We examine whether one of the most popular observation systems in teacher evaluation--the Framework for Teaching (FFT)--captures the range of instructional skills teachers need to be effective. We focus on the case of special educators, who are likely to use instructional approaches that, although supported by research, are de-emphasized in common…

Collaborative school reforms and teacher evaluation reforms both show promise for improving teaching and learning in American schools. However, these reform movements have largely been implemented separately from each other, and because they are predicated on very different assumptions about how schools and teachers contribute to student learning,…

Danielson's Framework for Teaching (FFT) is currently used in more than 20 states to inform teacher evaluation and professional learning. To investigate whether FFT promotes instruction that appropriately responds to the needs of students with learning disabilities, we conduct a systematic content analysis of the instructional approach emphasized…

Educational policies addressing instruction may fail to acknowledge that effective instruction is not the same for all learners. We reviewed teacher evaluation systems across all states and the 25 largest districts to determine how states and districts approach the evaluation of special education teachers, a policy aimed at improving teaching…

Researchers and practitioners sometimes presume that using a previously "validated" instrument will produce "valid" scores; however, contemporary views of validity suggest that there are many reasons this assumption can be faulty. In order to demonstrate just some of the problems with this view, and to support comparisons of…

All 50 states use observations to evaluate practicing teachers, but we know little about how administrators actually reason when they use those observation protocols. Drawing on think-aloud and stimulated recall data, this study describes the types of strategies and warrants practicing administrators used when rating with their district's…

Teacher observations are being used for high-stakes purposes in states across the country, and administrators often serve as raters in teacher evaluation systems. This paper examines how the cognitive aspects of administrators' use of an observation instrument, a modified version of Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching, interact with the…

Although most students with disabilities (SWDs) receive instruction from general education teachers, little empirical work has investigated whether these students have suitable access to high-quality teachers. We explore the differences in teacher quality experienced by SWDs and students without disabilities (non-SWDs) in the Los Angeles Unified…

Induction is designed to support teachers' effectiveness, improve their students' learning, and foster their retention. We consider how high-leverage practices (HLPs) might provide an instructional framework for special education teacher (SET) induction. With sensemaking theory as a conceptual foundation, we posit that, by structuring induction…

Much of the recent focus of educational policymakers has been on improving the measurement of teacher effectiveness. Linking student growth to teacher effects has been a large part of reform efforts. To date, neither researchers nor practitioners have arrived at a consensus on how to treat test scores from students with disabilities in…

A primary focus of recent educational policymaking has been on improving measures of teaching effectiveness, attributable in part to recent federal policies such as the Race to the Top initiative and Investing in Innovation. To date, neither researchers nor practitioners have arrived at a consensus on the best methods for evaluating special…

The increased emphasis on using student growth measures in teacher evaluation has raised questions about how to treat test scores from students with disabilities. This study explores the consequences of three common approaches for treating scores from students with disabilities in statistical approaches to estimating teacher effectiveness: (1)…

Over a relatively short period of time, states and districts across the country have embraced reform surrounding teacher evaluation and compensation. Public concern over teacher evaluations, combined with federal initiatives designed to support teacher evaluation reform, led many states to adopt more comprehensive evaluation systems that draw on…

The purpose of this essay is to provide an overview of the challenges of accounting for students with disabilities (SWDs) and English learners (ELs) in the evaluation of mainstream teachers. We focus on the two prominent indicators of teaching quality--classroom observations and value-added scores. We begin by describing each indicator and…

The last decade produced numerous studies that show that students learn more from high-quality teachers than they do from lower quality teachers. If instruction is to improve through the use of more rigorous teacher evaluation systems, the implementation of these systems must provide consistent and interpretable information about which aspects of…