B minus for S.C. school policy

It is good news that South Carolina is considered better at keeping good teachers and removing ineffective ones than any other state.

It is particularly good because of what the National Council on Teacher Quality measured in giving the state its B minus. They assessed the state's teacher evaluation policies, believing that good, objective policies must be the basis for good teaching.

Nationally, the picture wasn't pretty. Six states received C ratings. The low-scoring states brought the average down to a D plus. The highest grade was B minus.

The report concluded that most states' laws and regulations discourage promising new teachers from sticking with the profession and do little to identify and remove ineffective teachers.

The NCTQ, a nonpartisan research and advocacy group committed to restructuring the teaching profession, did its first, much more comprehensive study during 2007. In that study, South Carolina and eight other states were labeled "weak but progressing" — not as good as "weak but ahead of the class" for Massachusetts, New Jersey, Tennessee and Texas but much better than "last in the class" for eight states or "languishing" for 12 states.

In this year's report, South Carolina was commended for requiring objective evidence of student learning in teacher evaluations and for its robust testing requirements. Its biggest problems were in allowing alternative routes to teacher certification and preparing special education teachers.

As the Charleston County School District was developing its restructuring plan, school board member Gregg Meyers applauded the use of objective measures like classroom performance in evaluating which schools would stay open.

It makes sense that teachers would be evaluated similarly, and the state is to be commended for its policies doing that. Those measures should provide needed benefits to overall school performance in the state.