David Nevo

Principal Evaluation: New Directions for Improvement.

Together with parents and teachers, school principals play crucial roles in the effective education of Americas children and youth. In recent years, researchers and policymakers have supported what parents and teachers have long known experientially-that the quality of leadership provided by school principals significantly influences the quality of schools (Andrews & Soder, 1987; Bossert, Dwyer, Rowan, & Lee, 1982; Clinton, 1991; Duke, 1987, 1992; Greenfield, 1987; Hallinger & Murphy, 1987; Leithwood, 1988; Schmitt & Schechtman, 1990; Sergiovanni, 1987). Consequently, systematic and careful evaluation of principal qualifications, competence, and performance is critically important to the success of Americas elementary and secondary schools. The public interest is no less at risk from incompetent school principals than from incompetent doctors, lawyers, and accountants, and all such public servants should be carefully evaluated throughout their professional careers. Sound evaluations of the aptitudes, proficiencies, performance, and special achievements of principals not only protect the public from poor

Evaluation in Decision Making: The Case of School Administration

I Concepts.- 1 The School Principalship.- 2 A Focus on Decision Making and Evaluation.- 3 Evaluation in Education.- 4 How Evaluation Can Improve Decision Making in the School Principalship.- II Studies.- 5 Assigning Teachers to Classrooms.- 6 Making Schoolwide Decisions While Interacting with Teachers.- 7 Performing the Role of Teacher Evaluation.- 8 Guiding and Evaluating Teachers on Student Achievement-Based Instructional Objectives.- 9 Guiding Rational Solutions to Academic Problems of Low Achievers.- 10 Coordinating Student Achievement Testing.- III Implications.- 11 Conclusions.- 12 Toward Improvement.- References.

A Model for the Utilisation of Formative Evaluation in the Process of Developing Instructional Materials

The purpose of this paper is to present an applied model for the utilisation of formative evaluation in the process of developing instructional materials. The model is introduced through a presentation of its conceptual rationale, a description of its methodology and instrumentation, and a demonstration of its development and utilisation during a period of three years within the framework of a project for the development of instructional materials for culturally disadvantaged students at the junior high school level. Practical recommendations are provided for evaluators involved in curriculum development.

The International Context for Research on Evaluation

The educational research community in the United States has played a leading role in the development of evaluation in recent decades. Numerous evaluation models, theories, approaches or persuasions made in the United States have been imported by other countries and adopted without too many reservations. Although the need to provide an adequate empirical base for various evaluation approaches has been acknowledged by many prominent evaluators, none of the evaluation models has been systematically verified. Any claim of an existing evaluation approach to be a grounded evaluation theory would be very subjective indeed. Thus it is unclear whether the various evaluation frameworks are a good enough fit to reality to serve as valid guides in the conduct of evaluation. But even if such a fit to reality could be established in the context of American society, it would not necessarily follow that the framework would fit the realities of other social contexts. Here are some examples:

Internal and External Evaluation

This article discusses the definitions and functions of internal and external evaluation in the context of school evaluation. It then explicates the ways that internal and external evaluation may benefit from each other. Finally, it proposes dialog evaluation which includes three aspects, conception, methodology, and communication, for internal and external evaluation to coexist productively.

The School Principalship

In this introductory chapter, we discuss the concept of the school principalship in four ways. We first provide a brief historical overview of the evolution of the principalship in the United States. Next we provide a brief summary of research conducted in the past 15 or 20 years which has attempted to find out what school principals actually do. In the third section we introduce a discussion of some of the ambiguities that, we believe, are inherent in education and, as a result also, in the school principalship. In the fourth and final section, we present some theoretical perspectives on the school principalship.

Guiding Rational Solutions to Academic Problems of Low Achievers

This is the second of the three chapters that consider the involvement of school principals with the issues of student achievement directly. The decision-making area presented in this chapter involves the guidance of rational solutions to academic problems of low achieving students. This area involves organizing and stimulating decisions. When principals make choices about what to do with academic problems of low achievers, they, in effect, make all-encompassing student achievement-related structuring and implementation decisions.

Performing the Role of Teacher Evaluation

This is the last of three chapters that deal with the relationship between the school principal and the teachers. The decision-making area presented here encompasses the performance of the role of evaluating teachers in the school. This area is central to the principalship in two ways. It pertains to important instruction-related dimensions of the principal-teacher’s relationship. It also involves important evaluative decisions. When principals make choices about which roles of teacher evaluation they perform they, in fact, make all encompassing instruction-related personnel evaluation decisions.

Coordinating Student Achievement Testing

This is the last of three chapters that deal with the direct involvement of school principals with issues of student achievement. The decision area presented in this chapter is the coordination of student achievement testing. This area involves evaluative decisions. When principals make choices about student achievement testing they, in fact, make all-encompassing student achievement-related evaluative decisions.

Assigning Teachers to Classrooms

This is the first of six chapters that present a variety of decision-making areas in the school principalship in some detail. The decision-making area presented in this chapter involves the assignment of teachers to classrooms. This area is central to the principalship role in two ways. It pertains to some important instruction-related dimensions of the relationship between the principal and the teachers in the school. It also involves planning decisions. When principals make choices about which teacher is assigned to teach which students, they, in effect, make all encompassing instruction-related personnel planning decisions.