Learning about Teaching: Initial Findings from the Measures of Effective Teaching Project

This brief from the Bill & Melnda Gates Foundation discusses the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project whose goal is to help build fair and reliable systems for teacher observation and feedback. Through data collection and analysis of the program, the authors revealed the early findings regarding whether teacher's past performance helped students learn. The results of the study showed that: a teacher's previous success in increasing student achievement was the strongest predictor of being able to replicate students success; these same teachers are also more likely to teach students math concepts and demonstrate reading comprehension through writing; students know when they are experiencing effective teaching; and test scores alone are not the limit to providing effective feedback to teachers who want to improve. The report concludes with ideas for future analysis of the data as well as preliminary suggestions for how teachers can begin to improve through review and constructive critique of their performance in the classroom.

URL
Source
External Publication
Publisher(s)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Publication Year
2010