The teacher evaluation process sometimes seems a little ridiculous. For many boards, a principal will formally “visit” a teacher 2-3 times, and from those observations (and obviously some other observations throughout the school year), they will write an evaluation on that teacher. As a new teacher, it is tough to feel comfortable with an administrator in the room so they often get “the show” which is not really reflective of what teaching and learning looks like in the classroom. I did the same thing as a teacher. Those few observations didn’t really resemble what I did throughout the year, and it was often a reflection of what I thought my administrator wanted to see (kids quiet, sitting in rows, respectful of my dynamic up in the front teaching with my amazing lesson), not how I taught the majority of the year. I don’t think my teaching was ever a “lie” during that time but often an exaggeration. It is easy to get nervous during this process.
Although many boards still have to do the three observations, I think that the process needs to focus more on the learner. For example, instead of telling someone how they taught based on those observations, I challenge administrators to ask the following questions:
What are you strong at?
Where do you need to improve?
What are some things that you are going to do to become a better educator?
The important part of this process is to really let the learner talk. If the focus is on their teaching, then the learner should be the one sharing what they know. If administrators started to do this, what would the “trickle-down effect” be in the classroom? What if you asked the same questions of your students (modified for age level obviously)? Would this not be the type of assessment that not only summarizes learning but actually an assessment to improve learning?
I would love to hear the practices for teacher evaluation that are happening in schools that go against the traditional model. What do you got?
