Assessment of Teacher Reactions to a Standards-Based Teacher Evaluation System: A Pilot Study*

This article reports on teachers' reactions to a pilot implementation of a new standards-based teacher evaluation system in a medium-sized Midwestern school district. The system, based on the Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 1996), was intended to serve as the foundation for a new knowledge and skill pay plan for teachers. Teacher reactions were measured using both interview and survey methods. Teachers' overall favorableness toward the system, as measured by the survey, was correlated with acceptance of the teaching standards, perception of the evaluation process as fair and the evaluator as capable and objective, and perception that the evaluation system had a positive impact on their teaching. In interviews, teachers perceived both positive and negative aspects of the system, and for many these more or less balanced each other. While most teachers accepted the evaluation standards and the need for an evaluation system, many also perceived that the system added too much to teachers' workloads and did not provide enough feedback. Based on these results several changes were made in the evaluation system prior to full implementation. The results are discussed with reference to previous research and the Personnel Evaluation Standards.     

Lessons Learned About Standards-Based Teacher Evaluation Systems

In this article, I draw several lessons learned about how to assess student, classroom, and teacher effects, with a specific focus on performance-based teacher evaluations. One lesson is that hierarchical linear modeling techniques are helpful in sorting out the magnitude of impacts at these three different levels of the education system. The other major lessons are reflected in the conclusion that research findings suggest that educators have learned how to design and operate performance-based teacher assessments that have sufficient reliability and validity to use for consequential decisions such as triggering pay increases.     

Standards-Based Evaluation and Teacher Career Satisfaction: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis

Structural equation modeling was used to assess the plausibility of a conceptual model specifying hypothesized linkages among perceptions of characteristics of standards-based evaluation, work environment mediators, and career satisfaction and other outcomes. Four comprehensive high schools located in two neighboring counties in southern California provided the data for this study. The schools’ districts had recently developed and implemented evaluation systems based on six California Standards for the Teaching Profession generated in 1997. One hundred and seventy-eight teachers responded to survey questions designed to capture the following constructs: understandable/relevant standards, satisfactory/helpful evaluation, role ambiguity, effort performance-rating linkage, work criteria autonomy, career satisfaction, organizational commitment, and perceptions of the effectiveness of the evaluation system. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess whether the items measuring evaluation fit two hypothesized constructs. Structural equation modeling results indicated that there are two mediators in the evaluation-career satisfaction relationship: role ambiguity and work criteria autonomy.

Selecting the Qualified: A Standards-Based Teacher Education Admission Process

A standards-based admission process for qualifying caring and competent candidates for teacher preparation is presented. The major elements of the admission process include prerequisite standards that address the knowledge, dispositions, and skills candidates should possess upon entrance to the teacher education program; multiple assessments that evaluate the prerequisite standards; and an admission interview process that involves collaboration of arts and sciences faculty, education faculty, undergraduate students, and professionals from the field. A unique aspect of the admission process is its strong focus on dispositional standards. Emphasis is placed on qualifying future teachers into teacher education programs based upon demonstrated evidence of their meeting defensible and education community supported admission standards.     

发展性教师评价刍议

发展性教师评价制度是依据一定的发展目标和发展价值观，具有评价过程的全面性，评价组织的广泛性，评价结果的导向性。建立发展性教师评价体系，必须明确发展目标，强化保证措施，制定科学的评价程序。发展性教师评价不应与对教师的奖惩挂钩，评价结论应该是量化加评语。     

Teachers' Perceptions of a Learner-Centered Teacher Evaluation System

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - Promoting success for all students is the driving force to develop and implement sound teacher evaluation systems. As Stronge suggests,...     

Teachers'' Perceptions of a Learner-Centered Teacher Evaluation System

Promoting success for all students is the driving force to develop and implement sound teacher evaluation systems. As Stronge suggests, the two most frequently cited purposes of personnel evaluation are accountability and performance improvement (1997, p. 3). As a result, researchers are conceiving of teacher evaluation as a mechanism for improving teaching and learning (Danielson and McGreal, 2000). On the other hand, others affirm that the trend in teacher evaluation is toward more self-evaluation and expanding one's teaching repertoire (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1999, p. 8). However, teachers' voices relative to emerging teacher evaluation trends are missing. Thus, this study explored teachers' perceptions about the support for professional development available to them, the perceived potential benefits of a learner-centered teacher evaluation system to enhance their professional growth, and pitfalls. Only elementary school teachers participated in the study. The researcher analyzed teachers' written responses to open-ended questions, and generated categories by emerging themes to determine teachers' perceptions.Findings of the study suggest that teachers receive support from both campus level and central office level. Teachers also believe that a learner-centered teacher evaluation fosters walk-through observations, opportunities for professional growth, feedback, learner-centered dialogue, a holistic perspective, and teacher self-evaluation. On the other hand, findings suggest that teachers question the labels for each level of performance, and are concerned that the system might be somewhat subjective. Finally, suggestions are made to conduct additional studies to further illuminate teachers' voices associated with teacher evaluation and development at other school levels, and to expand our understanding of emerging teacher evaluation formats which aim at student success.     

Examining the Validity of Standards-Based Assessments for Initially Fluent Students and Former English Language Learners

To date, assessment validity research on non-native English speaking students in the United States has focused exclusively on those who are presently English language learners (ELLs). However, little, if any, research has been conducted on two other sizable groups of language minority students: (a) bilingual or multilingual students who were already English proficient when they entered the school system (IFEPs), and (b) former English language learners, those students who were once classified as ELLs but are now reclassified as being English proficient (RFEPs). This study investigated the validity of several standards-based assessments in mathematics and science for these two student groups and found a very high degree of score comparability, when compared with native English speakers, for the IFEPs, whereas a moderate to high degree of score comparability was observed for the RFEPs. Thus, test scores for these two groups on the assessments we studied appear to be valid indicators of their content knowledge, to a degree similar to that of native English speakers.     

An Experimental Test of Student Verbal Reports and Teacher Evaluations as a Source of Validity Evidence for Test Development

The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing indicate that test instructions, and by extension item objectives, presented to examinees should be sufficiently clear and detailed to help ensure that they respond as developers intend them to respond (Standard 3.20; AERA, APA, & NCME, 1999 American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Psychological Association (APA), National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). 1999. Standards for educational and psychological testing, Washington, DC: Author.  [Google Scholar]). The present study investigates the use of verbal reports, one of many sources of evidence for validity arguments, as a way to evaluate the content clarity of 30 items from a large-scale science assessment. Student reports were used to edit items and create a student-modified test form. Evaluations from expert preservice teachers were used to edit the items and create an expert-modified test form. Both experimental forms, along with the original set of 30 items, were then randomly assigned to a sample of 264 examinees. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that examinee performance on the student-modified and expert-modified forms was similar relative to performance on the original test items. Item statistics indicated that student-modified test items were equally difficult and discriminating as expert-modified test items. The implications of using student and teacher evaluations are discussed for informing test development.     

Faculty/Staff Perceptions of a Standards-Based Exit Portfolio System for Graduate Students

New standards for certification were recently developed for speech–language pathology graduate training programs by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The new standards are outcomes-based rather than process-based. Using a collective case study approach, this article highlights the perceptions of faculty and staff regarding use of a standards-based exit portfolio system for students in a Speech–Language Pathology graduate program at a medium-sized, public university after two semesters of use.Tena L. McNamara received a B.S. degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology and an M.S. degree in Audiology from Bradley University, and the Doctor of Audiology Degree from the University of Florida. She is now Assistant Professor at Illinois State University. Special interests include soundfield FM systems utilized in classroom settings, auditory processing disorders, electrophysiology, and phonological awareness. Rita L. Bailey is a speech–language pathologist and holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Speech–Language Pathology and an Ed.D. in Special Education, all from Illinois State University. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at Illinois State University. Her primary research interests include pediatric dysphagia, service-learning, alternative-augmentative communication methods, and voice. E-mail: tlmcnam@ilstu.edu.     

教师评价体系的研究

教师评价是对教师工作现实的或潜在的价值作出判断的活动,它的目的是促进教师的专业发展与提高教学效能。研究结果表明,有多种途径可用于教师评价:自我评价、家长评价、学生评教、同行评议、书面材料的收集与观察以及教学成果等等,多渠道地收集信息,有助于提高评价的信度。     

Stakes Matter: Student Motivation and the Validity of Student Assessments for Teacher Evaluation

In 2011, Indiana lawmakers established a system to evaluate teachers using existing standardized assessments as an indicator of student learning. In this study we examined one component of Indiana's evaluation system to determine whether student knowledge of the test's consequences is predictive of test performance. Using an experimental design, we found that the type of consequences associated with an administered reading assessment were associated with achievement differences. In particular, comparisons among group means show that when students were told that either their grades or their teacher's employment status were at stake, achievement was statistically significantly higher than when students were told that there were low proximal consequences associated with the test. Given the current policy climate in the United States of using student assessments for policy formation, teacher evaluations, and state and national rankings, our findings point to the need to clearly inform students about the consequences associated with their performance.     

从教师教育技术能力评估到高级教师资格认证——美国教师评价体系的启示

教师能力的有效评价是当今备受关注的一个问题,了解美国教师教学能力评价的脉络,分析美国教师教育技术能力、美国高级教师资格认证的标准和评估手段,对中国教师的教育技术能力评估具有积极意义.本文通过文献比较研究,发现美国教师的教学能力评估体现了可操作性,强调评估的过程性,对教师能力的理解始终关注的是对教师教学的影响、对学生学习的影响.对于我国正在逐步推广的教师教育技术能力评估,可以借鉴美国教师教育技术能力评估和高级教师资格认证的相关做法,强调评估的过程性和发展性,并能从对学生学习影响的视角来评价教师的教育技术能力.     

促进教吵币专业发展的教师自评体系解构

2001年颁布的《基础教育课程改革纲要（试行）》中明确提出：“建立促进教师不断提高的评价体系”、“建立以教师自评为主”的评价制度,这表明了教师自评在教师专业发展中的重要作用。以教师专业发展及教师自评的理论为基础,从教师的专业情意、专业知识与专业技能三个方面,对教师自评体系进行解构,可以促进教师的专业发展。     

Proximal Versus Distal Validity Coefficients for Teacher Observational Instruments

This study examined the use of measures of student learning computed using end-of-year assessments (distal measures) versus measures of student learning associated with a single lesson (proximal measures) as criterion scores for the validity of observations of teachers' pedagogical skills. The validity coefficients computed using distal measures were significantly lower than the validity coefficient computed using proximal measures. Assumptions underlying the current emphasis on distal measures were challenged. Possible ways to generate more proximal measures were explored.     

Kindergarten Teacher Buy-In for Standards-Based Reforms: A Dynamic Interplay Between Professional Identity and Perceptions of Control

Political and societal pressures are influencing kindergarten teachers and their classroom practices on a national level. Teachers’ receptivity to reforms depends to a large degree on their buy-in to the change effort. Drawing on analyses of interviews with kindergarten teachers across school and districts, this study examined teacher buy-in to an increased academic focus in kindergarten and in turn the factors that influence buy-in. Research Findings: Analyses revealed that kindergarten teachers in the same schools and districts had qualitatively different responses to the increased academic focus in kindergarten. Teachers’ professional identity, sense of control, and interactions with school leaders emerged as factors influencing teacher buy-in. Practice or Policy: The role of teacher buy-in as a crucial component in times of change is discussed. Specifically, situating reforms in the context of implementation science and teacher well-being is discussed.     

涵养生命气象的教师发展评价体系建构

教育的根本任务是立德树人,学校教育的真谛是生命影响生命.教育活动的特殊性决定了不能以外在的规定作为教师评价的单一标准,而应加强对于教师作为"人"的关注,教师生命呈现的状态、品质和格局应当成为教师评价的重要参照.基于涵养生命气象的视角,探索构建与已有教师专业发展评价相补充的教师评价体系,是时代背景和生命规律所趋.涵养生命气象的教师发展评价体系,是有着"成就整全生命"的价值导向,包含"生命状态、生命品质、生命格局"三维内容和"自我、同行、学生"三位一体实施模式的评价体系,是最终指向促进教师生命完整发展的评价.     

教师评价内容体系之重建

针对当前教师评价理论与实践存在的问题,教师评价内容体系的重建是教师评价研究的一项重要任务。以教师基本素质、职责与表现为主要成分,整合教师胜任力评价、教师绩效评价和教师效能评价的契合之处,在理论上提出了教师评价内容体系的金字塔模型。金字塔模型主要有成分、维度与指标三级体系构成,它对量化教师绩效评价、促进教师专业发展、加强教师培训与提升教师整体素质都具有重要价值。