The strike over student ‘growth’: Chicago teachers’ protest reflects a national feud
A 2010 law passed in Illinois requires that all schools in the state adopt a new evaluation system by the 2016-2017 school year. In Chicago, student “growth”—or improvement—on standardized tests will count for at least 25 percent of a teacher’s evaluation, a system that Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis has called “unacceptable.”
Lewis says that the new system will place undue emphasis on scores affected by student factors outside of a teacher’s control, like poverty and homelessness.
