Evaluation and support are intended to complement one another: Evaluation measures help teachers identify their strengths and areas for improvement, while support and professional learning help teachers improve their instruction. In this brief we explain how state and district leaders can link evaluation data and professional learning so that teachers are empowered to improve their professional practices. We offer four main recommendations: (1) Empower teachers to drive their own professional learning; (2) make professional learning routine, embedded in existing job responsibilities and much more frequent; (3) break down silos and collaborate across organizations to deliver high-quality professional learning opportunities; and (4) ban professional learning that doesn’t deliver results. For each recommendation, we include specific strategies and resources that states and districts can use.
We developed this brief with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of a series focused on teacher effectiveness titled Evaluation & Support: Strategies for Success. The series includes an introduction and six briefs providing district and state leaders with practical advice for implementing high-quality evaluation systems.
