A Bellwether Education Partners report analyzes major teacher effectiveness policy changes states have taken within the last three years. Twenty-one states fall into that category. The analysis focuses on legislation and regulatory provisions that link teacher evaluations to key personnel decisions. Teacher evaluation policies are rated according to thirteen criteria that explore how often teachers are evaluated, whether principals are evaluated, whether student performance is incorporated into evaluations, whether effective teachers are compensated more, and whether policies protect students from being assigned ineffective teachers for consecutive years, to name a few. (Please see page 3 of the full report for the complete list of criteria.)
The highest-rated state was Indiana, with Louisiana taking second and Florida taking third. Indiana and Louisiana falling into the top two comes as no surprise, since both of these states have garnered wide attention and media coverage regarding major reform packages passed within the last two years. Indiana even won the title of “Reformiest State” in the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s 2011 Reform Idol competition.
All of the states evaluated in the analysis are listed below from highest to lowest rating. Be sure to check out the full report for details on ratings and specifics on each state.
| Indiana | 11.75 |
| Louisiana | 10.00 |
| Florida | 9.75 |
| Colorado | 9.00 |
| Michigan | 8.00 |
| Oklahoma | 8.00 |
| Illinois | 7.50 |
| Arizona | 7.25 |
| Nevada | 7.25 |
| Idaho | 7.00 |
| Tennessee | 7.00 |
| Rhode Island | 6.75 |
| Delaware | 6.25 |
| Connecticut | 5.75 |
| New York | 5.75 |
| Arkansas | 5.50 |
| Ohio | 5.50 |
| New Jersey | 5.25 |
| Washington | 5.25 |
| Maryland | 4.25 |
| Minnesota | 3.00 |