A growing number of states are mandating principal evaluations. Thirty-six states have laws requiring principals to undergo regular assessments. But are these evaluations effective?

Evaluations have shifted from largely "pro forma" assessments to complicated ones that tie principals' effectiveness to student growth, according to Education Week. 

"The policies typically require that a percentage of a principal's evaluation include student performance or growth," said the article. "The amount ranges, for example, from 20 percent in Delaware to 50 percent of the overall score in states such as Georgia and Ohio."

Ellen Goldring, department chairwoman at Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, did her own research, finding that relatively little is known about principal evaluations. 

"Principal evaluation is...the stepchild of teacher evaluation," said Goldring. "There has been a ton of work around teacher evaluations and measures of teacher quality, but much less work on principal evaluations."

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Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor