Identifying Effective Teachers Policy
Commendably, all teachers in Arizona must be evaluated at least annually.
New teachers in Arizona must be formally evaluated twice a year. However, the state's policy does not include any guidelines on when these evaluations should occur.
Base evaluations on multiple observations.
To guarantee that annual evaluations are based on an adequate collection of information, Arizona should require multiple observations for all teachers, even those who have nonprobationary status.
Ensure that new teachers are observed and receive feedback early in the school year.
It is critical that schools and districts closely monitor the performance of new teachers. Arizona should ensure that its new teachers get the support they need and that supervisors know early on which new teachers may be struggling or at risk for unacceptable levels of performance. As evaluation instruments become more data driven, it may not be feasible to issue a formal evaluation rating until applicable student data are available later in the year.
Arizona recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.