Features

• When Parents and Students Grade Staff

  by JAY MATHEWS

  The growing use of client input in the performance evaluations of classroom teachers and administrators often incites skepticism, if not hostility, of staff. Jay Mathews is an education writer with The Washington Post.

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• Feedback at 360 Degrees

  by RICHARD P. MANATT

  Successful strategies for collecting meaningful input for performance evaluations of teachers and administrators requires more than a quick do-it-yourself approach. Richard Manatt is director of the School Improvement Model Center, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.read more | purchase issue
• Linking Teacher Pay to Student Scores

  by SCOTT LaFEE

  By attaching students’ test scores to performance evaluation and bonus payments, a suburban Philadelphia district becomes the latest to apply a business model to education.read more | purchase issue
• Paying for Employee Competence

  by HOWARD RISHER

  A senior fellow at the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School says rewarding school professionals for their capabilities may be an idea worth borrowing from the private sector.read more | purchase issue
• Confronting Institutional Mediocrity

  by CAROLINE E. TRIPP AND ALEXANDER D. PLATT

  Rooting out debilitating beliefs about second-rate teaching requires conviction and persistence from top leadership. Caroline Tripp is director of curriculum at Research for Better Teaching in Acton, Mass. Alexander Platt is senior consultant with Research for Better Teaching.read more | purchase issue
• The Human Dynamics of Personnel Evaluation

  by MARY JO McGRATH

  A veteran education attorney sees better alternatives than legislative or legal measures for responding to poorly performing teachers.read more | purchase issue
• Easing Dismissals and Non-Renewals

  by SUZANNE R. PAINTER

  Principals need central-office support, personally and professionally, if they are expected to take on subpar performers. Suzanne Painter is an assistant professor at the College of Education, Arizona State University West in Phoenix, Ariz.read more | purchase issue