Recommendation Three:
Ensure the formal evaluation system is based on student learning and professional development that enhances teachers' knowledge and skills. An informal process of continued feedback and recognition for teacher performance should accompany the formal evaluation process.

 

Role Group Strategies

District Office
Assess the effectiveness of current district evaluation practices.

A Blueprint for Teacher Evaluation
Danielson, C. and McGreal, T. (2000). Teacher Evaluation:  To Enhance Professional Practice.
http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/template.chapter/menuitem.
ccf6e1bf6046da7cdeb3ffdb62108a0c/?chapterMgmtId=def56
4597dcaff00VgnVCM1000003d01a8c0RCRD

This chapter of Charlotte Danielson’s book Teacher Evaluation: To Enhance Professional Practice outlines three essential elements of an effective teacher evaluation system:  a coherent definition of the domain of teaching, techniques and procedures for assessing all aspects of teaching, and trained evaluators who can make consistent judgments about performance. 

District Office
Ensure that teacher evaluations are outcome-driven, incorporating student learning into teacher assessment and based on recognized standards of professional practice.

Avoiding Landmines:  Lessons Learned in Standards and Accountability
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.  (2001, June). Education Update, 43(4).
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q63F2362B
This article outlines the efforts of two California school districts to create a three pronged teacher appraisal system that included classroom observations, student achievement and student surveys.  Describing the system as “multi-layered,” teachers had significant input into the tools used to evaluate their performance, thereby increasing the likelihood that evaluation would lead to improved practice.

Professional Development Dossier Field Test Materials
New Mexico Public Education Department (2004).
http://www.teachnm.org/prof_dev_opportunities/dossier_pdd.htm
In setting up its new 3-Tiered Licensure System, New Mexico has created a system of teacher evaluation known as the Professional Development Dossier.  Teachers hoping to advance to either the professional or master teacher levels have to create a dossier that outlines their work in three areas:  Instruction, Student Learning and Professional Learning.  This site guides teachers through the process of creating a dossier and would be of value to any administrator or community looking to improve their system of teacher evaluation. 

Teacher Objective Setting Manuals
Denver Public School System. (2003).
http://www.dpsteacherobjectives.org/DPS_HandbooksToolkit.html
The Denver Public School System adopted a revolutionary teacher evaluation system that provides teachers with the opportunity to increase their pay through documented success in the classroom and by participating in high quality professional development.  This webpage connects to elementary and secondary “Teacher Objective Setting” manuals used in the Denver Public Schools.  Defining the process of teacher objective setting, these documents provide descriptions of high-quality objectives, checklists and worksheets for developing objectives, and rubrics for evaluation.  These practical tools would be valuable to any administrator attempting to focus individual teacher growth on measurable and professional objectives.

Wisconsin Standards-based Teacher Evaluation and Compensation Resources
Consortium for Policy Research in Education. 
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/cpre/tcomp/research/standards
/district/studies.asp
This website provides access to case studies of school districts in Minnesota, Virginia, and Nevada that have implemented standards-based teacher evaluation systems and papers investigating the relationship between standards-based evaluation scores and student learning.

Teacher Evaluation:  Using Mathematics and Science Teaching Standards to Assess Teachers
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.  (1999, Fall
http://www.nwrel.org/msec/images/resources/pdf/fall1999.pdf
This tool walks teachers and school leaders through the process of creating teacher evaluation systems for mathematics and science instruction that are focused on specific standards.  It provides guiding questions, evaluation strategies, and profiles the efforts of one school district in Oregon to create standards-based teacher evaluation..

Core Standards for Teachers in North Carolina
The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards Commission.  (1999).
http://www.ncptsc.org/EveryTeacher.htm
The state of North Carolina, working with administrators, policymakers, teachers and parents, developed a set of core standards for professional teaching practice based on the work of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium.  This website describes the six standards that should be used by schools and districts to guide teacher evaluation and professional development.

Improving Teacher Evaluation to Improve Teaching Quality
Goldrick, L.  (2002, December 9). Issue Brief. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices.
http://www.nga.org/cda/files/1202IMPROVINGTEACHEVAL.pdf
This issue brief looks at the current nature of the teacher evaluation system and discusses changes that need to be made.  The author notes that currently teacher evaluations are typically personnel based actions, examining teacher performance in very superficial ways, and recommends that evaluations become outcome driven processes focused on the improvement of instructional practices.  Evaluations can provide a starting point for identifying the types of professional growth opportunities that teachers need to improve instructionally, thereby improving the success rate of students in our schools and communities.

INTASC Standards Development
Council of Chief State School Officers
http://www.ccsso.org/projects/Interstate_New_Teacher_Assess
ment_and_Support_Consortium/Projects/Standards_Development/
The Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium was established in the early 1990’s by the Council of Chief State School Officers to help define standards of professional teaching practice.  This website displays the standards defined by INTASC for teachers in nine different areas of education.  These standards provide a foundational understanding of what good teachers should know and be able to do.

Standards and Teacher Evaluation
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.  (2002, January).
http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed_update/200201/14.html
This article discusses the importance of linking teacher evaluation to school and district wide goals and of holding teachers accountable for their performance through meaningful evaluation.

District Office
Develop alternative assessment programs that are multi-layered, formative in nature and focused on enhancing teacher knowledge and skills.  Involve teachers in the development of assessment models and include peer-review as a component of district evaluation model.

District Profile:  A Commitment to Craft, Rochester (N.Y.) City School District Career in Teaching Program
Scarpa, S. (n.d.)  District Administration Magazine.
http://www.districtadministration.com/page.cfm?p=743
The Rochester City School District established a Career in Teaching Program over 16 years ago with the support of the Rochester Teachers’ Association.  This comprehensive overview of the program explains the mentoring and peer review components of the program, as well as the levels that have been created within the teaching profession in Rochester.  This resource is valuable for district-level administrators or policymakers interested in designing a system of support for new and struggling teachers, a method of stratifying the teaching profession, or a system of peer-review and evaluation.

Outstanding Teacher Program
Douglas County School System
http://www1.dcsdk12.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/DCSD.woa/10/wa/staticPage?
wosid=YHatM8nNWmkq3v1tWQDrXg&pageName=hr_lic_PerfPay

The Douglas County School System, just outside of Denver, Colorado, was one of the first school systems in America to adopt a pay for performance plan in the recent wave of school reform.  This website outlines the pay for performance plan and describes the district's Outstanding Teacher Program, in which teachers create portfolios documenting their accomplishments in the classroom.  The detailed descriptions of these portfolios provide schools and communities with adaptable tools to use to improve their own teacher evaluation systems.

Portfolios Help Teachers Reflect on What Makes Good Teaching
Delisio, E.  (2000, November 21). Education World.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin201.shtml
Many states are moving to a portfolio system of evaluation for new teachers, which are believed to give schools a more accurate picture of a teacher’s strengths and weaknesses and to help teachers learn to reflect on their practice.  This article outlines Connecticut’s portfolio program, identified as one of the nation’s most comprehensive, and includes interviews with teachers who have worked through the process and those who have scored portfolios.

Professional Evaluation:  Professional Growth Plans Offer Alternative to Teacher Checklists
Barkley, S.G., and Cohn, R. (1999, September). American Association of School Administrators
http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/1999_09/foc_barkley.htm
Traditionally, teacher evaluation has consisted of one or two brief classroom observations per year, which do little to increase a teacher’s ability as a skilled practitioner.  This article examines an innovative approach to teacher evaluation used in Bethpage, NY which allows experienced teachers to select from four alternative evaluation models:  peer coaching teams, action research, personal growth plans, or portfolios.

Coaching:  A Strategy for Developing Instructional Capacity
Neufeld, B. and Roper, D.  (2003, June). Annenberg Institute for School Reform
http://www.annenberginstitute.org/images/Coaching.pdf
This report provides a guide through the process of instructional coaching. The authors explain what coaches do, how they are prepared, important factors and challenges in implementation, and the benefits and expected outcomes of coaching programs.

School Based Coaching – A Lit Review
Green, Terry. (2004). National Staff Development Council
http://www.nsdc.org/library/schoolbasedlitreview.pdf
This document presents a review of literature supporting school-based staff developers or coaches. The author provides detailed definitions of key terms and then discusses research pertaining to a variety of coaching models. The publication also includes a list of practical tools for use by schools and districts.

District Office
Encourage teachers to pursue certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Virginia School Sees Board-Certified Teachers As Key to Turnaround
Archer, J.  (2001, May 30). Education Week.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=38leadboard.h20&keywords=Fairfax
This article describes how National Board Certified Teachers in one Virginia school are taking on leadership roles by providing professional training for their colleagues.  The school aims to become a model of how National Board Certified Teachers can help an entire school improve student learning.

Better Assessment for Better Teaching
Castor, B.  (2002, December 11). Education Week
http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=15castor.h22&
keywords=national%20board%20certification
This article from Education Week examines many of the weaknesses of standard teacher evaluation systems and describes the benefits of encouraging teachers to earn certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards as a method of improving teaching quality and student learning.

NBPTS:  Building better teachers
Starr, L.  (2004, April). Education World.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat100.shtml
This Education World interview with Joseph A. Aguerrebere Jr., President of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, outlines the process of board certification, as well as the benefits for teachers and students.  It is a brief and informative look at the potential that board certification has for changing teaching and learning in America.

Supporting National Board Certification:  School Administrators
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
http://www.nbpts.org/iam/administrator.cfm
This article from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards introduces Board Certification to school administrators.  It describes incentives being offered to teachers pursuing Board Certification at the state and local level nationwide, the benefits that NBCT’s offer their districts, and action-steps that district level leaders can take to promote Board Certification.  Also included is a downloadable brochure entitled, “A Distinction that Matters:  What School Administrators Should Know about National Board Certification.”

If you have other resources to add or thoughts to share,
please email us at


data analysis | time | leadership | Empowerment | prof development | facilities & resource