Prince George
County, VA

Virginia teachers won't be judged as heavily on student test scores under new rules


Virginia’s education leaders have approved an overhaul to the state’s teacher evaluation system that judges teachers less by how well students do on tests and more on factors like classroom environment.

The changes, approved unanimously Thursday by the state Board of Education, are the latest in a series of reforms over the past two years that target what the state schools chief called an "over-emphasis" on test scores .

No longer will standardized test scores count for nearly half (40%) of a teacher’s rating. Now test scores will account for the same amount as teachers’ planning and their classroom environment, among other factors.

“I certainly think it’s important to know how our students are doing and what impact our teachers are having on that,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane said. “When the decision was made to do that 40%, I don’t think that was in balance with the things that really matter in the classroom.”

Academic achievement has counted for 40% of a teacher’s evaluation since 2012, when the state changed its requirements so it could get federal money in wake of the Great Recession, which left the state budget starving for an influx. The other six factors that go into a teacher’s rating - professional knowledge, instructional planning, instructional delivery, assessment of student learning, learning environment and professionalism - accounted for 10% each.

With the changes approved Tuesday, student academic achievement will be weighted at only 15% of a teacher’s evaluation. Professionalism will count as 10% of the evaluation, while the others will also be at 15%.

Keri Treadway, a teacher at William Fox Elementary School in Richmond, called the changes “a huge step in the right direction.”

“Teaching is a complex science and an art. As a teacher, I welcome all students into my classroom. Students come to me from a variety of backgrounds, academic levels and experiences,” she said Thursday. “My job is to meet students where they are and help them learn, grow and develop. Student test scores only show a small snapshot of one day in the life of a student and not an overall picture of the teaching and learning the students have accomplished throughout the year.”

Teachers with negative evaluations can be put on performance improvement plans, which could result in their firing by their school district, which enforces the state policy. Ninety-nine percent of teachers nationwide are rated good or great, according to the Denver-based research group Education Commission of the States.

It's unclear how many teachers have been fired over poor evaluations in recent years. The Virginia Department of Education does not collect statewide teacher evaluation data, a spokesman said Thursday.

Thomas Toch, the director of FutureEd, an independent think tank housed within the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, said the de-emphasis of test scores can lead to less pressure for teachers. He added, though, that they're still an important part of looking at schools and teachers. 

"It's not the worst thing to lower the impact of test scores on teacher evaluations, as long as they remain a part of the system," he said. "They are, after all, measuring what's most important: student performance."

The strong emphasis on test scores in a teacher’s evaluation was a product of the education reform movement of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Education reform advocates have championed using test scores as the best way to evaluate schools and teachers.

“It’s problematic for teachers,” Virginia Education Association President Jim Livingston said of the current system. “A single snapshot in time that is a standardized test score is not an accurate reflection of student ability or a teacher’s ability in the classroom.”

The state is able to make the change now that the federal requirements, which came in exchange for money from the U.S. Department of Education to fund basic operations, have expired with the implementation of the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act.

“The weighting of student academic progress at 40% of the summative evaluation is no longer required,” said Patty Pitts, Virginia’s assistant superintendent for teacher education and licensure.

With the higher weight no longer necessary, the state’s K-12 governing board is able to continue a sequence of changes that have tried to lessen the importance of test scores.

“We wanted to think about this weighting so we can really make sure the evaluation is at least equally or primarily based on things we think make the most impact on student outcomes,” Lane said.

Last year, Virginia rolled out a new accountability system that rates schools as either accredited or accredited with conditions. Performance on the Standards of Learning tests, administered annually, had previously been essentially the sole factor in deciding a school’s accreditation rating.

Now, a school’s rating includes student attendance, dropout rate and college readiness, among other factors.

Students must also pass fewer state tests - five rather than six - in order to graduate under changes approved by the state board in 2017. This year’s freshman class is the second to be affected by the new requirements.

The evaluations, which are typically finalized in the spring, will change as local school boards adopt policy that aligns with the new state standards.