Michiganders may be scratching their heads at a state report claiming nearly all of its public school teachers are effective.
The state released its teacher ratings for the 2024-25 school year, which ranked a whopping 98% of K-12 teachers as effective.
The report doesn’t explain why student outcomes are still abysmal.
According to spring 2025 standardized testing, less than half (41%) of elementary students can read at grade level and only 36% are proficient in math. Among 11th graders, scores aren’t much better, with 55% passing muster in reading and a meager 28% in math.
Molly Macek, education policy director at Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy, blames local districts for not rating teachers accurately.
“There is a significant disconnect between what the teacher evaluation is supposed to be measuring and what the [ratings] produce,” Macek said. “It sends the message that [parents] really can’t trust this data that the districts are sharing as an accurate reflection of how their school or the teachers are actually doing.”
Due to recent changes in state policy, teacher ratings are less dependent on student data and outcomes. Local districts therefore have the freedom to be too lax, Macek notes.
“The most important job of a teacher is to ensure that students are learning,” she continued. “The evaluation must measure the teacher’s impact on student learning, and the only way it can do that is by placing significant weight on the student data.”
In some districts, the disconnect is painfully obvious.
For example, Detroit reported 85% of its teachers were effective, but student reading proficiency is just 15%.
Meanwhile, Detroit Edison, a charter school, reported only 40% of its teachers as effective, but its reading proficiency is 37%—double the district’s average.
Macek argues more emphasis should be put on student data and standardized testing, as those metrics are the most consistent over time. But she says other policies could be changed too, such as requiring classroom observations to be a whole period rather than 15 minutes.
At the end of the day, local leadership will play a large role in whether teachers are rated accurately.
“That is going to require a superintendent that really values accountability and holding teachers and staff to high standards,” Macek concluded. “The school boards also need to be holding the superintendent accountable to effectively implementing the teacher evaluation system.”
Jillian Schneider is a staff writer for The Lion. Her work has also appeared on RealClearEducation, The Federalist, The Heartlander, Acton Institute PowerBlog, and ZuMedia. This article first appeared at The Lion.
