Everyone has a story. What's yours?
 Linda Thomas
twitter: @TheNewsChick
About Linda
Linda is the morning news anchor and features reporter for KIRO Radio. This is her local news blog, with an emphasis on social media, technology, Northwest companies, education, parenting, and anything else that grabs her attention.

If you have a news tip or story idea, I'd love to hear from you...

To leave a voice message for Linda about any of her stories call toll free 1-855-251-2363

Follow Me on Pinterest


Rating teachers like Microsoft employees

November 17, 2011 @ 3:32 am (Updated: 8:39 am - 11/17/11 )

Microsoft is known for its tough employee-rating system that sometimes pits co-workers against each other. The Gates Foundation wants to evaluate teachers using that Microsoft evaluation model.

At the annual Microsoft Alumni Foundation dinner last night, Melinda Gates said improving the United States educational system is a top Gates Foundation investment, and the organization has undergone in recent years a "course-correction" on how best to do that.

Supporting small schools and smaller learning environments "is not the answer," she said. "The answer, we have determined, is in improving the quality of the teacher."

TeacherShe said only one-third of all students today leave high school prepared for college. The national system for evaluating teachers is shoddy and is allowing many bad teachers to ruin the educational experience in K-12, she says.

"Did you know that over 98 percent of the teachers are rated satisfactory? So the system now is poor," says Gates.

She says the Gates Foundation is borrowing from Microsoft's own employee-rating system to develop a more rigorous teacher evaluation system, as a test model, at a school district in the Tampa, Florida area.

"In less than a year, the kids there are seeing that a real evaluation system is making a difference," she says, and a growing number of districts around the country are interested in the model.

A few years, Microsoft changed its hyper-competitive employee evaluation system. The company softened a ranking system that forced managers to limit the number of top scores they had on their team.

The "forced curve" meant that some employees were ranked poorly, regardless of their work because someone had to be at the bottom of the curve. A newer evaluation system puts more accountability on managers to improve their skills, and gives employees a clearer understanding of how they can be promoted. Still, it's an evaluation system that takes months to complete.

AP file photo

More from Linda Thomas

MyNorthwest.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Bonneville Media encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comments can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior. We encourage your thoughtful comments which: have a positive and constructive tone, are on topic, are respectful toward others and their opinions. Bonneville reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

Comments (23)


  • Add A Comment

  • rmayer wrote...
    All for it...
    November 17, 2011 5:18 am
    but will they also come up with a way to evaluate parents as well, and make an effort to show how parental involvement is more successful to the education of a child than the teacher alone. My wife is a teacher and she routinely has to explain to parents that yes, you should give your kid breakfast before going to school. And no, you should not let your 7 year old stay up until 10PM playing Modern Warfare on the PS3. I am for ranking teachers to evaluate non-performers, but until you find a way to include parental neglect into the benchmarking criteria, you will never make a difference.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • FreeRange wrote...
    No Way!
    November 17, 2011 6:02 am
    Then all we would have is a bunch of self promoters and not a bunch of workers. At Microdoft, the review system penalizes technical people, creators and producers and rewards self indulged promoters. When was the last tie MS innovated anything! I rest my case!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • blood brother wrote...
    Producing the product
    November 17, 2011 6:36 am
    What is MS producing and what are the schools producing? Two totally different worlds. At MS you can force your employees to produce or fire them. Teachers cannot force students and parents to cooperate. I agree there are some bad teachers, but for the most part teachers truly love/like working with kids and are attempting to teach something meaningful.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • spuddog wrote...
    Hey b b...
    November 17, 2011 7:50 pm
    good post. Thanks.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • JadeFrog wrote...
    Interesting
    November 17, 2011 7:11 am
    Considering the slow decline Microsoft has experienced since Balmer's takeover, I would be very wary of adopting anything from their model. Additionally, until you control for variables such as cruddy parenting and the natural variations in student populations, comparing teachers using the proposed method will be rife with inaccuracies. Does the teacher who handles the really challenging students in remedial math get hammered on his evaluation when compared to the AP Calc teacher who gets all the high fliers?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Oly80 wrote...
    well, yes...
    November 17, 2011 8:22 am
    sometimes.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • anotherfencewalker wrote...
    Bad idea..
    November 17, 2011 7:44 am
    Microsoft and companies of simular structure use the "Divide and Conquer" method to pit employees against each other, all in the name of being competitive and quality oriented. It's mostly B.S. You incorporate this into a business model that already has backstabbing, back biting and after-hours no-note-taking meetings and you have a perfect storm of gridlock and chaos. An attitude trainwreck. It's called motivation by fear. Microsoft has tens of dozens of people in so-called senior positions that embrace this idea like an addict to oxy pills..They're called Vice Presidents.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Shooting Treys wrote...
    I appreciate....
    November 17, 2011 7:50 am
    ....the idea of rewarding the best teachers and keeping them engaged and motivated. Our great teachers are an extremely valuable resource. But the MS model isn't appropriate. I think there needs to be a new teacher specific reward/motivation paradigm.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Oly80 wrote...
    wait...
    November 17, 2011 8:05 am
    isn't microsoft constantly criticized for poor work product? yet, they still want teachers (who don't do ANYTHING like what microsoft employees do) to be rated similarly? NOW, if Apple had something to offer in this, i'd be listening. they are known for innovative, reliable work product. microsoft is NOT the model to follow. Mr. Gates, PLEASE stop trying to privatize education, your motives are dubious at best.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Debbi (1) wrote...
    Microsoft's Rating System
    November 17, 2011 8:45 am
    Microsoft softened the curve for a few years but returned to the hard curve this year to the extent that 20% of the employees are rated a 4 or 5 every year. It is Microsoft's way of forcing employees (particularly older ones) out the door. I agree the teacher evaluation system needs to change, but instituting Microsoft's "throw your teammate under the bus" approach is not the correct way to do it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DavidB wrote...
    Bad idea!
    November 17, 2011 9:21 am
    I'm all for improving the teacher evaluation process, but I agree with the other commenters here who assert that the Microsoft model is NOT the right approach. A forced curve wouldn't do any good for a profession that has a difficult enough time attracting top talent. Maybe start by paying teachers a little closer to what the program managers at Microsoft are making, and then we will have more incentive for teachers to strive for good marks. Alternatively, let's see how the Microsoft culture would react if the company's salaries are temporarily reduced to what an average public high school teacher makes.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • iapproveofthismessage wrote...
    Einstein quote -
    November 17, 2011 10:10 am
    "doing the same thing over...and expecting a different result". Ballmer has been the CEO since Jan of 2000 and has never delivered against the #1 metric of any publicly held company - increasing shareholder value. Imagine if Education Superintendents collectively never increased the educational capacity of students. Yikes! Tip - sell any MSFT that you may still own. If any one in a Microsoft leadership position recommends anything, do exactly the opposite. For example, buy a Windows Phone7 -> get an iPhone. Buy MSFT stock -> buy AMZN. Bing is better - > use Google. Try our review model -> ...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }