Difficulty in Differenciating Good Teachers from the Rest in the New Teacher Evaluation System
Fukuashiba Elementary School in Ibaragi Japan
Shinano Mainichi Shinbun (September 11, 2012)
*original article in Japanese
Nagano prefecture in Japan began adopting a merit pay system based on the result of the teacher evaluation in 2011. The recent report on the result of the 2011 evaluation indicate that the system doesn’t work effectively. The result shows that 16,767 out of 17,000 received C in the A to E scale. A former principal in Nagano commented that he had no choice but to give a C to all teachers because assigning low evaluation scores required an evidence-based account, which was not practically feasible. The Nagano Department of Education commented that the current teacher evaluation system has to be something that produces mostly average C scores. This is due to the reconciliation with the teacher union, which argued against the Nagano Department of Education about highlighting the differences among teachers in terms of their teaching effectiveness.
For more information (in Japanese):
International Education News 
Something very similar is happening in Michigan. 99% of the teachers , who were evaluated in the 2011- 2012 in 10 districts in the state of Michigan are rated as effective or highly effective. Is this a creative way for teachers and administrators to express their collaborative voices of dissent to the newly implemented teacher evaluation system?
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2012/09/report_most_michigan_teachers_.html