Browsing by Subject "Teacher evaluation"
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Item Effectiveness of principals as evaluators of teachers(2009-10) Gregoire, Shirley AnnThe purpose of this study was to gather perceptions of principals and teachers with regard to the effectiveness of principals as evaluators of teachers. Perceptions were reviewed within the context of seven standards across the four attributes of the personnel standards developed by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation (Joint Committee, 2009). These standards, organized by attributes, define quality personnel evaluation in education. The research was exploratory and utilized quantitative research methods. Principal and teacher participants were asked to identify their perceptions of the frequency with which principals followed effective evaluation practices. Teacher participants were also asked to identify the relative importance of the practices as a factor of effective evaluation. Because validity and reliability are of heightened importance when evaluation results are applied to performance pay decisions (Loup & Ellett, 1997), the study used perceptions of middle school principals and tenured teachers who participated in the Minnesota Q-Comp program (Q-Comp), a performance based merit pay system. An analysis of the findings indicated that principals are effective evaluators of teachers. Teachers rated principals as "Often" following the effective practices on 16 of the 24 practices. Principals' self ratings generally mirrored those of the teachers with principals frequently rating themselves higher. A further analysis based on the relative importance of each practice as ranked by teachers further supports principal effectiveness as evaluators. Principals' practices which are ranked higher in frequency are the practices that teachers identified as most important. Principals' practices that are ranked lower in frequency are of lower importance to the teachers. This study found that principals are effective evaluators of tenured teachers as determined by the frequency with which they follow national personnel evaluation standards. The study suggests implications for principal preparation programs and district in-service training based on the effective practice skills analysis. The study further suggests that principals are capable of assuming a significant role in tenured teacher evaluation in a performance pay system.Item Interpreting Teacher Evaluation Policies: The Perspectives of Local and State-Level Policy Actors in Two U.S. States(2015-12) Gilles, JaneAbstract This multi-case study explores how local policy actors – teachers and administrators – interpret new state teacher evaluation policies developed in response to federal pressures. In the study’s first phase, local policy actors from six small school districts in two U.S. states were interviewed about their efforts to develop teacher evaluation systems to address new state policies. In the second phase of the study, interviews with state-level policy actors in the two states expanded on themes from the first phase. The study’s conceptual framework recognizes policy interpretation as a distinct phase in the policy process, and it addresses the context, influences, and multiple actors involved in policy interpretation. Using an open coding approach consistent with grounded theory, interviews were analyzed, and supporting documents were used to triangulate the data. The study finds that local actors embrace teacher evaluation as a means of professional growth, yet they hold serious concerns about including measures of student growth in teacher ratings. In addition, the study reveals that the density of collaboration at the local level influences the scope of policy interpretation; that local policy actors rely on state-level stakeholders – who are shown to serve as policy intermediaries – to aid in policy interpretation; that the messages of policy intermediaries influence local actors’ understanding of policy goals and attitudes toward implementation; that collaboration among policy intermediaries benefits local policy actors; and that state political culture influences policy activity at both the state and local levels. Since this case study was conducted in only two states and only a small number of local and state-level policy actors were interviewed within each state, a total of 35 participants across both phases of the study, the research is limited and findings cannot be generalized.