Teacher evaluations have been and continue to be under scrutiny. Major reform efforts are taking place to improve the process. Traditional teacher evaluations are no longer considered satisfactory. Such evaluations typically occur one or two times a year and are administered, in most cases, by the school principal. There are many reasons why traditional teacher evaluations are looked down upon. One of the reasons is because of the fact they are done so infrequently. Very little can be observed regarding the teaching and learning processes (O’Donovan, 2011). This can lead to a very unfair representation of a teacher’s performance since much of what a teacher can do, cannot be observed in one or two observations. It is also questioned whether the judgments of administrators are valid due to both the infrequency and lack of evaluator training (O’Donovan, 2011; Milanowski, 2011). Traditional evaluations, furthermore, have been found to be very ineffective in the way in which they are scored. Most educators receive high marks which makes it very difficult to determine differences in teachers’ abilities (Long, 2011). Once again, this is probably a result of an absence in evaluator training and a common understanding of what effective teaching looks like (O’ Donovan, 2011; Long, 2011). The greatest problem with traditional teacher evaluations is the fact that they do nothing to improve the bottom-line: student and teacher performance (O’Donovan, 2011; Milanowski, 2011).
Formal classroom observations can be effective if they are approached differently than the traditional practices of the past. Most importantly, administrators, other evaluators, and teachers need to have a clear understanding of what competent performance ...
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I can help my teachers be professional learners by using observation and evaluation processes, like those found in Danielson’s model, to promote self-assessment, reflection on practices, and professional conversations with them. The Framework can help me have honest, reflective conversations with the teachers about their instruction and I can use it as a guide to help all involved in professional development decisions. In other words, I can use such teacher evaluation models to promote active engagement and encourage professional growth in all
Charlotte Danielson, an internationally recognized expert in the area of teacher effectiveness, created The Framework for Teaching, which is comprised of four domains of teaching responsibility (Danielson, 1996). Danielson specializes in the design of teacher evaluation to ensure teacher quality and to promote professional learning. Danielson’s framework is based on large amounts of research, including the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project, supported by the Gates Foundation (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2013). Danielson’s framework also aligns with the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC), which outlines what a beginner teacher should possess in skills. In addition, it is the underlying set of ideas
192). Therefore, the main caveat which Apple (2001) raises in his article and warns about relates to the possible future marketization of teacher education, when the teachers ' qualification and teaching aptitude will be evaluated according to the results of the students ' on international testings, as opposed to their professional experience and knowledge. Cochran-Smith (2008) in her article on teacher education in the US, uses the euphemism 'the outcomes trap ' (p. 276), implying that nowadays teachers ' quality is being measured through the testing scores of their students. These fallacious assumptions may lead the countries in trouble in the future, as Cochran-Smith (2008) warns, because teachers on their own cannot solve the problem of testing without the “investments in resources, capacity building, and teachers’ professional growth, not to mention changes in access to housing, health, and jobs” (Cochran-Smith, 2008, p. 276). This implies, that teachers should not be evaluated according to their students’ scores, neither should their professional development be constrained by the standardized testings, because apart from that they have own professional aspirations which are needed to be fulfilled. Ball (1998) also holds against the performance-based
She reviews the history of summative assessment in the United States starting in the late 1800s. She explains that there are two basic forms of summative assessment 1) “Teacher judgment in the form of grading classroom summative assessments and assigning report card grades” and 2) “External testing for scientific, program, and institutional evaluation purposes”. She reviews the history of teacher judgment and explains that there is a lack validity and reliability of these judgements which is why the use of standardized testing has been preferred in the United
Effective teachers are inadequately rewarded in the United States. School districts, such as those in California, are just starting to implement merit pay. According to a study conducted by the National Center of Performance Incentives (NCPI), only about 500 school districts out of the 14,000 districts in the US implement merit pay for teachers. These numbers do not include private schools. Unfortunately, teachers, parents, and students hurt because many schools, private and public, base teacher pay on seniority and degrees rather than achievement and performance. Under such a system, novice teachers, are laid off during budget shortages. Moreover, with the current “single salary schedule” system, teachers are inadequately paid, especially when compared to other professions. Because the single salary schedule creates many issues, a solution needs to be proposed. Merit pay, a system based on performance, solves such issues. With this system, teacher performance outweighs teacher seniority. As a result, quality teachers will be rewarded adequately in terms of money and recognition. Outstanding teachers will no longer face unreasonable layoffs and will finally be paid more than their ineffective peers.
The Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, or INTASC, principles were developed in 1987 to provide beginner teachers with a guideline of how they should perform. In total there are ten INTASC principles: Knowledge of Subject Matter, Human Development and Learning, Diversity in Learning, Variety of Instructional Strategies, Motivation and Management, Communication Skills, Instructional Planning Skills, Assessment, Reflection and Responsibility, and Relationships and Partnerships. These ten principles align with National Board for Professional Teaching standards. This ensures that beginning teachers are aware of what is expected of them. The INTASC principles provides teachers with a tool they can use to become successful in their profession along with an awareness of the skills and characteristics they should posses. Each of these principles can be broken down into three aspects: principle, disposition, and performance.
Every classroom should have a teacher who is well-experienced in the course that they teach. Salaries of teachers should be based on their ability to educate students the best they can so when standardized tests arrive they’ll be able to perform well. Workers who show up to their job and fail to educate their students correctly should receive a deduction from their paycheck. Although it is the teacher’s responsibility to educate his or her students, the students should also put effort in wanting to learn. Some may argue that teacher’s salaries should not be based on students test scores,I think otherwise.
Some administrators use clinical supervision or peer coaching to determine from which it is obtain the most feedback and some other uses this methods or the combination of both (Hooker, 2014). It is important the comparison of both methods in order to identify the benefits of each. The clinical supervision includes a developmental evaluation that is meant to assist and improve the instruction of teachers (Glickman, et al., 2010). It is necessary to do a preconference, lesson observation, analysis of the information and interpret the teaching observed, and a post conference to determine the effectiveness of the process. In the clinical supervision are steps to follow: first, during the preconference the administrator and teacher identify the process, purpose or reason of the ob...
Education, it is a chief concern for any modern society, and nations with outstanding educational systems are guaranteed to be the leaders of the world for generations to come. Since it is such an important matter, it is vital that we as a nation, as a species, often objectively evaluate how our educational system is working. Is our way of doing things really best? What can we do better? These are questions that we must ask ourselves if we are to continue progressing forward as a society. Our predecessors laid the foundation; according to John Locke, education is a matter of answering all questions concisely and completely and never mocking, of instilling belief in and reverence for God, and of fostering virtue in young men. It is now our duty to take these ideas even further, constantly perfecting the education of our society. I believe that the most important issues that we must address in our educational system now are pushing high achieving students to their potential, making sure teachers are properly trained and doing their jobs, and instilling an attitude of excitement and eagerness in education that is sadly missing from today’s students.
When it comes to evaluations in education, usually the teacher evaluates the student. Although in certain college level courses, the weight is shifted to the students, allowing them to have the power to evaluate their own professors, possibly affecting their careers. It seems odd enough that a student should grade their teacher, but even stranger is that technically students have the ability to control their teachers’ positions, only by filling out a single form. Of course the forms may have excellent remarks from the students, but usually when students are given the chance to anonymously share their opinion, this does not always occur. In these situations, the teachers are put on the spot, being evaluated by their very own students, leading to various negatives which exemplify that student evaluations of teachers should not be a major consideration in the rehiring or promotion of a teacher.
The teacher was rated using a rubric with specific criteria in four domains including planning and preparation, the classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities (Hillsborough County Public Schools, 2012). Within each of these domains are components which are the performance factors that are relevant to classroom teachers. In domain one the components include: demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy, demonstrating knowledge of students, setting instructional outcomes, demonstrating knowledge of resources and technology, designing coherent instruction, and designing student assessments. The components for domain two include: creating an environment of respect and rapport, establishing a culture for learning, managing classroom procedures, managing student behavior, organizing physical space. In domain three the components included are: communicating with students, using questioning and discussion, engaging students in learning, using assessment in instruction, and demonstrating flexibility and responsiveness. There is only one component that was rated for domain four which is reflecting on teaching.
Everyone knows that when it comes to making a difference in a child’s academic and life achievements, their teachers play a large role. A teacher’s ability to relate to their students, and teach them to achieve both socially and academically contributes to how effective they are. What does it mean to be an effective teacher? Overall there seems to be an emphasis on teacher effectiveness related to how well their students are performing on standardized testing. As teachers we know there is more to being an effective teacher then just teaching our students based on tests. This paper will identify different definitions of an effective teacher along with how to assess teachers on being effective.
As I reflect on my experiences observing in three different classrooms over the last three months, I cannot express how much I have learned by being in the classroom. I began the Master of Science in Education last fall and previous to the practicum experience I had taken 8 classes. I read books, listened to the experiences of my classmates and instructors, reflected on my own education, and tried to imagine how this information was going to prepare me to face a classroom of elementary school students. While I learned theories and skills that should be known by any educator, these classes could not teach me what I most desired to know: what tangible steps could I take to correctly implement all of the correct ways of teaching.
In spite of the importance of assessment in education, few teachers receive proper training on how to design or analyze assessments. Due to this, when teachers are not provided with suitable assessments from their textbooks or instructional resources, teachers construct their own in an unsystematic manner. They create questions and essay prompts comparable to the ones that their teachers used, and they treat them as evaluations to administer when instructional activities are completed predominantly for allocating students' grades. In order to use assessments to improve instruction and student learning, teachers need to change their approach to assessments by making sure that they create sound assessments. To ensure that their assessments are sound they need include five basic indicators that can be used as steps to follow when creating assessments. The first of these indicators and the first step a teacher must take when creating a sound assessme...
Training future teachers is an important part in a good school system because it gives future teachers superior and inferior examples of how to teach. In college, teachers in training will only use textbooks to study. One problem with only learning how to teach through textbooks is teachers can’t see the process of teaching, they only read it. Cameras also benefit teachers because it shows them how they teach. Thomas Roberts an administrator at Hafen Elementary School in Nevada quotes what some teachers’ feedback is, “‘I didn’t know I leaned to the right when I speak. I didn’t know I focused more on the girls than the guys’” (Gray). By seeing and knowing what each teachers’ learning styles are, they can try to fix anything they don’t like. For instance, if a teacher realizes they lecture too long th...