Linda Darling-Hammond

Personnel evaluation in an organization provides a powerful meta-phor for what is valued in the organization, how roles are con-strued, and which goals have de facto priority in the management of organizational affairs. The importance attached to this function says much about the organization's relationship to its clients, as well as the relationships among organizational members. The same can be said about the importance of evaluation in an occupa-tion whose members share a common service mission. Indeed, evaluation plays a particularly critical role in an occupation that claims to be a profession. This chapter explores the role of teacher evaluation in school organizations and in the teaching profession. It examines how organizational norms, conceptions of teaching, and management strategies influence the design and outcomes of evaluation, and how evaluation practices, in turn, shape the life of the organization and the nature of the teaching occupation