Should teachers get to pick their own evaluations?

A bill sponsored by Sen. Laura Sturgeon, Senate Bill 165, titled “An act to amend Title 14 of the Delaware Code relating to student improvement component” has just been passed in the Delaware Legislature. 

The bill requires the Department of Education to allow teachers to choose their own evaluations and take into consideration factors that might adversely affect a student's performance, such as student absences, noncompliance and lack of parental involvement. Taking these factors into consideration can include completely eliminating a student with poor test scores from a teacher’s evaluation based on any of the above factors so that they don’t negatively impact the teacher’s evaluation.

Instead of ignoring students who experience a lot of absences and behavior problems, shouldn’t schools and teachers be working to decrease these kinds of disruptive behaviors and increase parental involvement?

There have been four Science of Reading bills passed in Delaware over the past four years. Science of Reading involves direct and explicit instruction in phonics and in four other essentials that have been proven effective in teaching literacy. 

The first of these bills passed in 2021, yet it does not require Science of Reading to be fully implemented until the 2027-28 school year. This delay has allowed for six more years of students who have not learned to read. This is terrible!

States that hold students, teachers and families accountable to learn to read have far better literacy scores than Delaware, which ignores and hides poor literacy results and is attempting to reduce accountability even further through SB 165. 

Delaware's students are suffering because their teachers and schools are not being held accountable to teach them basic reading and math. Only 41% of Delaware students can read at grade level, and only 31% can do math at grade level. Delaware teachers should not have even less accountability as prescribed in SB 165. In what other profession are employees allowed to pick their own evaluations? None!

Delaware must immediately require teachers to be trained in the Science of Reading, and require that it be implemented in all districts when school starts again in September. 

As for evaluating teachers, we should continue to compare students' scores when they enter a grade against their scores when they leave that grade. 

And schools should be held accountable to implement effective policies to reduce absenteeism and to improve communication with families such as those implemented in West Seaford Elementary School. 

Delaware’s Legislature should also reverse Senate Bill 85, which was passed in 2018. This bill about student discipline has led to huge increases in student misbehavior and general chaos in Delaware schools, as reported in a survey conducted by the Delaware State Teachers’ Association.

The new teacher evaluation bill, SB 165, will be a disaster for Delaware’s students. The last thing our schools need is more excuses for poor academic performance. Instead, Delaware must fully implement the state’s Science of Reading laws this coming school year. Delaware’s students must be effectively taught how to read.