The president of the Carnegie Foundation reflects on promising ways to reward those who demonstrate excellent practice.

By differentiating evaluation at several career stages and by requiring an active role for those being evaluated, new appraisal systems go beyond judging teacher quality to fostering it.

Pay-for-performance as practiced at schools often encourages false competition, squeezes out intrinsic motivation, and leads to "mission drift."

Pleased with its merit pay program, a Georgia school identifies school goal setting as crucial to the plan's success.

The authors enumerate the descriptors applied to good teachers over the century and call for schools to acknowledge multiple exemplars of good teaching.

A principal explains what belongs in a teaching portfolio and how portfolios fit into an evaluation plan.

How to use feedback from colleagues, supervisors, and students to gain insight into your own behavior and attitudes.

A Utah school district gives teachers a choice about which information may be used as part of their evaluations.

A Nevada school district modified its teacher evaluation system by developing rubrics around teacher performance standards.

A departure from traditional evaluations, this model gives experienced teachers a structure for professional growth.

Suggestions on how to provide assistance to teachers who are having problems.

Before we analyze a teacher's performance, we must ask about how the lesson affected students.

To properly observe and evaluate instruction, supervisors go back to class to experience how students learn math.

A school honors its heroes and creates a culture of recognition.

Tibetan students discover the power of expressive language while their teacher gains insight about communication.

How should school officials respond to angry students who exercise their First Amendment rights on their own home pages?

A child psychologist argues that students identified as socially maladaptive need special services sooner rather than later.

Visits to five island sites suggest new perspectives on education.