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Abstract
The purpose of this mixed-methods explanatory study was to explore the perceptions of Nebraska public school principals regarding teacher evaluation, and whether the administrators considered teacher effectiveness in the classroom as part of the teacher's evaluation. Additionally, if administrators considered teacher effectiveness in the teacher's evaluation, did it result in the dismissal of teachers identified as "ineffective" by administrators.
The study participant pool included all the principals of Nebraska public school districts with the exception of one district. The quantitative phase, a 45-item survey, garnered information concerning perceptions of the principal participants. The qualitative phase, an 11-question interview, informed the results of the quantitative data. The completed sample size of 260 from a total pool of 796 possible respondents was achieved for the quantitative phase; ten principals were interviewed from a purposive sampling of 87 principals.
The results indicated Nebraska public school principals evaluated for teacher effectiveness and dismissed teachers identified as "ineffective" by administrators. The principals stated they could identify the effective teacher through the teacher evaluation instrument they used, using only classroom observations as the basis of the evaluation. Others indicated they used multiple measures.
Nebraska principals gave unsatisfactory ratings for performance and a notice of non-renewal or termination to probationary or tenured teachers. They did so at a rate greater than their counterparts in "The Widget Effect" (Weisberg, Sexton, Mulhern, & Keeling, 2009) study. However, Nebraska principals also counseled teachers out of the profession rather than give teachers a notice of nonrenewal or termination, which Weisberg et al. did not address.
