How can we improve teacher standards?

Improving teacher standards involves several key approaches according to economists like Eric Hanushek. One major focus is on enhancing the evaluation and accountability systems within schools. Effective systems should be reliable and fair, enabling schools to make informed personnel decisions, such as counseling out or removing teachers who are not meeting standards and are potentially harming students' learning experiences.

Hanushek notes that every industry, including education, has mechanisms for retaining high performers and managing out those who do not meet the necessary benchmarks. A significant part of improving teacher quality is not just identifying underperforming teachers but implementing evaluation systems that support these findings and lead to appropriate actions. This approach is becoming more prevalent due to state legislatures demanding better evaluation systems, bringing optimism for future improvements.

In summary, the key aspects to improving teacher standards include:

1. Developing reliable and fair evaluation systems.
2. Using these systems to inform personnel decisions.
3. Legislative support for robust teacher evaluations.
4. Retaining high-performing teachers and managing out underperformers thoughtfully.

This focus on evaluation and accountability is seen as crucial in elevating the overall quality of education 1.