Frequency of Evaluations : Arizona

Identifying Effective Teachers Policy

Goal

The state should require annual evaluations of all teachers.

Nearly meets goal
Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2011). Frequency of Evaluations : Arizona results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/state/AZ-Frequency-of-Evaluations--8

Analysis of Arizona's policies

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.

Citation

Recommendations for Arizona

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.

State response to our analysis

Arizona recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.

Research rationale

For the frequency of evaluations in government and private industry, see survey results from Hudson Employment Index's report: "Pay and Performance in America: 2005 Compensation and Benefits Report" Hudson Highlands Group (2005).

For research emphasizing the importance of evaluation and observations for new teachers in predicting future success and providing support for teachers see, D. Staiger and J. Rockoff, "Searching for Effective Teachers with Imperfect Information." The Journal of Economic Perspectives. (24:3) American Economic Association (2010).