Teacher evaluation reform implementation and labor relations

Abstract

The Michigan legislature recently enacted a teacher evaluation law which requires school districts to incorporate student achievement data into evaluation systems and mandated that evaluations be used to make high-stakes personnel decisions. Though administrators have considerable discretion to design and implement their evaluation systems, the legislature also passed legislation which barred teacher evaluations from the scope of collective bargaining, thus restricting any formal role teacher unions would have in shaping teacher evaluation at the local level. Using survey data gathered from local district superintendents and human resources directors (n = 73), this study identifies variations in the features of the evaluation systems adopted by Michigan school districts, and reports on the administrators’ evaluation of the new systems. Further, we quantify the extent to which teacher unions were involved in the development of teacher evaluation reform at the local level, and identify the association between key aspects of teacher evaluation protocols and measures of the labor relations climate. This case study provides insights regarding the capacity and willingness of administrators to reform teacher evaluation, the involvement of teachers and teacher unions in developing those reforms, and the association of these reforms with the local labor relations climate.

Keywords:

• teacher evaluation
• labor relations climate
• educational policy
• teacher unions