Shared leadership: A comparative case study of two first year US principals’ socialization around teacher evaluation policy

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B Reid
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Elementary School Principals ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
New Teacher ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
First Year ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Policy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Evaluation Policies

New career principals are tasked with many sensemaking opportunities and often rely on their peers to assist with these sensemaking processes, engaging in a form of newcomer socialization. This study investigates how two first year elementary school principals in the US state of Michigan become socialized to their new roles as school leaders by examining how these individuals make sense of new teacher evaluation policies and systems. Findings show these principals relied on their social networks to make sense of the teacher evaluation process. These principals did so in an effort to establish positive and trusting relationships with their colleagues and in an effort to make up for a lack of initial training with these systems. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Principals’ instructional leadership under statewide teacher evaluation reform

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-643
Author(s):  
Chad R. Lochmiller ◽  
John L. Mancinelli
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Elementary School Principals ◽  
School Principals ◽  
New Teacher ◽  
Evaluation Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Policy ◽  
New Teacher Evaluation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe how elementary school principals adjust their leadership practice in response to Washington’s new teacher evaluation policy. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a modified content analysis of open-ended survey responses collected from elementary school principals in Washington State. In all, the survey included responses from 354 elementary school principals representing 25.0 percent of the state’s elementary school principal population. ATLAS.ti supported data analysis and assisted in the derivation of three key findings. Findings Elementary school principals changed their instructional leadership practice in response to the new teacher evaluation policy in three significant ways. First, principals adjusted their approach to classroom observation to complete more intentional, in-depth observational activities. Second, principals redistributed non-instructional responsibilities to clerical staff members to allow themselves and other administrators more time for classroom observation. Third, principals adopted a learning stance to the new policy and thus sought external support, especially coaching, to assist them with the implementation of new evaluation practices. Research limitations/implications The study faced three limitations. First, the sample of respondents included in this study cannot be generalized to the state as participants were not randomly selected. Second, the survey did not utilize a longitudinal design, and thus its findings only relate to the first year of the policy’s implementation. Third, the study does not include school-based evidence to triangulate principals’ survey responses. Originality/value The study contributes to the instructional leadership literature. Specifically, the study offers further insights into the adjustments principals make in their leadership to accommodate expectations found in new teacher evaluation policy.

Leaders’ Negotiation of Teacher Evaluation Policy in Immigrant-Serving Schools

2021 ◽  
pp. 089590482110156
Author(s):  
Reva Jaffe-Walter ◽  
Adriana Villavicencio
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Policy ◽  
Evaluation Policies

This paper examines how school leaders working within schools serving immigrant English Learners negotiate teacher evaluation policies, including how they influence compliance with mandated policies, communicate those policies to teachers, and guide implementation within their professional communities. We explore how a leader in a school with positive outcomes negotiates external policies to support authentic professional growth and maximize learning opportunities for immigrant ELs. In addition, we draw on data from a comparison school that also serves a high proportion of ELs, but where policies have been enacted in ways that focus on compliance, increase anxiety, and add little value to EL students. In doing so, we show how leaders can mitigate the unintended consequences of mandated policies by addressing teachers’ uncertainty and anxieties, while reaffirming humanizing institutional practices that honor the local knowledge of teachers and deepen teachers’ collective responsibility for immigrant youth.

A Critical Analysis of Teacher Evaluation Policy Trends

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne A. Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
New Teacher ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
System Reform ◽  
Evaluation Policy ◽  
Professional Careers ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Policy ◽  
Policies And Programs

Modernising the teaching profession has become one of the main goals of contemporary educational system reform. The evaluation of teachers has been integral to the new teacher quality policies and programs. This article provides a comparative and critical analysis of the evaluations that teachers now confront during their professional careers. Examples of teacher evaluation practices and processes from Australia, Canada, the United States, and England are described and analysed.

scholarly journals Better integrating summative and formative goals in the design of next generation teacher evaluation systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Timothy G. Ford ◽  
Kim Hewitt
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Evaluation Policy ◽  
Evaluation Systems ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Policy ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Systems

In current teacher evaluation systems, the two main purposes of evaluation—accountability/goal accomplishment (summative) and professional growth/improvement (formative)—are often at odds with one another. However, they are not only compatible, but linking them within a unified teacher evaluation system may, in fact, be desirable. The challenge of the next generation of teacher evaluation systems will be to better integrate these two purposes in policy and practice. In this paper, we integrate the frameworks of Self-determination theory and Stronge’s Improvement-Oriented Model for Performance Evaluation. We use this integrated framework to critically examine teacher evaluation policy in Hawaii and Washington, D.C.—two distinctly different approaches to teacher evaluation—for the purposes of identifying a set of clear recommendations for improving the design and implementation of teacher evaluation policy moving forward.

scholarly journals Sentinels guarding the grail: Value-added measurement and the quest for education reform

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Gabriel ◽  
Jessica Nina Lester
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Value Added ◽  
New Teacher ◽  
Race To The Top ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Public Meetings ◽  
Teacher Evaluation Policy ◽  
The Media

Over the past three years, Value-Added Measurement (VAM) has captured the attention of the American public through high-profile media representations of the tool and the controversy that surrounds it. In this paper, we build upon investigations of constructions of VAM in the media and present a discourse analysis of the policymaking process within the meetings of Tennessee’s Teacher Evaluation Advisory Committee (TEAC), a 15-member panel appointed by the Tennessee governor to develop a new teacher evaluation policy under Race to the Top. The data included audiorecordings of public meetings from March, 2010 through the end of the committee’s work in April, 2011. As we analyzed the talk of the TEAC, we oriented to the particular version of VAM worked up within these conversations in relation to a descriptive metaphor in which VAM is compared to a “sentinel of trust.” We present examples to illustrate three patterns in the construction of VAM as the sentinel of trust within teacher evaluation: (1) VAM alone defines effectiveness; (2) VAM is the only objective option; and (3) concerns about VAM are minimized. We discuss the implications of this way of thinking and talking about VAM and contrast it with other possibilities, including those constructed by teachers, researchers, and the media.

scholarly journals U.S. Principals' Interpretation and Implementation of Teacher Evaluation Policies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Reid
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
School Principals ◽  
The United States ◽  
Teacher Evaluations ◽  
School Level ◽  
Quality Teachers ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Public School Principals ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Evaluation Policies

In the United States policymakers, states, and researchers are increasingly reliant on teacher evaluations as a means for identifying high-quality teachers. School principals are the primary school-based actors responsible for implementing teacher evaluation policies at the school level and must make sense of these policies at an ever-increasing pace. These sensemaking processes have great implications for how teacher evaluation policies play out in practice. In this paper I ask (a) what factors influence principals’ sensemaking of changing teacher evaluation policies and (b) how these factors influence both decision-making by principals, as well as the ways the policies are implemented. I use an exploratory case study approach, drawing on interviews and district specific documents from six public school principals in the U.S. state of Michigan. Findings suggest that, because teacher evaluation policies were tied to the employment of their teachers, principals made sense of and implemented these policies in very specific ways. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document