Kenneth D. Peterson

Research on School Teacher Evaluation

Research literature highlights the principal as central to teacher evaluation. However, principal reports do not provide adequate information to document teacher quality. Good teacher evaluation adds multiple data sources such as client surveys, peer reviews of matenials, and pupil achievement data, which vary by teacher and setting. Principals should become knowledgeable about pupil gain data, costs of evaluation, sociology of teacher evaluation, and the problem of the bad teacher. Teacher evaluation can reassure external audiences that schools are doing a good job.

Teacher Evaluation With Multiple and Variable Lines of Evidence

Teacher evaluation is key to understanding effective teacher practice, rewarding excellent performance, and improving training programs. Yet the current practice of principal visits and reports does not promise to promote reforms for teachers or teacher educators. In this study six lines of evidence of teaching impact or value were developed and tested with 281 K-12 classroom teachers. Teachers selected a minimum of four lines for promotion in a career ladder system. Administrator reports showed low variation and correlations with other measures. Student reports, parent surveys, and teacher tests produced sufficient variance for decisionmaking and moderate correlations with other measures. Professional activity and years of experience showed erratic relations. In general, the lines of evidence showed independence, suggesting that multiple measures may have tapped different constructs of quality.

Student Surveys for School Teacher Evaluation

Students reports have the potential to add much useful information about school teacher quality. However, much research has centered on post secondary settings and many questions remain about the use of pupil surveys for K–12 teachers. The Davis County School District (Utah) uses pupil surveys as one teacher-chosen data source for teacher evaluation. The surveys of 9,765 students were analyzed for patterns of response. Item analysis suggests that pupils responded with reliability and validity. Some individual items are more defensible than others for conceptual and empirical reasons.

Themes of Uncommonly Successful Teachers of At-Risk Students

Successful teachers share some characteristics but differ in several ways.

School Teachers' Control and Involvement in Their Own Evaluation.

SummaryFor the technical, sociological-psychological, and political benefits of teacher participation in evaluation to occur, new structures and policies concerning evaluation must be put into place. Teachers must be given stagewise support in developing increased involvement and control. But finally, those policy makers, evaluation program designers and researchers who plan for teacher evaluation must act to more completely include teachers in their own evaluation. A great deal of good is at stake in the opportunity to increase teacher participation in teacher evaluation.

Primary grade student reports for teacher evaluation

The improvement of teacher evaluation is an important theme in current public school reform efforts. One change, suggested by a number of researchers, is to gather more lines of evidence or perspectives of teacher performance for decision making. Student views, commonly used in higher education, are advocated as one data source about teacher quality. Although it is clear that students of all ages can provide some perspective on teacher performance, substantial questions remain about using the views of young pupils.The purpose of this study was to empirically examine a sample of student reports of teacher performance from kindergarten through second grade. The analysis used procedures developed for student rating forms in higher education. The objective was to advance understanding and practice about effective teacher evaluation, specifically in the use of pupil report data.

Presenting Complex Teacher Evaluation Data: Advantages of Dossier Organization Techniques over Portfolios.

The development of extensive and authentic teacher evaluation raises questions about how best to organize and present the increased amount and variety of assessment materials. Portfolios have been suggested for teacher evaluation because they are well suited to capture the complexities of teaching. However, portfolios 1) are difficult to judge, 2) are difficult to archive, 3) lack key information, 4) miss excellent teachers with simple materials, 5) rarely plan for audiences, 6) distort when required, and 7) bring conflicts of interest. Teacher dossiers are compressed collections of objective data which are easier to judge, demonstrably reliable, and cost-effective.

DOSSIER: A Computer Expert System Simulation of Professional Judgments on Schoolteacher Promotion

AbstractThe purpose of this simulation study was to compare the judgments on 12 schoolteacher performance dossiers by a computer expert system with similar decisions by human experts reported in a previous study. An expert system contains questions, rules, linked advice, and an organizing logic. Both promotion decisions and ranking of dossiers by quality were included in the comparison. The expert system showed high levels of agreement with the human judges. This finding suggests that the computer knowledge base is useful for understanding the difficult task of determining teacher quality. Practical implications suggest that teacher evaluation requires complex and extensive data gathering. Support is provided for the theoretical view that teaching quality is a complex and variable phenomenon.

Evaluation that Accommodates Minority Teacher Contributions.

Greater flexibility in evaluative procedures to aid minority group-and other-teachers improve leaning.