Teacher Evaluation
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The following discussion took place on the NIFL-Assessment Listserv between March 17 through March 28, 2005. The topic is Teacher Assessment/Evaluation.
Summary
The discussion opened with a series of questions of the types of teacher evaluations that programs use; whether they have processes and tools used in hiring and for in-service; who is involved in teacher evaluation; and other questions. One person responded by noting that peer evaluations were used in her program, and she went on to describe the process and provided examples of some of the questions posed to teachers. Another person noted that her program had just undergone some change in this regard, and they were working with a new process that included several different steps: management of instruction time; management of student behavior; instructional presentation; and instructional monitoring. She noted that these changes were indeed favorable and that her program continues to work on improving the system; she noted that the biggest challenge was meeting with teacher resistance and reaction and attempting to change the mindset of the teachers to one that is focused on positive growth rather than penal action. She noted that her program also included student evaluations in the process. Another person noted that her program strived to use processes as both teacher evaluation and professional development, but that this also met with teacher resistance. The discussion then shifted to a focus on professional development. References to one program’s teacher observation materials was provided. Another resource provided focused on a discussion of the qualities that teachers should possess. The state of Maine’s professional development program was described: in this state teachers are required to write yearly professional development goals, and EFF (Equipped for the Future) materials are used for this.
Discussion Thread
Good morning, afternoon, and evening to you all.
I'm wondering this morning about how teachers might be assessed or evaluated in your programs. Do folks have structures or procedures that allow teachers to identify their strengths and needs? Do you have a process within the selection or hiring for this? Do you have a process to work with teachers in-service? Who might be involved in any such processes that you have in your programs? What resources do you use? Do you feel like you don't have these structures in place, but you would like to?
I think this might all be professional development in disguise ;)
Thanks!
marie cora
Moderator, NIFL Assessment Discussion List, and
Coordinator/Developer LINCS Assessment Special Collection
[1]
Here at the Notre Dame Education Center, we use peer evaluations. This involves using a center wide process. Teachers find a peer to work with; they meet to decide and write up goals for the year. Goals are linked to the following: major elements in an individual job description, NDEC agency goals and objectives, department goals and personal professional goals. These are submitted to the program director. The NDEC staff development committee reviews the goal sheets and identifies common themes for workshops and/or in-house trainings. Peers meet at least 3 times during the year to report on activities and then to write up a final review. A peer evaluation form and the review are passed in to the program director in June.
As coordinator of NDECs ESOL department, new teachers are paired with experienced teachers at the same level for development. That's the focus.
Maureen O'Brien, SND
ESOL Coordinator
Notre Dame Education Center
50 West Broadway
South Boston, MA 02127
Hi Maureen,
Thanks for your reply. This sounds like a great process! Way to take advantage of your "in-house expertise"!
Is it possible for you to share any of your forms/resources? What sort of feedback are you getting from the participants (I'm going to assume it's exciting and positive....)
What do you find are your challenges with this process?
Thanks!
marie cora
Marie, thank you for responding to my email.
What follows is the content of our NDEC Peer Evaluation Form.
1. Agree on two to three performance goals with activities for this year. These should include the major elements of your job description, taking into account NDEC agency goals and priorities, your department goals, and your own personal professional goals.(For each goal, three specific activities are determined.)
2. Write your staff development goal(s) for this year:
Goal: What do you want to learn?
How: How will you learn it?
NDEC workshop: Do you want us to organize a teacher sharing session or in-house staff development workshop on this topic?
3. (To be completed at end of school year) Peer review of job performance: review progress on previously established goals and activities. For each goal and its activities address the following questions as appropriate: Did your partner achieve the goals as established? Was the activity successful? Why wasn't the goal reached? Why wasn't the activity successful? What were major accomplishments?
As for challenges, looking upon the process as 'routine' may be the biggest challenge. i.e. another form to be passed in. Some strengths of using a process like this is that staff development and staff evaluation are effectively linked.
I look forward to hearing from you again,
Maureen O'Brien
NDEC Boston
Hi Maureen,
This sounds like a well-rounded process. I really like that the performance goals are the first thing that you start with. Actually, for me this is sort of a parallel structure to classroom curriculum, which is really great because then your whole program (the students and the teachers experience) is structured in the same way. You're right that the staff dev. and the evaluation are linked together. Maybe after a while, teachers will get used to it and it will become more routine.
How do the peers evaluate each other? Are they able to observe each other? Or do they work together?
Thanks,
marie cora
Marie, let me give an example. Last year my peer evaluator and I focused on better integrating writing into the total NDEC ABE curriculum- literacy/GED and ESOL. We chose the following activities: to attend a three part workshop on writing sponsored by SABES (System of Adult Basic Education Support), and to join the NDEC writing team funded by the DOE. She focused on essay writing as a specific activity geared to the GED student and I focused on paragraph writing and the ESL student. As a result of our work on the NDEC writing team, we worked with staff and students to start a student publication, NDEC Students Speak" at the Notre Dame Education Center.
Maureen(O'Brien)
NDEC
I had actually typed up my reply last week and somehow closed it before I sent it. :) I just got back to typing it this morning. I really liked the comments from Maureen and think the way they are doing their evaluations is really good. I wish we had something like that here.
Here at my school, we've just changed the way teachers are evaluated. The previous process had a few holes - mainly being that no one was really sure of what was being evaluated, the instructors were never told what the results were and the only "real" evaluation was the one the students submitted in regards to the instructor.
We've since changed the process. We did some research to see what other institutions were doing in terms of assessing their instructors and we contacted the local school system to see what/how they did their evaluations. We liked what we found because it was detailed - it gave an excellent guideline as well as flexibility. I was asked to help with the evaluations based on my experience and background. Some of the areas we looked at, are listed below. This isn't everything but is definitely the meat of what we did. The evaluations were then typed in and turned in to the director. They are supposed to be discussed with the instructor and are looked at along with the student evaluations that are completed once a semester.
1. Management of Instructional Time *
This area looked at whether the class started on time, if their was a lesson plan, if the materials students needed were readily available - if the teacher was prepared to teach - not just with the lesson plans but with the knowledge necessary to do the lessons planned for the day - how well the teacher adapted to changes or "curves" thrown by the students.
2. Management of Student Behavior *
This area looked at how well the instructor monitored the students' behavior – i.e., did they ignore the student that put his/her head on the desk and slept or not; were they conscientious of the rules for the program etc.
3. Instructional Presentation *
This area looks at how well the instructor presents material. Does the instructor link prior knowledge to the current tasks. How well does the instructor handle the questions asked by the students - are they encouraged to ask questions or become involved in the learning process. How does the instructor present information - is it all lecture - is it demonstration - is it discussion - is it student led vs teacher led? Does the instructor encourage the students' developing critical thinking skills?
4. Instructional Monitoring *
This area looks at how well the instructor monitored the student feedback and/or how well the instructor monitored the student's work. Did the instructor stay situated in one part of the room, walk around and participate with the students or simply assign a task and sit down?
We're still looking at ways to improve the process and make it better and more effective. We're also facing challenges in terms of how the instructors react to being evaluated etc. It's not been done on a regular or consistent basis until now and some people actually got defensive simply because they were being evaluated. We've come t realize that one of the things our instructors need is to understand the evaluations are not a means to look for things that are wrong to get them in trouble but to look at ways they can be helped to do their job better so the students become more successful.
Regards,
Katrina Hinson
Hi Katrina,
Thanks so much for this rich message. There is a lot of food for thought here! Your undertaking sounds exciting and like it's a lot of work! I was struck by a couple of things.
First, I thought the research you did to figure out what might be some good options for your program was really great. Who all was involved in the process? Did teachers or even students have any roles in the research phase and implementation?
I also like how you divided up the pieces you are looking at. That seems like it would make it more manageable. How did you decide what your goals or content focus would be? Who was involved in that piece? You mentioned that there was some amount of resistance on the part of some teachers. I guess part of that is normal in any changing environment. But have those teachers been involved in any parts of this process? Also, it might be a good idea to directly involve them in their own evaluation. If you bring them in before and ask them what they want to see different about their classroom, then maybe they will feel less resistant and more invested. You may do this already.
What do others think? Is there a process instituted in your program that helps you figure out where a teacher is at, and how to help them improve and grow?
marie cora
Moderator, NIFL Assessment Discussion List, and
Coordinator/Developer LINCS Assessment Special Collection
[2]
You're welcome Marie. I'm going to try to answer all your questions :) we'll see how I do.
Who was involved in the process? Well, I'm on a sub-committee that consists of myself and a coordinator. No one else really wanted to participate. Our first step was taking a hard look at what was currently being done or not done and how effective it was, then she and I got together and began to look for information online that related to "teacher assessment and evaluation". There was a ton of information to wade through. Additionally, the coordinator contacted the county because we both thought it would be a good source - especially b/c their evaluation process was likely to be very different and more thorough than anything we'd found to date. It was. From there we simply combined ideas until we came up with a workable solution.
Did teachers or even students have any roles in the research phase and implementation? Students are given a totally different evaluation tool to utilize when evaluating an instructor. We've not tackled that part yet. As for teacher input - we did not do that, yet. I do think as we move forward with the process it would do good to involve them. Additionally, we've only evaluated the instructors on main campus, which is another problem altogether - we're still trying to address the issue of evaluating night instructors and instructors in the other 2 counties we work with.
I also like how you divided up the pieces you are looking at. That seems like it would make it more manageable. How did you decide what your goals or content focus would be? Who was involved in that piece?
The information we got from our county system was very similar to the "chunks" we ended up with. We adapted an overly detailed form they sent us to something that fit our program. One of the problems we knew we had even before the evaluation was that teachers almost adamantly refuse to do any kind of lesson plan for various reasons - either lack of time or the feeling that having lesson plans is just too rigid - even though we're required to have them. We knew looking at Instructional methods was going to be important. It was kind of like answering the "How, why and what " in terms of what was happening in the classroom. We also wanted to see how the instructor related to the students and why some teachers seem to be better able to retain their students over others. Those questions were answered in part when we did our evaluations and looked at what was being taught and how it was being taught. How like or unlike a traditional classroom setting were our classrooms and was that helping our hindering our students.
You mentioned that there was some amount of resistance on the part of some teachers. I guess part of that is normal in any changing environment. But have those teachers been involved in any parts of this process? Again, the teachers weren't really asked at this point - mainly because the evaluations were supposed to have long been in place and simply have not been. The only thing done up until recently was the student evaluation- which while helpful didn't really tell us a lot about the actual instructor. I do think I am going to take the idea of peer evaluations/mentoring that Maureen described back to the person I'm working with and suggest we implement a similar process. One of the other goals I have is to ensure that the instructors are given a copy of their evaluations and that the evaluation is gone over with them so that they know what they need to work on...it also gives them a chance to ask questions and give input.
Is there a process instituted in your program that helps you figure out where a teacher is at, and how to help them improve and grow? No, not yet, that's where we're hoping to go. The goal is to use the evaluations to identify challenges and then turn those challenges into professional development topics and in turn help the instructors.
Hope this helps.
Katrina Hinson
I'm trying to catch up with some of the email questions that have come up during the discussion: So here goes the first reply I have:
1) How do you see teacher evaluation folding into a professional development plan for teachers? How might that plan dovetail into a program improvement plan, and where does all that begin?
For me, both of these are just taking off, developing or redeveloping at my school. I'm on two different committees - one for professional development and one for evaluation of teachers, looking at how to improve or grow both areas at our school after some time of disuse. I definitely see the two areas dovetailing into each other - in part because I helped with the teacher evaluations. I also am keenly aware of the fact that a lot of the teachers at my school are very very put off by professional development and are very resistant to it. I think these areas dovetail well if evaluators look at the overall picture once evaluations are done. What are the common threads that weave throughout - such as is there a common weakness exhibited by all the instructors? If so, why? That weakness can become an area for professional development/training. Additionally, it gives evaluators a chance to see what areas the instructors excel in which in turn can be also be used as a professional development area. I noticed when I did the evaluations for the AHS instructors in my department that one of the biggest problems is the teaching is still very much 'teacher-centered' and that in some cases the students didn't seem as involved in their learning as they should be. In turn, one of the professional development topics we're going to be covering at an upcoming retreat is Principles and practices of adult education. Some of the instructors we have came right out of public school and others have never had any training (educationally speaking) and as a result both are doing what they "know" from their past experience forgetting sometimes that what worked for them, won't work for the students coming into our program.
I think it all begins with evaluation of the program itself. I think it helps to look at the program as a whole and determine what areas need improvement and why? Especially with funding switching to a more "performance" based approach, it is very important that a) we keep our students b) we keep our good teachers and c) we help our teachers to better help the students achieve success.
Do programs in your area support teachers in developing a plan for their own professional development? Yes, each school develops its own PD plan. It is part of the budget - however, it can also be part of the budget that is easily cut, ignored or lost or "borrowed" from.
If so, how is it done in your area? What are the issues or barriers programs face in supporting teachers for developing professional development plans? The state also sponsors and encourages professional development. I did find out we are all required to have at least 12 hours of professional development each academic year. The state also has a partnership with a university in the state and that university does a lot of work in terms of training the trainer kind of things. The flaw or weakness in that is that there is not wide participation. At one school I worked at in the state, I would have never been able to go to the "train the trainer" training b/c I wasn't full time. The same people were going year after year. However, at my current school, I'm actually encouraged to go and I'll become a certified resource specialists after this years week long event. After attending this event, you're supposed to come back and train those in your area. My school serves a 3 county area but participation is often very weak. At the first workshop I did, I had maybe 15 people, at the second, it was perhaps the same number and probably a few less not counting myself and the other two presenters. I've discovered the off campus people are far more willing to attend professional development activities than those that are on main campus. I'm not sure yet why that is. Our state also does regional training events as well as local training events...but again, participation is the key. Sometimes the regional training is out of town and very expensive to attend which prohibits ppl from participating that otherwise might. Local events, if they are well promoted, sometimes do better but you find the same people going time and time again.
Katrina Hinson
Marie raised an interesting question on the assessment list Thursday morning regarding teacher assessment/evaluation (see below). I'm also wondering, how do you see teacher evaluation folding into a professional development plan for teachers? How might that plan dovetail into a program improvement plan, and where does all that begin?
Do programs in your area support teachers in developing a plan for their own professional development? If so, how is it done in your area? What are the issues or barriers programs face in supporting teachers for developing professional development plans?
Jackie Taylor
Moderator, AALPD Listserv
Hi everyone,
We seem to be sharing a bit of this conversation right now with folks on the Professional Development List (go to: http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/nifl-aalpd/aalpd.html to sign on to their discussion). But I will forward this email because Janet describes how an entire state is grappling with teacher ability and quality. (Go RI Go!)
marie cora
[The following message is from Janet Isserlis]
Dear all,
While looking for something else, I came across a page from Virginia's project around teacher observation (http://www.aelweb.vcu.edu/projects/observation/) on my website (which I think originally got there through a conversation on this list some time ago..)
In responding more directly to the questions that Jackie and Marie raise: Rhode Island has been engaged in a process for the last year and a half of examining and strengthening its adult education system. One of the five working groups has given a great deal of time and thought to these very questions; looking at qualities and abilities of teachers and trying to codify these things in ways that guide but are not prescriptive.
We're struggling with questions related to ways of naming the qualities that teachers should possess but do not want to mandate these things; we want programs to have flexibility in crafting job descriptions and hiring but also want to ensure that teachers have strengths-based support and especially want to grow a culture that values professional development.
I know that this is a vague response, and hope that other Rhode Islanders on the list might chime in. Some of our work is on line at http://www.ripolicy.org/literacy, including a report authored by Judy Titzel, based on input from the field during the first 12 months of the above-mentioned process.
Janet Isserlis
Literacy Resources/Rhode Island
Sorry to be late in responding to this posting and hope the discussion is still going on.
Do you see teacher evaluation folding into a professional development plan for teachers? We have been trying to encourage teachers in adult education in Maine to develop personal professional development goals on a yearly basis. The extent to which the teachers themselves are evaluated varies from program to program, but the expectations at the state level for AEFLA recipient programs is that all such funded teachers will have a plan to work on. We have been using goal planning formats based on Equipped for the Future, and it is probably being followed with varying levels of success, depending upon the commitment of the program, administration, and teachers.
How might that plan dovetail into a program improvement plan, and where does all that begin? We've clearly seen the direct connection between teachers accessing professional development offerings, working through personal PD goals, etc. and the continuous improvement model of program improvement. In one workshop I presented a PowerPoint that "Pieced" it all together. If the ultimate goal is increased/secure funding, that has to based on quality programming and reporting (accountability to funders, communities, students), and quality programming is the product of teachers and administrators who are continuously aiming to improve performance, increase their knowledge, be a model of what they want their students to access. The logical place for that to begin is with professional development and staff support that is targeted to meet the needs of the program to assist in reaching the goal of quality and accountability.
Do programs in your area support teachers in developing a plan for their own professional development? If so, how is it done in your area? Our program attempts to. We provide for the 12 hours of PD per program year, ask for goal plans (including outcomes) which we still do not always get, but given the part time nature of our programs have not pressed the point...at this time. We also ask our teachers to manage their time to attend staff meetings (problematic in our large rural area even using distance education technology) and to schedule their time so that their yearly compensation covers one hour of preparation for every 3 hours of instruction. This last point is an attempt to give the teachers and tutors some amount of time to put what they have learned into instructional practice.
What are the issues or barriers programs face in supporting teachers for developing professional development plans? For us I think the major barrier is the time/money continuum. It is a lot to ask our adult ed practitioners to become PD self-advocates and consumers when often our day school colleagues are reluctant to take on more than they are compensated for. I don't think it is too "Pollyanic" of me to say that those adult ed and day school practitioners who do take the responsibility on themselves discover the rewards are well worth the effort. I'm suspicious that some of my colleagues who have been very depressed by the chaos and workload that comes with systemic change and movement to standards-based practices are actually revived by a bout of PD if it is in an area that they can readily apply and see results from. Some examples of these "bouts" include Brain Gym training, Reading Essentials for Adult Learners, Authentic Materials, Assessment in the Classroom, and others. We are fortunate in Maine to have had access to such PD on a yearly basis through the auspices of our State DoE and our State Literacy Resource Center. Together, along with interested and qualified practitioners from the field we have provided regional professional development, and are moving to the development of distance education components as well as varied formats for presentation. Again, this all takes funding, time, commitment, and effort, but the results have been rewarding.
Bonnie Fortini
Machias Adult & Community Education
CWCABEC (ABE collaboration in Washington County)
c/o School Union #102, RR!, Box 12-A
Machias, ME 04654
207)255-4917
