[bitshiftfaced]

The question is whether test scores as a measure of teacher quality is better than the next best alternative. The authors suggest that this would be seniority, but it could also be subjective measures like complaints from parents, likeability, and office politics.

I agree that there are problems with test-based evaluation, but overall I believe it's the least bad solution. It gives teachers a tangible incentive to figure out why what they're doing may not be working and try something different.