The teacher evaluation: key components that positively impact teacher effectiveness and student achievement

2014-04-10The purpose of this study was to identify the key components of a teacher evaluation system used by schools and districts in response to the demands for improved teacher effectiveness and student achievement. As schools work toward meeting the higher standards of the Common Core State Standards, finding key components of the teacher evaluation that improves teacher effectiveness and increases student learning was the objective of this study. Hence, the following questions were responded to: 1) What are key components of the teacher evaluation used in high performing school districts that improve teacher effectiveness and impact student achievement? 2) To what extent do superintendents and principals believe the key components of the teacher evaluation results in increased student achievement? 3) What should a teacher evaluation system/tool include to improve teacher performance? and 4) To what degree are the key components of the teacher evaluation competency-based and/or outcome-based? A mixed‐methods approach was implemented and 31 urban district superintendents, in six counties within Southern California completed a survey. From this pool, 10 superintendents and 5 principals were selected and participated in a semi‐structured interview. Additionally, the 10 interviewed superintendents provided their teacher evaluation documents that were analyzed as a part of the document review. The study's findings indicate that school districts within urban communities that improved teacher effectiveness and increased student achievement over a three‐year period, based on API results, implemented the following key components in their teacher evaluation system/tool: A personalized interaction between administration and teachers, professional development specific to teacher needs, an effective rating scale to motivate improvement, collaboration between teacher and administrator, twice‐a‐year self-assessments, goal setting, administrative coaching, two-three formal observations with effective and timely feedback and support. Additionally, the superintendents ultimately made a concerted effort to ensure an evaluation system that is competency and outcome‐based to achieve teacher effectiveness that leads to the outcome of increased student achievement