Frequency of Evaluations : Nebraska

Identifying Effective Teachers Policy

Goal

The state should require annual evaluations of all teachers.

Meets goal in part
Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2011). Frequency of Evaluations : Nebraska results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/state/NE-Frequency-of-Evaluations--8

Analysis of Nebraska's policies

Regrettably, Nebraska does not ensure that all teachers are evaluated annually.

The state does not articulate the frequency of evaluations for nonprobationary teachers. Nebraska does, however, require that new teachers be evaluated at least twice a year, a minimum of once a semester. 

Citation

Recommendations for Nebraska

Require annual formal evaluations for all teachers.
All teachers in Nebraska should be evaluated annually. Rather than treated as mere formalities, these teacher evaluations should serve as important tools for rewarding good teachers, helping average teachers improve and holding weak teachers accountable for poor performance.  

Base evaluations on multiple observations.
To guarantee that annual evaluations are based on an adequate collection of information, Nebraska should require multiple observations for all teachers, even those who have nonprobationary status. Further, as evaluation instruments become more data driven, it may not be feasible to issue multiple formal evaluation ratings during a single year. Applicable student data will likely not be available to support multiple ratings.  

State response to our analysis

Nebraska 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).