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To impress the White House, states are being harder on teachers than ever before. Legislatures from Colorado to Illinois made it more difficult to get tenure as a way to position for competitive grants from the federal Race to the Top program. So did Tennessee – which ultimately won half a billion dollars. The state overhauled its teacher evaluation system and now educators are finding out how hard it’s gotten to make the grade.

Janna Beth Hunt is one of many Tennessee teachers hoping for higher scores.

At Nashville’s Norman Binkley Elementary, Janna Beth Hunt wakes up her first graders by asking them a question. “What do we give?” The answer from the kids: “100 percent.”

Hunt tries to give 100 percent herself, which is why she can’t hide her disappointment. The new observations grade teachers on a scale of one to five. Many are scoring what feels like a “C,” which under the new system isn’t enough to get the job security of tenure.

“I definitely feel like I’m better than an average teacher,” Hunt says. “I’m not happy with a three, but I told my principal that and he knows that I’m a perfectionist and that I want a five. It’s just extremely difficult to get a five.”

Some teachers say it feels impossible. To score at the highest levels, students must demonstrate a mastery of the day’s lesson. But the four page checklist is incredibly detailed, down to how efficiently handouts are passed around.

That kind of nitpicking is new for every teacher in Tennessee, but especially for veteran educators, who may not have had anyone watching them in years.

“We evaluated tenured teachers twice every ten years,” says Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman. “Virtually every teacher was told that they were at the top end of the scale.”

Correlating Student and Teacher Performance

A study published last year by the New Teacher Project pointed out weaknesses in teacher evaluation systems across the country. Race to the Top money pushed through controversial changes in several states, often without full support of teacher. But Huffman says there’s no way educators are performing at the top of their game when students aren’t.

“I don’t understand how you can run an education system where we tell more than half of the children – these are children – in the state of Tennessee, ‘hey you’re not proficient.’ But then we’re uncomfortable saying to adults, ‘not all of you are great,’” he says.

Dorcel Benson still puts in the long hours at Cumberland Elementary, but she’s satisfied with her observation scores.

Dorcel Benson takes Huffman’s words personally.

“I would love for him to come and spend a day or two with me,” she says. “Tell me specifically what I need to do to improve.”

Benson has 30 years of experience and still puts in the extra hours as needed. But while other teachers are spending late nights prepping for the new high-stakes observations, Benson has accepted her mediocre marks.

“Life is too short,” she says. “And my health is much more valuable to me.”

Benson says she and most teachers do the best they can even when they’re handed a tough situation, like a student who reaches her 4th grade class still unable to read. Education officials, she says, don’t seem to appreciate the challenge.

Discouraging evaluation scores have torpedoed teacher morale, says Tim Tackett.

“Don’t forget that these are just big kids, he says. “They like to be patted on the back too.”

Tackett is a school board member from Rutherford County, one of several districts that has fired off letters to the state asking for a complete review of the new evaluation system.

Administrators Have More on Their Plates Too

The letters also detail concerns about the workload on administrators, who struggle to find time for the additional observations and their other duties.

Barbara Ide is principal at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Antioch.

Principal Barbara Ide is answering emails from parents at school soccer games instead of second period.

“Nothing was taken off the plate and a lot was added to it,” she says. “But the part that was added to it is really the essence of what an instructional leader does. It’s why we come to school.”

In the Lakesha Dejarnett’s classroom at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Antioch, 8th graders are huddled around for a lesson in identifying the main idea of a story about migrating turtles.

Lakesha Desjarnett says there’s lots of new stress this year, but it’s bringing out her best.

Dejarnett’s story is that she left her job in journalism three years ago to teach.

“There are some who feel like I don’t know what I got myself into, especially some of us first, second, third year teachers – and especially those of us who changed careers to come into this,” she says.

But Dejarnett says the new demands are bringing out her best. She just wonders how long she and others can handle the additional stress.