Education Essay Example: Teacher Evaluation

Part 1: Analyze the case

Teaching is not only a complex but a demanding profession, which requires teachers to meets the needs of all students. Even if teachers work in under-resourced environments, teachers ought to implement adequate efforts in the learning environment. Teachers require continuous support and learning which makes evaluation significant towards the apparent growth and development of teachers.

Various stakeholders occur in teacher evaluation and the list might become endless depending on the school environment. According to Bambrick-Santoyo and Peiser (2012), teachers, students, administrators within the school and the evaluator. The teacher evaluation process ought to rely on a mutual engagement and continuous collaboration amongst the stakeholders. After the administrator relies on a questionnaire to ascertain the teachers evaluation thoughts. The questionnaire aftermath gives the evaluator an adequate view of the teacher before indulging other stakeholders to the evaluation.

Examples of questions that an evaluator might ask to include the steps that a teacher follows to prepare for lessons. According to Danielson and McGreal (2015), the teacher might be asked about the students of a typical class that he or she handles including the students with special needs. The teacher might be asked about additional instructional resources which a teacher requires to educate students. The teacher might be asked about the plans used to assess a student attainment of their academic goals. The report proposes that a teacher evaluation process requires about a year to implement and obtain the outcome of the evaluation process. The timeline could get separated into three parts, mainly, the planning and goal setting, then the mid-year checks then finalized using the end-year review.

Part 2: Identify larger issues

The state and district policies that impact staff relate to their working environment. The district policies include the staff performance expectations and responsibilities, decision-making processes and staff appraisals. District and state rules define the professional development opportunities achievable through teacher evaluation and assessment.

Taking and failure to take action requires regarding the district policies would impact the teacher evaluation process. Bambrick-Santoyo and Peise (2012) affirmed that teacher evaluation process has two main benefits that include professional learning and quality assurance. Strict adherence to the state and district policies allow institutions permit only competent teachers to teach their students. However, if an institution does not adhere to the instructions, then not a single student would be guaranteed to teachers with professional competence. Adherence to the policies not only evaluates teachers but also focuses on improving their weaknesses.

Different districts have varied policies for evaluating novice and experienced teachers. Danielson and McGreal (2015) argued that the differences emanate from the varied knowledge outcomes during the teacher evaluation process in different districts. Following the policies and regulations allow institutions realize that novice and experienced teachers require different evaluation processes. However, if the institution does not follow the policies and regulations, they fail to understand whether novice teachers require more guidance and support compared to the experienced teachers. In fact, experienced teachers might undergo an evaluation process that is partially or wholly not supervised.

Taking action helps institutions produce evaluation systems that allow teachers reflect on their teaching ability, then initiate improvements. Taking action might assist teachers to indulge in self-reflection and assessment that facilitates practice improvement.

Danielson and McGreal, (2015) illustrated that taking action about evaluation becomes essential towards professional culture. Teacher evaluation ensures respect for teachers gets implemented throughout and the performance expectations heightened. Taking actions not only facilitates a common ground for identifying good teaching process but also facilitates flexibility amongst teachers while they strive to attain the goals alongside their students.

Part 3: Solve the problem

The case represented problems that could get addressed using teacher evaluation process. The role of the intended evaluation and assessment would strengthen the skills, knowledge and classroom practices of the teachers.

The learning outcome identified that teacher evaluation and assessment promotes learning and growth amongst students while letting great teachers to continue helping the students. Continuous professional growth and development amongst teachers help them refine their skills in teaching and master content. The process could assess the skills of teachers at the individual level, and identify their needs that get applied to learning and teaching. The assessment and evaluation process not only gives teachers a professional growth opportunity but also improve the needs of teachers, students, and schools at a personal level.

Open and safe collaboration becomes essential during an evaluation process. Teachers might learn from the other when the process gets performed in a collaborative and transparent manner. The strength of collaboration is that it instills confidence in teachers during and after the evaluation process.

Conclusively, measuring the performance of teachers becomes elementary when performed on varied ratings and teaching standards. Teachers not only develop themselves but also use the opportunity to develop their students welfare. The evaluation measures must become validated because the integrity of the process is necessary to adhere to district and state policies. The input of teachers is needed in the evaluation process, more so when it relates to learning and performance outcomes. The evaluation process ought to get designed alongside teachers presence using collective bargain techniques. The voice of teachers must be part of the procedure, otherwise, the success of the process might become limited.

References

Bambrick-Santoyo, P., & Peiser, B. M. (2012). Leverage leadership: A practical guide to building exceptional schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Danielson, C., & McGreal, T. L. (2015). Teacher evaluation to enhance professional practice. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.