Teacher Evaluation: Part 1

I have been exposed to a number of meetings, readings and conversations recently around teacher evaluation and the teacher evaluation process.  I thought about covering that over the next few blog posts.  Here's blog post number 1:

Ideas surrounding Teacher Evaluation:

Effective leadership requires

• For administrators - Communication, Visibility and Accessibility
• For teachers - Commitment to collaboration

Administrators in their role as educational leaders:

• Build a common vision, language and knowledge base.
• Focus on learning not teaching.
• Establish a climate of trust.
• Get into the classroom for formal and informal observations.
• Always leave a note for the teacher after being in their room.
• Provide a weekly e-mail to the whole staff communicating generalities about what was observed.
• Ensure professional development that is job embedded, highly effective and spreads best practices.
• Create a curriculum leadership team that includes teachers, community members, instructional coaches, and administrators.
• Share observation and evaluation responsibility to a team of educational leaders.
• Create effective instructional leadership through conditions that allow teachers to be successful, finding ways to monitor progress, providing feedback, and celebrating successes.
• Are committed learners and are humble enough to support teachers and not speak from a pedestal.
• Are lead learners and model learning for others.
• Show support for teachers by carving out time during the day for teachers to collaborate.
• Analyze data from a variety of sources to identify overarching achievement goals and drive important efforts within and across content areas.
• Have strong knowledge of research-based, student-centered instructional methods and model the use of these strategies every opportunity you can.

Cartoon credit: http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/rha/lowres/rhan597l.jpg
Idea Credit:

• Tomorrows leaders of our community meeting – Teacher evaluation: Chris Lindquist
• ASCD article – Evaluations that help teachers learn
• ASCD Education Update Vol 52 no.12 – Teaming up to lead instruction