How to Evaluate a Teacher

THE National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is still in the process of setting specific standards for evaluating teachers in 30 different fields, based on both grade level and subject area.

The process of assessment, through which individual teachers work with their assessors, who are also teachers, may be more important than a rigid list of standards.

The board does, however, have ``five core propositions'' that have guided the development of its program and underlie its evaluation of a teacher's performance. They are:

* Teachers are committed to students and their learning.

* Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.

* Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.

* Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.

* Teachers are members of learning communities.