Teacher Evaluation


Book Description

This guide, written for teachers and administrators wishing to introduce evaluation systems that promote continued teacher growth and enhance school effectiveness, suggests that meaningful change requires a clear understanding of what is already in operation, substantial skill development, and adequate resources for the duration of the change cycle. Rather than prescribing a single route to success, the guide offers examples of different evaluation experiences, describes possible evaluation courses, and, in separate chapters, offers five keys to effective evaluation: teachers, evaluators, performance data, feedback, and context. A subsequent chapter examines the important attributes of these keys in more detail. The guide concludes by offering two scenarios for success and a discussion on evaluating existing evaluation procedures, improving the teacher evaluation environment, and upgrading evaluation skills. An appendix includes a teacher evaluation experience questionnaire and a questionnaire for evaluators' self-examination. (IW)




Teacher Evaluation


Book Description

Teacher Evaluation: Guide to Professional Practice is organized around four dominant, interrelated core issues: professional standards, a guide to applying the Joint Committee's Standards, ten alternative models for the evaluation of teacher performance, and an analysis of these selected models. The book draws heavily on research and development conducted by the Federally funded national Center for Research on Educational Accountability and Teacher Evaluation (CREATE). The reader will come to grasp the essence of sound teacher evaluation and will be able to apply its principles, facts, ideas, processes, and procedures. Finally, the book invites and assists school professionals and other readers to examine the latest developments in teacher evaluation.




Student Achievement Goal Setting


Book Description

The first book in the James H. Stronge Research-to-Practice series focuses on improving student achievement through academic goal setting. It offers the tools and plan of action to use performance data to improve instructional practice and increase student achievement.




Improved Instruction


Book Description

This is a clear, useful guide for teachers, administrators and student teachers in which Madeline Hunter offers ten step-by-step plans for staff development meetings. Each plan focuses on: one area of meeting; topics for staff discussion; long-range objectives; and follow-up activities.




Leadership for Learning


Book Description

In a follow-up to his earlier book, Developmental Supervision, distinguished educator and author Carl D. Glickman provides instructional leaders--supervisors, principals, and teachers--with practical guidance and thoughtful insight to help them succeed as they work with teachers to improve classroom teaching and learning. In a straightforward and easy-to-read manner, Glickman discusses *Structures of classroom assistance--clinical supervision, peer coaching, critical friends, and action research groups; *Formats for observations--frameworks for teaching, open-ended questionnaires, samples of student work, and student achievement on high-stakes tests; and *Approaches to working directly with teachers--directive, collaborative, and nondirective. Scenarios that describe interactions with teachers of diverse backgrounds and skill levels bring the various approaches to life. The author also provides useful information on summative and formative evaluation of teachers. In addition to forms and examples that readers can duplicate or adapt to their own situation, the book includes an extensive list of resources on the topics of looking at student work, professional development and instructional leadership, and educators' ethnic, cultural, and personal diversity. Leadership for Learning goes beyond the basics of supervision to place the work of instructional leadership within the context of whole-school improvement. Drawing on his years of experience in working with schools in varied settings, Glickman offers both advice and inspiration to instructional leaders who strive toward the ultimate goal of providing the best possible classroom experience for every student.




Teacher Evaluation and Student Achievement


Book Description

This book discusses four approaches to incorporating student achievement in teacher evaluation. Seven chapters discuss: (1) "Teacher Evaluation and Student Achievement: An Introduction to the Issues"; (2) "What is the Relationship between Teaching and Learning?" (e.g., whether teachers are responsible for student learning and how to measure student learning); (3) "Assessing Teacher Performance through Comparative Student Growth: The Dallas Value-Added Accountability System"; (4) "Assessing Teacher Performance through Repeated Measures of Student Gains: The Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System"; (5) "Assessing Teacher Performance with Student Work: The Oregon Teacher Work Sample Methodology"; (6) "Assessing Teacher Performance in a Standards-Based Environment: The Thompson, Colorado, School District"; and (7) Teacher Evaluation and Student Achievement: What are the Lessons Learned and Where Do We Go from Here?" (e.g., basic requirements of fair testing programs that are to be used to inform teacher evaluation). Chapters 3-6 include information on the purposes of the accountability system and how it was developed; student assessment strategies; how the accountability system works; how the accountability system relates to teacher evaluation; the advantages and disadvantages of the accountability system for teacher evaluation; and results of implementation. (Contains 66 references.) (SM)




Organizing Schools for Improvement


Book Description

In 1988, the Chicago public school system decentralized, granting parents and communities significant resources and authority to reform their schools in dramatic ways. To track the effects of this bold experiment, the authors of Organizing Schools for Improvement collected a wealth of data on elementary schools in Chicago. Over a seven-year period they identified one hundred elementary schools that had substantially improved—and one hundred that had not. What did the successful schools do to accelerate student learning? The authors of this illuminating book identify a comprehensive set of practices and conditions that were key factors for improvement, including school leadership, the professional capacity of the faculty and staff, and a student-centered learning climate. In addition, they analyze the impact of social dynamics, including crime, critically examining the inextricable link between schools and their communities. Putting their data onto a more human scale, they also chronicle the stories of two neighboring schools with very different trajectories. The lessons gleaned from this groundbreaking study will be invaluable for anyone involved with urban education.




Getting Teacher Evaluation Right


Book Description

Teacher evaluation systems are being overhauled by states and districts across the United States. And, while intentions are admirable, the result for many new systems is that goodoften excellentteachers are lost in the process. In the end, students are the losers. In her new book, Linda Darling-Hammond makes a compelling case for a research-based approach to teacher evaluation that supports collaborative models of teacher planning and learning. She outlines the most current research informing evaluation of teaching practice that incorporates evidence of what teachers do and what their students learn. In addition, she examines the harmful consequences of using any single student test as a basis for evaluating individual teachers. Finally, Darling-Hammond offers a vision of teacher evaluation as part of a teaching and learning system that supports continuous improvement, both for individual teachers and for the profession as a whole.




Planning, Instruction, and Assessment


Book Description

This entry in the James H. Stronge Research-to-Practice Series focuses on specific strategies teachers can use to improve the quality of their instruction. Studies have shown teacher quality to be the top indicator of student achievement, with the effects of good teachers apparent even as students move on to successive grades. In this book, Grant, Hindman, and Stronge explore the relationship between teacher effectiveness and student learning. They provide a bridge between research-based theories and practical classroom applications. Templates, planning forms, and other reproducibles help teachers make a noticeable impact on student success using proven techniques and practices. Topics include tiered lessons, using assessment data, and much more.