Teachers' perception of the new teacher evaluation policy: A validity study of the Policy Characteristics Scale

Teachers' perception of the educational policy is vital to understand the success or failure of the policy's implementation. In this article, we describe the development and use of the Policy Characteristics Scale to measure teachers' perception of a new teacher evaluation policy. An exploratory factor analysis (n = 347) and a confirmative factor analysis (n = 263) revealed a three-factor structure of teachers' perception of the new educational policy: policy's practicality, need, and clarifying function. Our research results indicated that teachers confirm the policy's need. They perceive the reform as clear but they have questions about the policy's implementation. Implications for policy makers and school leaders are discussed.     

The influence of school leadership on teachers’ perception of teacher evaluation policy

The understanding of teachers’ perception of new educational policy is crucial since this perception shapes the policy’s implementation. However, quantitative research in this area is scarce. This article draws on empirical data to investigate whether the school leader might influence his teachers’ perception of the new teacher evaluation policy. The conceptualisation of teachers’ perception consists of three policy characteristics: practicality, need and clarifying function. Our results indicate that school leadership influences teachers’ policy perception. More specifically, the structure a school leader provides in a school and the amount of trust teachers have in the school leader have a significant impact on teachers’ perception of the practicality of the new teacher evaluation policy.     

Promoting instructional improvement or resistance? A comparative study of teachers’ perceptions of teacher evaluation policy in Korea and the USA

This study draws on institutional theory to examine teachers’ and principals’ perceptions of new teacher evaluation policies, factors that influence such perceptions and how such perceptions shape the implementation of the policies in Seoul (Korea) and Michigan (USA). The study featured in-depth interviews of 11 elementary school teachers and 4 principals and analysis of policy documents in both countries. While Korean teachers strongly disagreed with the new teacher evaluation policy in Seoul and implemented it in ways that were not intended by policy makers, the Michigan teachers varied in their perceptions and implementation of the policies. The teachers’ perceptions of the new policies seemed to be influenced by the designs of the policies, their backgrounds and definitions of ‘effective teachers’ and principal leadership. The association between teachers’ perceptions and their implementation of the new policies was quite strong.     

How schools train principals to use new teacher evaluation systems: A comparative case study of charter school and traditional public school principals

Over the past decade U.S. policymakers, practitioners, and researchers have sought to examine if changing teacher evaluation policies and systems have resulted in changes in identifying quality teachers and/or increased student achievement. This research generally shows most states have experienced little change in how teachers are rated. Researchers are now exploring why, in many cases, teacher evaluation reforms have failed to produce the desired systematic changes of better identifying quality teachers and better distinguishing teacher performance. Embedded within this line of inquiry is how principals (and other evaluators) are trained to use new teacher evaluation systems. This comparative case study observed six principals (three charter school principals and three traditional public school principals) in the U.S. state of Michigan as they learned and enacted a new teacher evaluation system. Additionally, all principals were interviewed three times throughout the school year, in an effort to examine how their initial teacher evaluation training impacted their evaluation of teachers. The research questions that guided this work were: (1) how are principals initially trained when their school adopts a new teacher evaluation system?; (2) in what ways does the training received by charter school principals compare to that of traditional public school principals?; and (3) how does initial training impact how principals evaluate teachers? Results indicate principals are trained to navigate the logistics of new teacher evaluation systems, but are not trained to evaluate teacher performance. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

High-stakes teacher evaluation policy: US principals’ perspectives and variations in practice

Principals’ implementation of new teacher evaluation policies in a suburban and rural southeastern area of the United States was examined over a five-year period. This study reports findings on two of eleven interview questions examining changes in principals’ perceptions over time regarding policy concerns and benefits. Findings indicate while initially overwhelmed, principals eventually managed implementation time challenges and later focused on the benefits of evaluation. Secondly, principals quickly integrated the instructional rubric criteria into classroom observations and professional development work. Third, increasing doubts emerged regarding the inconsistent application of the rubric criteria, the inclusion of student test scores in teacher evaluation, and the calculation of teacher effectiveness ratings. The authors conclude that mandating rigorous evaluation policy will not sufficiently address teacher effectiveness and may complicate principals’ instructional leadership. They assert that policy-makers must consider the long-term effects of implementation before substantial teacher evaluation change results.     

School principals’ views of teacher evaluation policy: lessons learned from two empirical studies

Teacher evaluation accountability policies are emerging worldwide. This study examines principals’ perceptions of teacher evaluation in terms of commonalities and differences arising from two research projects conducted in Portugal and in the US. Perceptions of school principals in regard to a new policy on teacher evaluation as well as its perceived effects at school and conditions for its implementation will be analysed. Findings point to the challenges and successes of coping with mandated accountability measures in two different contexts. Principals balanced perceived conflicting goals, sought maintenance of positive teacher relationships and school culture and managed the tensions of policy implementation and the making sense of its effects at school. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Lake Wobegon: Where All Teachers Are Competent (Or, Have We Come to Terms with the Problem of Incompetent Teachers?)

The major purpose of this study was to assess the presence of evaluation system components that assist principals in responding to incompetent teachers. According to Virginia principals, 5 per cent of the teachers in their schools were incompetent; however, only 2.65 per cent were documented formally as being incompetent. The typical principal with a staff of 100 teachers identifies 1.53 incompetent tenured teachers per year and remediates 0.68 teacher, encourages 0.37 teacher to resign or retire, reassigns 0.29 teacher, and recommends dismissal for 0.10 teacher. The four evaluation system components of remedial procedures, evaluation criteria, evaluator training, and organizational commitment were found to predict 69 per cent of the variance in the principals' effectiveness rating of their evaluation systems, but none of the evaluation system components were found to predict administrative responsiveness to incompetence. Such findings suggest that principals and school systems are avoiding a serious problem that undermines the education of millions of children, staff morale, and the publics perception of education.     

The Structure and Substance of Teachers’ Opportunities to Learn about Teacher Evaluation Reform: Promise or Pitfall for Equity?

Despite growing momentum to overhaul teacher evaluation policies and practices, scant research examines how educators at the street level of such reform—principals and teachers—make sense of them, and almost no research examines the implications of current evaluation reforms for equity. This article provides findings based on a study of 14 districts implementing a new teacher evaluation policy in Connecticut. It focuses on how principals shaped teachers’ opportunities to learn about the new policy. We find that the majority of teachers’ opportunities to learn were formal and in whole group or one-on-one formats. We find important differences in the quantity and quality of learning opportunities at the district level, with districts serving greater shares of low-income students, students of color, and English language learners generally offering teachers fewer and lower quality opportunities to learn about the new reform than their counterparts. As such, this article builds on prior research illustrating the potential of new evaluation systems to exacerbate inequities and raises important cautions regarding the extent to which the unprecedented teacher evaluation reforms (currently underway) may exacerbate inequities among school districts.     

Education reform policy and early childhood teacher education in Hong Kong before and after the transfer of sovereignty to China in 1997

Built on a sociocultural framework of policy analysis and Wertsch's concept of mediation, the present study examines how early childhood teacher education has changed as a result of interactions between reform policy and the action of teacher educators. Ten teacher educators participated in the study, along with eight early childhood leaders, 15 kindergarten principals and child care centre supervisors, and one policy‐maker. Data collected through interviews, focus‐group discussions, and reviews of government and organisational documents as well as press materials were analysed. The findings revealed that early childhood organisations were more active than teacher educators in the process of negotiation. Although early childhood teacher education has expanded since the handover in 1997, the voice and identity of the profession are still in an embryonic state. The study offers implications for redefining the roles of teacher educators and restructuring teacher education contexts to help facilitate the development of ideological consciousness and new understanding.     

Religion in education policy in South Africa: a challenge of change

Since 1995, the National Department of Education has developed a number of policies to give effect to the proposed transformation outlined in White Paper 1 (Notice 196 of 1995) and in subsequent legislation. A range of Acts and policies were introduced, many of them dealing with how religion should be dealt with in schools and it culminated in the promulgation of the National Policy on Religion and Education (2003). In all these policies the role of the school and, in particular, of the school principal has been foregrounded as important for effective implementation of policies. This article is based on research conducted to determine how school principals dealt with religion and the implementation of the religion and education policy. This study found that school principals often ignore the policy and maintain the status quo. When faced with conflict of religious interests, they partially sub-contract into the policy. The study also found that past experiences with religion in education, either as students or educators, had a major impact on how principals perceive the role of religion in schools and how they dealt with it.     

School reforms,principal leadership,and teacher resistance: evidence from Korea

Many countries design and implement school change with a focus on the fundamental reconfiguration in the structures of schooling. In this article, we examined the relationship between principal leadership and teacher resistance to school reforms driven by external interveners. For an empirical analysis, we took advantage of extensive data derived from 967 teachers and 32 principals in Korean vocational high schools that are now experiencing school reforms launched by the government. Our results revealed the importance of human aspects of school changes and reforms, in particular, driven by the external intervener. We first showed that a principal's initiative leadership is significantly related to the reduction of teacher resistance to change, in particular on the emotional and behavioural dimensions. Not surprisingly, teachers showed a higher level of resistance when their schools participate in the government-driven reform. Finally, teacher resistance depended upon characteristics of teachers as well as principals. These findings provide some useful policy implications for facilitating successful school reform efforts. Foremost, school reformers are advised to rethink the school change model design in a way of fully capturing human aspects in the reform process.     

Getting from Here to There: The Roles of Policy Makers and Principals in Increasing Science Teacher Quality

In this study we investigate how federal and state policy makers, and school principals are working to improve science teacher quality. Interviews, focused discussions, and policy documents serve as the primary data source. Findings suggest that both policy makers and principals prioritize increasing incentives for teachers entering the science teaching profession, providing professional development for new teachers, and using students’ data to evaluate and improve instruction. Differences between the two leadership groups emerged in terms of the grain size and practicality of their concerns. Our findings indicate that the complexity of educational challenges to improve science teacher quality call for the co-construction of policy by multiple constituent groups including school principals, federal and state policy makers, and science education researchers.     

韩国中小学教师评价政策的调整

本文在揭示韩国旧有教师评价政策问题的基础上,分析了政策调整过程中教师评价相关利益集团的不同态度和争论,最后描述了政策调整后的方案内容,并对政策试行的预期效果作出了预测.     

The Impact of a High Stakes Teacher Evaluation System: Educator Perspectives on Accountability

The use of student achievement data to evaluate an individual teacher's effectiveness has become a new focus in educational policy. This article focuses on the underresearched teacher perception of this new policy measure. Drawing on ethnographic research procedures, this article explores how first-grade teachers in one state navigated a new high-stakes teacher evaluation system. Although the results indicate that teachers have a desire for accountability, findings also show a variety of beliefs on the validity of teacher evaluation, as well as differing applications of scoring measures across school contexts.     

Through the nominations of principals: Effective teachers of African American students share limitations of high-stakes testing

This study examines how elementary school teachers, nominated by their principals as effective teachers of African American students, perceive their effectiveness in an era of high-stakes testing that is influenced and constrained by policy dominance. The implications in this study might be useful in preparing prospective and practicing teachers to examine their instructional practices as they pursue successful outcomes with culturally diverse students.     

Principals’ Perceptions of Barriers to Teacher Dismissal

Although scholars and popular press writers are critical of school district failures to remove inadequately performing teachers, little has been said about the thinking of principals on this issue. Because principals are the front-line implementers of evaluation policy, their beliefs about barriers (real or perceived) are likely to influence their actions. This study asked elementary and middle school principals in the state of Oregon to identify barriers to deal effectively with inadequately performing teachers. Results demonstrated that principals believe teacher unions to be the most significant barrier, and blame the union representatives more often than the language of the negotiated contract. In addition, principals identify the amount of time required to engage in the process as a barrier. Continued study of principal beliefs about these factors may suggest (1) areas of needed reform in the implementation of evaluation and (2) administrative training needs.     

合理调整我国教师政策价值取向初探

总结历史经验教训,分析新世纪新阶段社会政治经济文化深刻变革,适时地调整我国教师政策价值取向十分必要.当前我国教师政策价值取向应进行三个方面的调整：教师社会价值定位从阶级定位向职业定位转变、教师政策价值标准从干部标准向人才标准转变、教师政策价值追求从加强管理向促进发展转变.合理调整我国教师政策价值取向操作层面的四个途径方法：确立＂四个尊重＂的社会主流价值导向、实行教师政策职能机构的相对专门化和人员的专业化、建立开放互动的教师政策制定系统、建立和完善教师政策评价制度.     

Teacher professional development as an effect of policy and practice: a Bourdieuian analysis

This article draws on Bourdieu’s field theory and related concepts of habitus and capitals, to explore policy implementation in relation to a particular case of teacher professional development in Queensland, Australia. This implementation process is described as an effect of the interplay between what is called the policy field and the field of teachers’ work. The policy field demonstrates intra‐field tensions between the federal Quality Teacher Programme (QTP) and a raft of state policies, particularly those associated with the Queensland meta‐policy, Queensland State Education 2010 (QSE2010). To investigate the effects of this complex policy ensemble, the article draws upon the experiences of principals and a group of teachers engaged in professional development across a cluster of six schools in south‐east Queensland, Australia. The specific focus is on the ‘Curriculum Board’, a cross‐school body created by the principals in the participating schools, and its mediated work in policy implementation and teacher learning. The article analyses the effects of the involvement of the principals in the creation of the board, the limiting impact of QTP requirements to involve consultants rather than support for teacher release, and the limited influence of the board on teacher learning and policy implementation in the individual schools. By doing so, the analysis shows the disjunctions between the logics of practice of the policy field and that of teachers’ work, and the ways in which the differing habitus of principals and teachers and teacher members of the board affected teacher learning and policy implementation. It is argued that effective implementation requires learning within and across fields, and more reflexive habitus of policy makers, principals and teachers.     

美国田纳西州教师评价政策:问题与改进

真正有效的教师评价政策需要在实践中检验。作为美国教育改革的领军者,田纳西州致力于构建基于表现的、严格公正的教师评价和支持体系。田纳西州教师评价体系历经三次布局调整,围绕基于学生成绩定义有效教师、完善课堂观察方式、提升评价反馈质量、平衡统一与放权等核心问题,从教师问责与赋权、个性化专业学习、循证决策三方面提升政策质效。基于比较的视角,审视田纳西州教师评价政策的方向调整、困境突围和变革路径,可为我国转型中的教师评价政策提供借鉴。