Flimsy teacher performance management policies and practices in Pueblo City Schools (PCS) result in 99 percent of teachers being rated “satisfactory.” Consequently, teacher development is unfocused, new talent is disadvantaged and poor performance is overlooked, leading to a culture of mistrust between teachers and administrators.
The analysis, conducted in collaboration with Pueblo City Schools and the Pueblo Education Association, includes detailed survey responses from nearly 600 PCS teachers and administrators. TNTP’s key findings include:
- The PCS evaluation process does not differentiate teachers according to their performance or provide adequate feedback for teachers to improve;
- Probationary teachers receive no special scrutiny in the evaluation process, while staffing policies uniformly disadvantage junior teachers, regardless of individual performance; and
- Poor performers have traditionally been transferred from school to school instead of being held accountable through formal means.