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Teacher evaluation models to be tested in Michigan

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In 2011, a new teacher tenure law was put in place by the Michigan Legislature and Gov. Snyder. It called for teacher evaluations, but it didn't specify how these evaluations should be done.

Now the panel put in charge of figuring that out will test 4 national teacher evaluation models in 14 Michigan school districts.

More from Lori Higgins of the Detroit Free Press:

At the end of the nearly $5-million pilot, the Michigan Council on Educator Effectiveness -- a panel formed out of a controversial, year-old law that overhauled the teacher tenure process -- will decide what should be adopted statewide. Deborah Loewenberg Ball, council chairwoman, said it takes seriously its charge to design a "fair, reliable and feasible approach" to teacher and administrator evaluations. "This pilot is crucial to that work and to the future of Michigan's K-12 schools because it will allow us to learn about educator evaluation as it takes place in real school settings," said Ball, dean of the School of Education at the University of Michigan.

Higgins writes the four models that will be tested are:

  1. The Marzano Teacher Evaluation Model
  2. The Charlotte Danielson framework for teaching
  3. The Five Dimensions of Teaching and Learning
  4. The Thoughtful Classroom

Some professionals are skeptical that more evaluation will help. In the Freep article, Tom Pedroni of Oakland University said evaluations like these are "'part and parcel of an attack on teachers and public education' and ignores the impact childhood poverty has on student achievement."

Mark Brush was the station's Digital Media Director. He succumbed to a year-long battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in March 2018. He was 49 years old.
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