Teachers\u27 and supervisors\u27 perceptions of current and ideal supervision and evaluation practices

Supervision has arguably been one of the most heavily debated and well-researched topics in education. By 1994, 47 states had made some form of recommendation regarding supervision and evaluation and their links to student achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of classroom teachers and supervisors to better understand supervision and evaluation. Specifically, the study sought to describe the perceptions of teachers and supervisors regarding their current and ideal teacher supervisory system, the differences between teachers\u27 and supervisors\u27 perceptions of current and ideal supervisory practices, and any variation that exists between public, private/non-religious, and religious schools regarding perceptions of ideal and current systems. A questionnaire consisting of 43 closed response items and three open response questions was distributed with 345 teachers and 58 supervisors responding. The results of this study indicate that there was a significant difference between teachers\u27 and supervisors\u27 perceptions of supervision on the current scale in the areas of clinical supervision, mentoring, use of a variety of observation methods, the relationship between the teacher and supervisor characterized by trust and collaboration, and teachers being a part of the process of developing the methods by which they are supervised. The supervisor reported a higher mean in all cases. The study revealed congruence on the ideal scale between teachers and supervisors with both groups indicating that effective supervision consists of a collaborative approach involving a variety of models as well as more frequent visitations and a more trusting and open relationship between the supervisor and teacher. Lastly there was a significant difference between school types in the areas of the differentiated supervision models, clearly articulated performance standards, and teachers being a part of the process of developing the methods by which they are supervised