficient.” This figure has been quite consistent since 2012-13 with small increases occurring each year.
Why all this work for no new information?
The current system for educator evaluation in Massachusetts was established in 2011 to meet requirements for the Race to the Top federal grant program. The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved new state regulations to implement these requirements for the evaluation of all educators. Consequently, when the Race to the Top grant funding ended, the Massachusetts regulations continued to remain in effect.
Additionally, not only are the RTTT requirements obsolete, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), approved by Congress in 2015, contained a provision that prohibits the US Secretary of Education from “mandating, directing or controlling…the development of any teacher, principal or other school leader evaluation system…”
While the current MA educator evaluation system was created to comply with federal requirements, those requirements no longer exist. The BESE and the DESE have the authority to review the existing system and make the changes needed to address issues of burdensome requirements, eliminate parts that have no value value and prevent the misuse that educators across the state have identified in local evaluation implementation.