Interim D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson conceded that the teacher-evaluation tool she created could be improved, following a report from Mayor Vincent Gray’s transition team calling for a “better” system. “We believe strongly in Impact, which has been instrumental to our reform efforts. We also believe in continuous improvement, which is why we have made updates to the system over the first year and a half of its implementation. We will continue to do so as we see fit, given our long-term objective of providing an outstanding education for every child in DCPS,” Henderson told The Washington Examiner in an e-mail. Until now, Henderson has fiercely defended Impact, which she crafted as Michelle Rhee’s deputy chancellor. The system relies on five classroom observations and students’ standardized test scores to rate teachers’ effectiveness each year — which can lead to six-figure salaries, or termination.

As Henderson mentioned, the school system tweaked Impact for its second year; she told The