TEACHER AND ADMINISTRATOR PERSPECTIVES ON THE TEACHER EVALUATION PROCESS

Abstract

Within Indiana, growth and professional development are not a primary focus of the required teacher evaluation process. According to the Indiana Teacher Evaluation law, school administration must annually conduct performance evaluations on all certified employees. Rigorous measures of effectiveness are required as part of the law, which include observations, a rating designation ranging from highly effective to ineffective, and a discussion of the evaluation between the evaluator and the teacher. The Teacher Evaluation Law requires recommendations for improvement by the evaluator if a rating is below effective, but effective ratings are acceptable and do not require improvement initiatives. The Teacher Evaluation Law includes process requirements, but continuous improvement elements to the evaluation process are not present in the teacher evaluation law. This study was a collaborative effort between the researcher and the district in which he is employed. A self-study with respect to the research questions and the evaluation process. The perspectives of teachers and school administrators were the focus of this study, thus, qualitative research methods were used. Thirteen semi-structured interviews provided the data for this study from nine teachers and four administrators. Exploratory qualitative research was used, which is introductory research intended to explain and define a problem to be solved. Three interrelated concepts guided this study of teachers’ perspectives on the teacher evaluation process: teacher observation, teacher feedback, and professional development. This research provides evidence that a disconnect between the design of professional development and feedback provided to teachers as a result of classroom observations are not connected to continuous improvement. The improvement in instructional practices is dependent upon the principals’ capacity to promote instructional leadership skills in observing teachers, providing feedback to teachers, and monitoring continuous improvement. Current research supports the findings of this study that effective teacher evaluation conducted within strong instructional leadership promotes continuous improvement.