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Grading teachers is project's goal

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The Associated Press

Published: August 20, 2009

Hillsborough County is one of five finalists in an effort by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to figure out what qualities make the best teachers and how to measure those qualities in the classroom.

The foundation plans to spend half a billion dollars on its quest over the next five years.

The project has two parts: research to develop and test methods to rate teachers, and experiments at a handful of school districts across the nation to try out new ways of recruiting, training, assigning and assessing teachers.

The foundation chose the finalists this week. The others are Memphis, Tenn.; Omaha, Neb.; Pittsburgh; and a group of Los Angeles charter schools. Final decisions will be made this fall.

The finalists had been asked to submit proposals for a share of the money.

The districts' ideas, which were presented in Seattle this month, focus on teacher training, putting the best teachers in the most challenging classrooms, giving the best teachers new roles as mentors and coaches while keeping them in front of children, making tenure a meaningful milestone, getting rid of ineffective teachers, and using money to motivate people and schools to move toward these goals.

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