Tenure : Ohio
Identifying Effective Teachers Policy
Analysis of Ohio's policies
Ohio does not connect tenure decisions to evidence of teacher effectiveness.
Teachers in Ohio are awarded tenure automatically after a five-year probationary period, absent an additional process that evaluates cumulative evidence of teacher effectiveness.
SB 5, which included policy that related to this goal, was repealed by referendum in November 2011.
Recommendations for Ohio
End the automatic awarding of tenure.
The decision to grant tenure should be a deliberate one based on consideration of a teacher's commitment and actual evidence of classroom effectiveness.
Ensure evidence of effectiveness is the preponderant criterion in tenure decisions.
Ohio should make evidence of effectiveness, rather than years in the classroom, the most significant factor when determining this leap in professional standing.
Articulate a process that local districts must administer when deciding which teachers get tenure.
Ohio should require a clear process, such as a hearing, to ensure that the local district reviews a teacher's performance before making a determination regarding tenure.
State response to our analysis
Ohio asserted that 50 percent of an evaluation's total effectiveness rating is based on student growth measures, and 50 percent is based on teacher performance (goal-setting, teacher performance on standards and communication/professionalism). The evaluation, therefore, determines cumulative effectiveness in the classroom. Further, legislation and Race to the Top require that districts set procedures for using evaluation results for retention and promotion decisions and for removal of poor-performing teachers.
Last word
The state has not presented any evidence that an additional process evaluating cumulative evidence of teacher effectiveness is required for tenure.
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Ohio
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Preparation Programs
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Research rationale
For evidence on the potential of eliminating automatic tenure, articulating a process for granting tenure, and using evidence of effectiveness as criteria for tenure see D. Goldhaber and M. Hansen, "Assuming the Potential of Using Value-Added Estimates of Teacher Job Performance for Making Tenure Decisions." Center for Reinventing Public Education. (2009). Goldhaber and Hansen conclude that if districts ensured that the bottom performing 25 percent of all teachers up for tenure each year did not earn it, approximately 13 percent more than current levels, student achievement could be significantly improved. By routinely denying tenure to the bottom 25 percent of eligible teachers, the impact on student achievement would be equivalent to reducing class size across-the-board by 5 students a class.
For additional evidence see Robert Gordon, et al., "Identifying Effective Teachers Using Performance on the Job," Hamilton Project Discussion Paper, Brookings Institute, March 2006.