The AFT and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have been working on finding a better way to evaluate and develop teachers, using research to determine the best ways to train teachers and ensure that students get the best educational experience possible. 

Although the AFT and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation don’t always agree on everything, they share the firm belief that every student has the right to access effective instruction and teachers want to do their very best in the classroom. 

Vicki Phillips of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and AFT President Randi Weingarten say in the New Republic article:

We believe that one of the most effective ways to strengthen both teaching and learning is to put in place evaluation systems that are not just a stamp of approval or disapproval but a means of improvement. We also agree that in too many places, teacher evaluation procedures are broken—unconstructive, superficial or otherwise inadequate. And so, for the past four years, we have worked together to help states and districts implement effective teacher development and evaluation systems carefully designed to improve teacher practice and, ultimately, student learning.

The research they conducted reveals that the most important factor schools have affecting student performance is teacher quality. In particular:

Effective teaching is a complex alchemy—requiring command of subject matter, knowledge of how different children learn and the ability to maintain order and spark students’ interest.

They also found that much of the current U.S. system of evaluating teachers is not particularly good at measuring these things, rewarding good teachers and providing less-than-stellar teachers with the tools needed to improve. The AFT and the Gates Foundation have provided a series of principles for doing what's in the best interests of both students and teachers:

• Match high expectations with high levels of support.
• Include evidence of teaching and student learning from multiple sources.
• Use information to provide constructive feedback to teachers, as befits a profession, not to shame them.
• Create confidence in the quality of teacher development and evaluation systems and the school’s ability to implement them reliably.
• Align teacher development and evaluation to the Common Core State Standards.
• Adjust the system over time based on new evidence, innovations and feedback.

In a statement, Weingarten and Phillips say:

Officials must invest in these kinds of quality systems because when we help teachers be their best, we are also helping students reach their full potential. The importance of achieving that goal is something everyone can agree on.

Visit the New Republic to read more about each of these principles.