One of the areas that I have found interesting about our study of policy is the unintended consequences of policy and law. When policy is written, there is no way to fully anticipate how the regulations will ultimately play out and be enforced. A hot button issue across the county right now is teacher evaluation systems. DC Public Schools is a leader in the area with their IMPACT system. Critics of the system contend it relied too heavily on single measure student data. I read an interesting article last week by Bill Turque in the Washington Post. It tells the story of a bright young teacher who seems to have been fired too soon based on the inflexible regulations within the IMPACT policy.
Here is a related article discussing the flaws in the IMPACT system’s “value added” measures.
