Federal Race to the Top aid to education tied to test scores

Kelly Soderlund, The Journal Gazette

ksoderlund@jg.net

Teacher evaluations will have to be based largely on student performance if Indiana school districts want to share in up to $250 million in federal stimulus money, state officials said.

Educators have resisted the concept, saying their effectiveness should not be judged on students' standardized test scores. But if Indiana wants a piece of $4.4 billion the federal government is awarding nationwide as part of President Obama's Race to the Top competition, the state must link student achievement to teacher performance.

"They can't do that. They can't," said Taya Riebersal, sixth-grade teacher at Shawnee Middle School. "I just don't know how you can with the variety of kids that you get. I just don't think that you can tie someone's evaluation to one test when you've had (the student) for nine months."