Retaining Effective Teachers Policy
Tennessee requires evaluation systems to include personal conferences to discuss teachers' strengths, weaknesses and remediation needs. While the state utilizes a Framework for Professional Evaluation and Growth, the state does not specify that professional development activities must be aligned with findings from teacher evaluations.
Ensure that professional development is aligned with findings from teacher evaluations.
Professional development that is not informed by evaluation results may
be of little value to teachers' professional growth and aim of
increasing their effectiveness in the classroom. Tennessee should ensure
that districts utilize teacher evaluation results in determining
professional development needs and activities.
Tennessee noted that the state's role will be to provide districts with resources via the TAP (The System for Teacher and Student Advancement) Portal to help make connections between evaluations and professional development. The state will be clear in their guidance and support, which will include state-created guidance resources and the newly created state evaluation system.
The state should consider taking its policy a step further and codifying policy to ensure that districts use teacher evaluations to inform professional development activities.