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Design the best teacher evaluation system for your school
Published 14 Apr 2023
Teacher evaluation is the standardized process of rating and assessing the teaching effectiveness of educators. Teacher performance evaluations aim to help promote a better learning experience for students and foster professional growth for educators.
SafetyCulture for 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:
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Eliminate manual tasks and streamline your operations.
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):
Teacher was not able to do the following (Teacher Weaknesses):
Preview a teacher evaluation PDF report sample.
Designing a teacher evaluation system takes up a lot of work and implementation can be a tricky process. However, before going in-depth on specific teacher evaluation systems, here are some general components from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and the Center on Great Teachers & Leaders (GTL Center):
The GTL Center recommends refraining from designing teacher evaluation systems exclusively for accountability, as they are less likely to have impact on teacher practice. However, if accountability is the primary goal, with the outcome of the teacher evaluation system being the basis for personnel and compensation decisions, it is critical to establish valid and reliable measures of teacher effectiveness.
Guiding Questions for Specifying Evaluation System Goals:
Teaching standards are derived from definitions of teaching effectiveness. While this may be different for each school, teacher, or class, the GTL Center Definition states that effective teachers:
As for teaching standards, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and its Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) have 10 core teaching standards:
Stakeholder approval is a key factor in ensuring the success of a teacher evaluation system. Aside from teachers, other stakeholders that should be included in the design and implementation process are school board members, superintendents, school principals, teacher preparation programs, parents, and students.
Measures are the medium through which the teacher evaluation will be conducted. The GTL Center recommends selecting multiple measures such as:
When selecting measures, consider these 4 factors:
The structure of a teacher evaluation system should be based on the designated levels of teacher performance (e.g., developing, proficient, exemplary) and the frequency of evaluations, which is different for each measure. Moreover, the weight or percentage of each measure in relation to the overall teacher rating will affect how the teacher evaluation system should be structured.
While Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching is designed to evaluate all teachers without regard to content area, trained evaluators with knowledge of specialist roles and subject-matter competence may be seen as more credible. Selecting the right evaluators and providing the required training for the deployment of specific measures ensure that the implementation of the system closely aligns with its design.
Guiding Questions for Selecting and Training Evaluators:
The collection, validation, interpretation, tracking, and communication of teacher performance data can be accomplished by building a sound data infrastructure. Since this requires significant data expertise, collaboration between teachers and information technology personnel is essential.
Whether the goal of the system is to make teachers accountable for their performance or to help them learn and improve, there has to be a plan for what will happen after an evaluation. If teacher evaluation results are to be used for personnel decisions, the GTL Center recommends selecting trigger points for actions. This provides clarity on questions such as:
For teacher evaluation systems focused on professional development and learning, the following questions may help in determining how best to support teacher growth:
Though these teacher evaluation systems were created with particular contexts/regions in mind, they can still be adapted to the needs of the learning institution, or be used as examples when designing a new system.
TEAM (Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model) incorporates frequent observation, constructive feedback, student data, and professional development. The goal of this system is to help educators continuously improve their practice. Its general educator rubric has the following components:
RISE (Research-based Inclusive System of Evaluation) 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
Domain 2: Classroom Environment
Domain 3: Teaching and Learning
Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities
LEAP (Leading Effective Academic Practice) 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. LEAP uses multiple measures of teacher performance such as observation, professionalism, Student Perception Survey (SPS), and student growth.
Like RISE, the RIIC (Rhode Island Innovation Consortium) Evaluation System is adapted from Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching. Aside from impact on student growth and achievement, the RIIC Evaluation System relies on other measures of educator effectiveness, such as these 4 standards:
Standard 1: Planning and Preparation
Standard 2: The Classroom Environment
Standard 3: Professional Growth & Responsibilities
OTES (Ohio Teacher Evaluation System) 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. OTES uses formal observations, classroom walkthroughs, and a teacher performance evaluation rubric with 3 sections:
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.
Browse and download this free collection of digital teacher evaluation forms.
Erick Brent Francisco
Erick Brent Francisco is a content writer and researcher for SafetyCulture since 2018. As a content specialist, he is interested in learning and sharing how technology can improve work processes and workplace safety. His experience in logistics, banking and financial services, and retail helps enrich the quality of information in his articles.
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