The Gates Foundation is developing new approaches to evaluating teachers based on video recordings. But why not go further, asks Mike Petrilli in a new article on the EdNext website.

Already one company—WatchMeGrow—sells Internet video-streaming services to child-care centers; parents can log on to their computers at work and watch little Johnny or Cassie all day long…It’s not hard to imagine these parents wanting the same opportunity once their kids graduate to kindergarten and beyond.

He concludes:

Teachers may scream about infringements on their “professionalism,” but effective teachers will have little to fear. Already, their expectation of complete autonomy—that they close their doors and do what they want—has been undermined by standards, tests, and other reforms of the modern era. Why not watch teachers in action? Sooner or later, that little video camera, always on, will just fade into the background.