On Evaluations

It would be terribly scary if standardized testing outcomes of students were the only way to measure the performance of a teacher. Too many variables uncontrolled by the teacher influence student outcomes.

That is why positive student outcomes are linked backwards to teaching practice. Administrators posit that a certain set of standard practices characterize a great teacher.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with a set of practices that leads to higher student outcomes, evaluating teachers in this prescribed way raises the question of whether or not there is more than one way to teach.

Certainly, there is - given that there is more than one way to learn. And if there is, then any standardized evaluation of teachers only capture a part of the story and isn't representative of a teacher's effectiveness as a whole. This is similar to how standardized testing only tells a part of a child's story.

Maybe evaluations in education should take a 360 approach like it does in some businesses. After all, teaching is just one part of a teacher's job. We impact lives, and classes are just a part of students lives.