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PREVIEW
Evaluation in the form of regular, consistent feedback about instruction is valuable to new and veteran teachers.
Increased frequency, multiple evaluators, and specific training are among the recommended best practices.
Common evaluation tools that promote consistency are compared on several characteristics.
Principals know that effective teachers are the greatest school-based contributo improved student outcomes. What always dear is how principals can help teachers adapt their instructional practices to the increasingly diverse learning styles they find in their classrooms. Teacher evaluation practices are typically not seen as a tool for improving teacher effectiveness, yet regular, consistent feedback on classroom instruction can be enormously empowering to new and veteran teachers alike.
Illustrative Case
Seeking to strengthen classroom instruction to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body, the principal and staff members of a suburban high school near Chicago have taken steps to improve their teacher evaluation process. Only five years ago, the teacher evaluation process mirrored that of many schools across the country. Evaluations were a required activity that was performed using a protocol that yielded summative results (ratings of satisfactory or unsatisfactory performance). In most cases, teachers received a satisfactory rating and little real information on how to improve their instruction.
The principal, along with the teachers' union and district and school leaders, developed a standardized classroom observation rubric that is grounded in Danielson's (2007) framework for teaching and aligns with the district's goal of measuring teachers' behaviors in a studentcentered learning environment. Several times a year, the high school division heads and assistant principals attend teacher evaluation trainings that are led by district administrators. Those training sessions have resulted in a shared understanding of the logistics of conducting evaluations, better alignment between the rubric and the district's goals, consensus about what constitutes effective teaching, consistent implementation of effective teaching strategies, and uniform interpretation of the data.
But the principal admits that some obstacles still prevent his school from getting the maximum benefit from its improved evaluation process. For example, the current teacher contract establishes minimal expectations on how often teachers with different levels of experience can be evaluated; the principal has had to work hard to develop a level of trust between teachers and administrators to permit more-frequent-though-less-comprehensive evaluation activities,...