Last month the Aspen Institute published a thoughtful and comprehensive report on the evolving role of states and districts with regard to teacher evaluation. The entire piece is well worth the read, but their recommendations for improving teacher evaluation and support systems is absolutely critical.

Here are their 10 suggestions:

1. Prioritize principal and evaluator training and certification with a focus on professional growth.
2. Differentiate evaluation and support based on teachers’ experience and past performance.
3. Allow teachers and observers to collaborate on areas of focus.
4. Allow for local discretion in accounting for student learning.
5. Respect the limitations of value-added data.
6. Support locally developed measures while pursuing improvements in their creation and use.
7. Make sure all important aspects of teaching performance are valued in evaluations.
8. Engage teachers in improving teacher evaluation systems.
9. Develop measures for testing the integrity of evaluation system design and implementation.
10. Tell stories that go beyond performance ratings.

Learn more about the Aspen Institute and their research programs here.