Check list

Teachers’ check list evaluation December 20 2016 Prepared by: Mohamed Ahmed Dardeer Ahmed Assuit university Faculty of education English department Supervised by: Professor. Mahmoud Abd Allah  Teacher Assessment and Evaluation The challenges of teaching: Teaching is a demanding and complex profession. Each school day, countless dedicated, talented teachers report to work intent on being the caring, competent, and effective educator that every student deserves. Many teaching professionals work in under resourced schools and in jobs that are incredibly challenging and complex. They can attest to the fact that teaching is not rocket science. In many ways, teaching can be even more challenging than scientific endeavors. Meeting the demands of the teaching profession requires tremendous will, ability, and preparation. It also requires continuous learning and support. The role of teacher evaluation Evaluation is only one component of a comprehensive teacher growth and development system. The U.S. public education system involves many stakeholders whose various roles and responsibilities aim to support and enhance student learning. Unfortunately, within the education system itself, there is a lack of alignment and coherence. Efforts to reform a single component, such as teacher evaluation, cannot produce a “silver bullet.” Focusing on only one component can lead to reforms that merely tinker around the edges. When trying to fix what appears to be broken, we may end up leaving flawed systems and structures intact. True reform of teacher evaluation and assessment needs to be considered in the larger context of transforming the education system. To design and implement productive evaluation and assessment programs, we need to recognize two essential points: Initially, preparation and hiring are the most critical ways to assure teacher effectiveness. Before becoming a teacher-of-record, every teacher should demonstrate subject-area knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and professional teaching ability. Current efforts to develop performance assessments for beginning teachers show promise in ensuring that teachers enter the profession with the necessary qualifications, regardless of their preparation route to the classroom. In addition, hiring practices support teaching effectiveness when the criteria used for hiring are aligned with the criteria used for evaluating teachers. High quality professional development must be available to every teacher. Professional development programs should be based on state standards, district and school learning goals, and the identified needs of students and teachers. In addition, all new teachers should receive targeted support and participate in an induction and mentoring program. Novice teachers should have less demanding assignments than more experienced teachers and more time for planning. They should also have opportunities to observe experienced teachers. Even the best teacher assessment and evaluation systems are likely to fail in an education system that fails to provide the necessary training and preparation to ensure that prospective teachers acquire appropriate skills, knowledge, and dispositions from the very first day of independent professional practice. The county’s philosophy of performance evaluation states that the evaluation process exists to facilitate the improvement of instruction. The evaluation procedures and associated instruments provide the framework for assessing teacher performance as it relates to the adopted performance criteria. Through the objective and unbiased application of this process, performance strengths and areas for improvement will be identified. This data will be communicated to the teacher in a constructive way and, through interaction, a professional growth plan will be developed to support and enhance professional development. The principal is responsible for evaluation at the school site. The principal may, however, delegate the responsibility to an assistant principal, when applicable. The teacher or administrator may, at any time, request the support and assistance of other management personnel as part of the evaluation or instructional supervision process. This may include the principal, assistant principal(s), subject area supervisors and/or administrators from the central office. In addition, the teacher may, at any time, request informal non-evaluative assistance from other qualified teachers, department chairpersons or other non-administrative personnel. These personnel would not be part of the formal evaluation process, but the evaluator may, at any time, recommend such assistance and/or suggest specific personnel. Performance evaluation for teachers is a continuous process that takes place in three-year cycles. It consists of two complementary types of evaluation: formative and summative. The former is the process of gathering performance data, analyzing it, and using the results to provide feedback for the purpose of improving teaching. The latter is the process of using performance data to judge the quality of teaching in the light of the county’s established criteria for teacher performance. Failure of the current system Current systems for assessing, evaluating, and supporting teachers too often fail to improve teacher practice and enhance student growth and learning. Annual observations are often performed by school principals who are not adequately trained to conduct classroom observations and are unable to provide teachers with constructive, actionable feedback. The use of evaluation checklists is often meaningless when the checklists are not designed to depict good practice. Current evaluation systems have largely failed to identify teachers’ professional growth needs and failed to provide the support and professional learning opportunities required to meet those needs. We must develop ways to transform teacher evaluation systems to ensure that all students have effective, highly-skilled teachers. The purpose of teacher assessment and evaluation Current policy discourse about teacher evaluation is mired in a rewards-and-punishment framework that too often aims to: 1) measure the effectiveness of each teacher, 2) categorize and rank teachers, 3) reward those at the top, and 4) fire those at the bottom. Such a simplistic approach not only ignores the complexity of teaching but also overlooks the real purpose of teacher assessment and evaluation. The core purpose of teacher assessment and evaluation should be to strengthen the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and classroom practices of professional educators. This goal serves to promote student growth and learning while also inspiring great teachers to remain in the classroom. Comprehensive systems of continuous teacher education and professional growth help teachers master content, refine their teaching skills, critically analyze their own performance and their students’ performance, and implement the changes needed to improve teaching and learning. Comprehensive performance assessment systems provide targeted support, assistance, and professional growth opportunities based on teachers’ individual needs as well as the needs of their students, schools, and districts. Principles for teacher assessment and evaluation Safe and open collaboration is necessary. When assessment of teacher practices is transparent and openly collaborative, teachers can build professional communities and learn from one another. This process can only occur in non-threatening environments of formative assessment and growth. Measures of teacher performance are most helpful and meaningful when they are based on multiple ratings and clear teaching standards in the formative growth process. Teachers need clear and actionable feedback based on standards for teaching and student learning that are comprehensive and transparent and on criterion-referenced assessments of teacher practice. Feedback is most useful as part of a comprehensive teacher development system. Summative evaluations of teachers should be based primarily on a single standard of effectiveness required for all teachers. After extensive support and intervention, a process to remove chronically ineffective teachers from the classroom, which guarantees due process measures, should commence. Integrated systems must link evaluation procedures with curricular standards, professional development activities, targeted support, and human capital decisions. Validated evaluation measures are essential. Measures of teacher effectiveness need to be based on widely accepted standards of teaching that attempt to capture a range of teaching behaviours, use multiple evaluation methods. Teachers’ input in determining performance and learning outcomes should be part of the evaluation process. While standards for teaching practice and student learning are essential, each teacher should also help to define a set of practices and student learning objectives to be assessed. Teacher input can provide vital learning goals for the unique, contextualized circumstances of each particular classroom. Assessment and evaluation systems need to be co-created or designed with teachers at the local level through collective bargaining or, where there is no collective bargaining, agreed to by the organization representing teachers. This may be the most important principle of all. Ideals and visions need to be balanced with local context and political reality. There is no one-size-fits-all solution at a national level. Focus on professional growth Teachers’ continuous engagement in learning, skill acquisition, and refinements to practice is essential for meeting student learning needs. Assessment and evaluation are crucial for determining whether teachers are, in fact, acquiring and applying the content, skills, and dispositions necessary to meet school and district standards for student learning. Assessment and evaluation are also essential for identifying any additional or alternative professional learning that a teacher may need. Therefore, professional growth and assessment/evaluation should be seen as complementary and integrally-related parts of the same process. Developers of evaluation instruments and systems increasingly recognize the wisdom and benefits nof designing evaluation processes that intentionally foster and support teacher growth. In Teacher Evaluation to Enhance Professional Practice (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2000), authors Danielson and McGreal describe elements of evaluation systems that contribute to professional learning: reflection on practice; collaboration with colleagues; self-assessment and selfdirected inquiry; and participation in a community of learners. The authors conclude: Some newly developed evaluation systems require that teachers conduct a self-assessment, establish professional growth goals, and participate in a study group with colleagues to pursue a topic of common interest….Then, in addition to classroom observations, teachers are asked to submit evidence of their professional skill in the form of planning documents, samples of student work (with a commentary), and other elements of their professionalism (such as parent communication, contributions to the school and district, etc.) Assembling and selecting these documents requires deep reflection on practice; describing them to an administrator engages the teacher and administrator in professional conversation. Similarly, in Research Brief—Teacher Evaluation (The Principals’ Partnership, May 2007), Gary Marx of Eastern Michigan University notes: Efforts to improve the technical quality of evaluation systems over the past two decades have not produced evidence of improved teaching and increased student achievement. Thus, newer thinking treats teacher evaluation as an organizational problem that includes improving school climate, having the principal become an instructional leader, and building links between school improvement, professional development, teacher evaluation and student learning. Marx recommends that principals interested in robust and useful teacher evaluations take the following action: Assess school culture and climate to ensure that the evaluation environment is supportive of on-going professional learning. The literature cites school cultures that focus on teaching and learning for all students, collaboration among teachers, and teacher reflective practice as characteristics of supportive evaluation environments. Using evidence of student learning Using evidence of student learning and other student outcomes is a fundamental component of the teacher learning and development process. Teachers must understand how their teaching practice influences student growth and learning. They need to use that understanding to adjust their practice in ways that allow them to become more effective. Conclusion Effective teaching contributes to student learning, regardless of the circumstances and conditions. When a school also has strong leadership, adequate resources, and the meaningful engagement of stakeholders, effective teaching has the power to transform public education and ensure great public schools for every student. Teachers are responsible for making their own practice as effective as possible. Teachers also need to take control of their own profession and share in the school system’s responsibility for transforming education. For far too long, policymakers outside of the teaching profession have offered short-sighted solutions to improving education that overlook the value and complexity of teaching as a profession. Teachers and their representatives best understand the shortcomings in the system and as such must respond with new ideas and innovations. Identifying a comprehensive, rigorous process for assessing, supporting, and evaluating teachers is a critical first step toward reclaiming the profession of teaching. Teachers must continue to address key questions about their profession, such as: What forms of preparation do prospective teachers need for success in today’s classroom? How can new teachers demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and capacity required for competent practice from the outset and for accomplished practice over time? What current practices do we need to reform? Transform, or eliminate? With what do we replace them? How can compensation systems that support professional pay and professional development help teachers improve their practice in meaningful ways? Teachers possess the knowledge, the experience, and the will to address these challenges. Neglecting to do so would most assuredly result in a decline of professionalism in teaching. With the appropriate framework for support and feedback, teachers will be able to make continual improvements in their practice and continue to ensure that every student has access to a great education. References Braun, H. (2010). “Getting Value Out of Value-Added: Report of a Workshop.” Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. Brookhart, S. (2009). “Accountability Policies and Measures.” Washington, D.C.: National Education Association. Danielson, C. and McGreal, T. (2000). “Teacher Evaluation to Enhance Professional Practice.” Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). “Recognizing and Developing Effective Teachers: What Policy Brief: Policy Makers Should Know and Do.” Washington, D.C.: National Association of Education and American Association of Colleges for Teacher Evaluation. Economic Policy Institute (2010). “Problems with the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers.” Retrieved August 2010, http://www/epi.org/publications/entry/6276. Goe, L. and Croft, A. (2009). “Research -To-Practice Brief: Methods of Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness.” Washington, D.C.: National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. Little, O; Goe, L, and Bell, C (2009). “A Practical Guide to Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness.” Washington, D.C.: National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality. Marx, G. (2007). “Research Brief—Teacher Evaluation.” Retrieved April 2010, http://www.principalspartneship.com. NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education (2000). “Engaging Public Support for Teachers’ Professional Development.” Washington, D.C.: National Education Association. Rand Education Research Brief (2004).“The Promise and Peril of Using Value-Added Modeling to Measure Teacher Effectiveness.”Santa Monica, Ca.: Rand Education. Micro-teaching 2016 – 2017 7