Who do state policy makers listen to? The case of teacher evaluation

As the Every Student Succeeds Act is returning authority over teacher evaluation policies back to the states, policy makers at the state level have the opportunity to revise their policies. But who will they listen to when it comes to potential reforms? The author surveyed education policy makers to determine to what degree teachers, education leaders, and the general public are likely to influence their decisions. Their responses revealed that policy makers value voices of constituents over those of the general public, that Democrats and Republicans respond differently to teacher preferences, that responses to individual teacher voices are different from responses to union voices, and that school leaders' voices are valued by almost all policy makers.