Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on November 3, 2025

BOISE, ID – Nearly 99% of Idaho’s public school teachers earned at least “proficient” grades in performance evaluations last school year. 

The Idaho State Board of Education on Friday released evaluation data for K-12 teachers at traditional school districts and charter schools during the 2024-25 school year. The latest evaluations carry on a trend: Teachers continue to earn overwhelmingly positive grades in the annual reviews that affect salaries and the state funding that public schools receive. 

Among 20,327 public school teachers, 98.7% earned grades of proficient or better, and a slight majority of the 188 districts and charter schools with available data graded all their teachers as proficient or better. Just 270 teachers across the state were graded below proficient. 

Click here to see the percentage of teachers who earned proficiency grades from each district and charter. 

The State Board redacted data from seven districts with fewer than five teachers. Privacy rules shield personnel data in small districts where teachers could be identified by the data. 

Breaking down the ratings

The state requires that school district and charter school administrators evaluate teachers every year. 

Teachers are graded on their instruction and student assessment techniques along with their ability to plan and prepare, maintain their classroom environment and uphold their professional responsibilities.

Administrators observe teachers in the classroom and consider other measurements — like student or parent feedback — along with student test scores before assigning one of four possible grades: distinguished, proficient, basic or unsatisfactory. 

Almost all teachers get at least proficient grades. Here were statewide totals during the 2024-25 school year: 

• Distinguished — 8,844 (43.5%)
• Proficient — 11,213 (55.2%)
• Basic — 247 (1.2%)
• Unsatisfactory — 23 (0.1%)

Of the 188 districts and charters with available data: 

• 179 had at least 90% of teachers graded proficient or better, 
• 162 had at least 95% of teachers graded proficient or better, and
• 98 had 100% of teachers graded proficient or better.

These were the percentages of teachers graded proficient or better among the state’s five largest school districts: 

• West Ada – 99%
• Boise – 99.4% 
• Bonneville – 99.3% 
• Nampa – 99.1% 
• Pocatello – 99.4%

Why evaluations matter 

Performance evaluations affect teachers’ ability to maintain a certificate and get raises, and they affect state funding. For both reasons, evaluations have long been a source of tension. 

Because state funding increases with positive evaluations, public school administrators have an incentive to hand out positive grades. But for teachers, when almost everyone gets the same grade, a positive evaluation is less likely to result in a raise. 

In 2016, the Idaho Professional Standards Commission reprimanded two past superintendents for submitting inaccurate evaluation data. The following year, Charlotte Danielson, author of “Framework for Teaching,” which inspired the state’s standards for evaluations, said that Idaho’s ratings will likely be inflated as long as raises are tied to evaluations.

Click here to read more about how teacher evaluations work.