Teacher Evaluation Methods for Effective Quality Teaching

Importance of Teacher Evaluation

“Teacher evaluation can be an opportunity for genuine professional learning. When organized around clearly established and accepted standards of practice, teacher evaluation offers an opportunity for educators to reflect seriously on their practice, and promote learning.” – Charlotte Danielson, The Handbook for Enhancing Professional Practice

Charlotte Danielson, a curriculum director and administrator, believes that teacher evaluation should be student-focused or linked to classroom performance rather than solely observing the teacher. Evaluations help teachers:

• Align their goals with the school’s vision and mission
• Engage in professional learning programs
• Upgrade skills along with educational improvements
• Monitor the students’ learning more effectively
• Reflect or do self-evaluations

How to Evaluate a Teacher in 5 Steps

Traditionally, teacher evaluation is conducted by a principal, department head, or teacher evaluator who observes how a teacher handles a class with the help of checklists. Other factors like assessments, lesson plans, daily records, and student outputs are also taken into account. In addition to classroom handling and student outputs, active participation and engagement from both the students and faculty members should also be considered.

Here are 5 recommended steps to make your teacher evaluation a successful one:

Step 1: Be the Right Evaluator

According to Danielson, the most important part of the teacher evaluation framework is the 3rd domain “Instruction.” Students should be intellectually involved in the learning process through activities. As you go along with the evaluation, remember to make unbiased, accurate, and consistent judgments based on the learning evidence.

Step 2: Engage Teacher Leaders

The success of learning is a product of a collaborative effort. All teacher leaders should be actively involved in the process of improving teaching practices. Conduct training and discuss the importance of doing teacher evaluation. By doing this, you will gain the teachers’ buy in and they will understand that evaluations are performed to help them and not to criticize them.

Step 3: Go Beyond Just Observing

An effective teacher evaluator should be able to see how students are learning and not just look at what the teacher is doing. Take note of how students interact with the teacher during recitations and group discussions. Is it an active and fun learning atmosphere? How do students react? Do they get passing scores during assessments? Ideally, conduct formal and informal observations to assess if the teacher is student-centered in teaching.

Step 4: Reflect with the Teacher

Allot some time to sit and talk with the teacher during your post conference. Listen attentively as you encourage teachers to do a self-evaluation. This approach can help educators realize their strengths and weaknesses on their own and prepare them for future promotions and accreditations. Ask them about their daily teaching routine and if there were changes along the way. Talk about their struggles and feel free to give some recommendations on how they can cope with challenges. Most importantly, always acknowledge educators on a job well done and recognize their eagerness to improve.

Step 5: Share Best Practices

A good evaluator is a great mentor. Provide the teacher your rating and raise some points you would like to discuss. Be honest by telling them their level of proficiency. New teachers who may have limited teaching experience may need more guidance. As a mentor, you can help them understand their challenges and give some tips on how to overcome those challenges. Focus on areas where the teacher could do better. Encourage them to perform student surveys to determine where in the curriculum their students are struggling. Share your best practices by developing strategies for good classroom instructions. Finally, end the session with a good development plan.

There is more in the classroom observation process to make teacher evaluations not just a school policy adherence but rather a meaningful experience for the teachers, administrators and students. As an evaluator, your role will have a huge impact in helping educators step up their quality of teaching and improve student learning.

Teacher Evaluation Example

Applying the 5 steps mentioned above allows users to come up with an informative and helpful assessment for teachers. Here’s an example of a teacher evaluation conducted using this general template:

Teacher: Leanne Apple
Class Observed: Section A – Senior High School
Lesson/Subject/Course: Panchatantra “The Lion Makers” – World Literature
School Year / Semester: 2021-2022, 1st Semester
Evaluator: Tricia Peach

Teacher was able to do the following (Teacher Strengths):

• Create an environment conducive to learning
• Facilitate learning through student-centered approach
• Use enrichment activities for students to further understand the topic
• Encourage open discussions, relating the topic to real life situation
• Use questioning and probing techniques to engage students intellectually
• Administer assessments effectively and in a reasonable amount of time

Teacher was not able to do the following (Teacher Weaknesses):

• Set proper expectations and subject objectives
  Comments: No expectations set that today the class will discuss a literary piece
• Provide a recap of previous lessons
  Comments: Teacher did not ask the class follow-up questions regarding previous discussions and did not ask if they had any points for clarification about those topics
• Utilize appropriate instructional materials to support learning
  Comments: Teacher only used the textbook and the black board
• Provide a recap of the lesson
  Comments: Teacher ended the class with an assignment

Effective Teacher Evaluation Systems

An effective teacher evaluation system measures what matters with multiple and frequent measures of teacher performance, involving both teachers and administrators in the process, and iterating on the system based on outcomes and feedback.

Here are some successful examples of a teacher evaluation system:

TEAM

Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model (TEAM) incorporates frequent observation, constructive feedback, student data, and professional development of its educators. The goal of this system is to help teachers continuously improve their practice. Its general educator rubric has 3 main components :

• Planning – Involving instructional plans whether the student activities and materials are aligned to state standards, sequenced from basic to complex difficulty, have appropriate time for student work, and if these plans provide opportunities to provide for individual student needs
• Environment – Managing expectations and behavior and demonstrating a respectful culture on the campus
• Instruction – Covering the start of the academic activities from lesson structure, pacing, questioning, problem-solving methods, and feedback

RISE

Research-based Inclusive System of Evaluation (RISE) was developed in 2008 by Pittsburgh public school teachers and uses Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching. RISE is a growth-oriented model involving multiple observations and teacher self-assessments throughout the year. It has 12 components divided into 4 domains:

• Domain 1: Planning and Preparation – Demonstrating knowledge of students and setting instructional outcomes
• Domain 2: Classroom Environment – Establishing a culture for learning and managing student behavior
• Domain 3: Teaching and Learning – Using questioning and discussion techniques by engaging students in learning, using assessment to inform instruction, assessing results and student learning, and implementing lessons equitably
• Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities – Reflecting on teaching and student learning, system for managing student data, and communicating with families

LEAP

Leading Effective Academic Practice (LEAP) was created by Denver public school teachers to measure teacher effectiveness with the goal of ensuring an excellent teacher in every classroom with support from highly effective school leaders. It uses multiple measures of teacher performance, such as observation, professionalism, Student Perception Survey (SPS), and student growth.

RIIC

Rhode Island Innovation Consortium (RIIC) Evaluation System is adapted from Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching. Aside from the impact on student growth and achievement, the RIIC Evaluation System relies on other measures of educator effectiveness, such as these 4 standards:

• Planning and Preparation – Demonstrating brief knowledge of content and students, establishing instructional outcomes, designing coherent instructions, and designing student assessment
• The Classroom Environment – Creating an environment of respect and rapport, establishing a culture for learning, managing classroom procedures, and managing student behavior
• Professional Growth and Responsibilities – Reflecting on teaching, communicating with families of the students, showing professionalism, and professional growth/development of the instructors

OTES

Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) was created in response to House Bill 1 in 2009, which directed the Educator Standards Board to recommend model evaluation systems for teachers and principals. It uses formal observations, classroom walkthroughs, and a teacher performance evaluation rubric with 3 sections:

• Instructional Planning – Focusing on learning and prior content knowledge
• Instruction and Assessment – Evaluating lesson delivery and classroom environment
• Professionalism – Reviewing professional responsibilities, goals, and self-assessment

SafetyCulture: Teaching Evaluation Tool

Performing teacher evaluations requires a handful of paperwork and documentation. SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) is the world’s most powerful tool you can use to conduct more meaningful, accurate, and comprehensive teacher evaluations.

• Convert existing paper documents into digital teacher evaluation forms
• Capture photo evidence while doing class observations
• Record your teacher evaluation, provide immediate feedback, and recommend training
• Take advantage of secure cloud-based storage to save all your work