PITTSBURGH – The new teacher evaluation system in Pittsburgh schools is already producing a far more realistic picture of teacher effectiveness than the old system, which was based exclusively on classroom observation.

The Pittsburgh school district recently released data on how its teachers would have been evaluated in the 2012-13 school year under a new evaluation system set to go into effect next year. The reworked Pittsburgh evaluations were crafted to comply with a new state law requiring half of teachers’ evaluations to be based on student performance, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

“Overall, the district found that 85 percent of classroom teachers were performing proficient or above – including 15.3 percent who were distinguished – 5.3 percent in the ‘needs improvement’ category and 9.3 percent failing,” the newspaper reports.

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“Under the 2012-13 system, 3 percent were rated unsatisfactory, the rest satisfactory.”

Pittsburgh teachers union officials contend the difference is due to tougher standards in the new teacher evaluations.

They’re absolutely correct. Tougher standards were necessary, and now they’re being used to provide a more accurate reflection of teachers and their skills.

In school districts across Pennsylvania and the United States, teachers unions have implemented through collective bargaining teacher evaluation procedures that rely almost entirely on pre-scheduled classroom observations by administrators. They’ve also pushed to limit those reviews for more senior teachers.

The result has been nearly unanimous positive ratings for educators despite student performance data that shows children aren’t learning as well as they could.

We believe the new evaluation system in Pittsburgh illustrates a much more realistic picture of the proportion of good and bad teachers, and will only lead to improved instruction and student learning in the long run.

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The local education advocacy group “A+ Schools” shares that perspective, and praised the district for using multiple criteria in the new evaluations.

“We have a system now that is much more detailed, that reflects five years of collaboration between teachers and administrators, that is a vast improvement from what the system was five years ago,” Amy Scott, director of research and data analysis for A+ Schools, told the Post-Gazette.

The district is also using a more structured observation system called Research-based Inclusive System of Evaluation (RISE) that’s also bearing fruit, according to a report by A+ Schools.

About 95 percent of teachers evaluated through RISE last year were rated proficient or distinguished on the ability to communicate with students and organize their space, but roughly a third received a less flattering “basic” score for their questioning and discussion techniques, the Post-Gazette reports.

“This means teachers may ask lower level questions and not always engage all students in discussions or clarify their misconceptions,” the A+ report noted, according to the newspaper.

That’s the type of meaningful feedback we believe will ultimately help teachers improve their skills, and lead to better educated students.