My Teach-Now Activities: M6U4A3: Teacher Evaluation

The Purpose

Most current teacher evaluation schemes have two major purposes:

1. They aim to ensure that teachers perform at their best to enhance student learning

2. They seek to improve the teacher’s own practice by identifying strengths and weaknesses for further professional development

These two approaches refer to assessments of different nature, respectively summative and formative.

How can teacher evaluation improve teaching?

1. Teachers learn new information about their own performance during the evaluation and then develop new skills

2. Classroom observations allow teachers to be more reflective about their own practice, therefore their improved practice will produce improved students outcomes

3. In some schools or districts, teachers could be working harder to improve their skills, in order to receive simple incentives during the year of their evaluation

What are the elements that I think teachers should be judged on?

1. Classroom Observations

Observations play a major role in any comprehensive teacher evaluation system. It’s critical that they help paint a fair and accurate picture of teachers’ strengths and development areas in the classroom.

2. Portfolios

Portfolios are collections of materials compiled by teachers or principals to exhibit evidence of practice, school activities, and student progress. The portfolio process requires educators to reflect on the materials and explain why certain artifacts were included. However, it can be difficult to verify consistency in scoring portfolios and to obtain reliability between scorers.

3. Peer-to-Peer Reviews

This strategy allows educators to review, evaluate, and comment on the work of their colleagues using common standards and frameworks. As with observations, it is important to provide training and ongoing calibration, rubrics, and protocols when conducting peer-to-peer reviews in order to minimize bias.

4. Staff Planning and Development

Recognizing that principals play a major role in teacher quality, school leaders can be evaluated on their ability to attract teachers, develop and grow them, and retain those who are high performing. Teacher selection instruments, induction and professional development programs, and teacher evaluations that include instructional feedback can be collected to assess school leader competencies. Teacher turnover analyses might also provide insight into which teachers are leaving and why.

5. Surveys of Students, Parents, and Staff

Surveys help educators understand the perspectives of various members of the school community and the conditions critical to student and school success. Surveys have the benefit of being cost-efficient and time-efficient, however survey results are subject to bias and should  be considered as part of a larger collection of evaluation measures.

6. Local indicators

To reflect local context, evaluations may also factor in indicators such as student and teacher attendance, graduation/dropout rates, and others. When considering local indicators, it is important that educators are held accountable for only those factors for which there is evidence that they can impact change.

Summary

As a summary, I think it is important to ensure that all information gathered for the teacher evaluation can be used to provide educators with valuable feedback and support in improving their practice. The ultimate goal of an effectiveness system is to strengthen the quality of teachers and school leaders.

Having said that, it is also important to keep in mind, that in order for observations to be reliable, evaluators need to be trained  in how to apply scoring criteria accurately and consistently, and that data collection process needs to be monitored. Striking a balance between valid measurement and realistic implementation is critical.