Teacher effectiveness and teacher growth from student ratings: An action research of school-based teacher evaluation

Teacher effectiveness evaluations are considered an effective mechanism for promoting teacher growth. We implemented teacher effectiveness evaluations in three Chinese secondary schools over two years and (a) developed an action research framework for school-based teacher evaluations composed of five links, i.e., purpose and consensus, data collection and analysis, data interpretation and feedback, data use, and evaluation of the actions and (b) found that “school-based” instruments of student ratings have valid statistical properties, and teacher effectiveness can be regarded as a single-factor holistic concept in different schools. We also (c) analysed 2-year longitudinal data and identified changing trajectories of teacher effectiveness as an example for data feedback and use. Teacher effectiveness presents changing trajectories for different subgroups, representing different ecologies in three schools and provides insights for teacher growth. A (d) meta-evaluation of the actions shows that most teachers are positive about this evaluation, although differences are observed between schools.     

The administrative role in teacher competency

As managers of teachers, principals must cope with a variety of educational mistakes in their schools. These cumulative mistakes lead to a state of borderline competency in the teacher. From interviews with 30 elementary school principals in a large urban school system, interviews and observations of 19 borderline competent teachers, and review of principals' teacher evaluation records, five states of coping with teachers' educational mistakes emerged: (1) deployment-enlisting the teachers' colleagues to watch over him or her and report back to the principal on the teacher's behavior; (2) detente-bringing the troubled teacher within the society of peers and rallying forces to help solve his or her problems; (3) determination-deciding that the range of the teacher's deviations exceeds the boundaries of normative behavior and there is cause for dismissal; (4) evaluation-assigning an unsatisfactory efficiency rating with extensive documentation and recordkeeping for teachers who have been identified as borderline competent; and (5) formal dismissal-taking action to remove a teacher from the school.     

Teacher characteristics and teacher performance

This study investigated effects of seven demographic and psychological characteristics of teachers on their performances during student teaching. Student teachers' performances were examined in relation to their ages, prior student teaching experiences, scholastic aptitudes, attitudes toward teaching, moral reasoning abilities, conceptual levels, and degrees of ego development. Results indicate that student teachers' performances were dependent in a nontrivial way on their ego development and to a much lesser degree on other characteristics.     

Teacher pay and teacher aptitude

Can changes in teacher pay encourage more able individuals to enter the teaching profession? So far, studies of the impact of pay on the aptitude distribution of teachers have provided mixed evidence on the extent to which altering teacher salaries represents a feasible solution to the teacher quality problem. One possible reason is that these studies have been unable to separate labor supply effects from labor demand effects. To address this, I model the relationship between current salaries and the academic aptitude of future teachers (those entering teacher education courses). Using a unique dataset of test scores for every individual admitted into an Australian university between 1989 and 2003, I explore how interstate variation in average pay or pay dispersion affects the decision to enter teacher education courses. A 1 percent rise in the salary of a starting teacher boosts the average aptitude of students entering teacher education courses by 0.6 percentile ranks, with the effect being strongest for those at the median. This result is robust to instrumenting for teacher pay using uniform salary schedules for public schools. I also find some evidence that more pay dispersion in the non-teaching sector lowers the aptitude of potential teachers.     

Effects of teacher gender and principal gender on ratings of teacher performance

The Ohio State University     

Students' ratings of teacher personality and teaching competence

The validity of student rating of teaching is discussed in terms of the effect that students' perceptions of teacher personality might have on that rating. A procedure for using student feedback to evaluate teaching was trialled which sought to minimise the effect of teacher personality on students' ratings of teaching quality. A total of fifteen rating exercises, using ten teachers over a two year period, was carried out. Results indicate that teacher personality, as perceived by students, is still very significantly related to their ratings of teaching quality. It is argued that this is a proper state of affairs which does not undermine the validity of student ratings.     

Teacher-generated and student-generated variability in teacher effectiveness ratings

The effects of teacher-generated and student-generated variability on student ratings of instructors were assessed using multiple regression procedures. Student variables included interest in the subject, reason for course enrollment, and educational level. Teacher variables were generated through dummy coding. Five different samples were studied: 24 classes taught by different instructors were divided into three samples of eight classes each, and 10 classes taught by the same five instructors were divided into two samples. Teacher-generated variability explained more of the variance in student ratings than did student-generated variability.     

The quality of student ratings of teacher behaviour

In a research project into the effectiveness of mathematics teaching in the first year of secondary education, external observers and students rated teachers' behaviour. The reliability and validity of both methods were established. The results show that teacher behaviour is assessed well when student ratings are aggregated at the classroom level. The quality of aggregated student ratings is as good as the quality of data from external observers. The predictive validity of aggregated student ratings is higher than the predictive validity of external observations when subject motivation is taken as a dependent variable.     

Teacher efficacy in Teaching and Teacher Education

The author reviews twelve of 111 articles focusing on teacher efficacy published in Teaching and Teacher Education since 1985. The twelve articles are placed in three sections that include a) instruments, factor analyses, and cultural influences, b) participants, contexts, and teacher instruction, and c) teacher wellness. These sections offer research and studies from various teacher efficacy investigators that share insights, understandings, and interpretations. The selected TATE articles provide a plausible (expanding) sphere of growing and developing research and studies in teacher efficacy.     

论教师主体与研究型教师

传统教师观的实质是教师主体旁落的、师生主体分离的、工具性和制度化的。新教师观有诸多定位 ,但教师作为研究者是其中最为重要的角色之一。由此 ,传统教师观的分析与批判、研究型教师的角色与定位、研究型教师的特征与发展等问题均成为当前教师教育研究和教师专业成长的重要内容     

美国80年代以来教师教育发展政策述评

课堂教学质量是教育质量的核心,课堂教学质量的改善与提升关系着高质量教育体系的建成。对话国际上具有典型性与代表性的课堂教学评价框架并从中汲取高质量的核心元素,是中国特色课堂教学评价体系展现国际视野的关键举措。美国教育考试服务中心丹尼森(Danielson)教授研发的Framework for Teaching(FFT)课堂教学评价框架关注课堂教学的过程性质量,秉持高阶性思维、建构性学习、目的性活动和专业性指导的高质量课堂教学理念,涉及4大模块、22个评估要点以及相应的质量观测点,从评价对象与评价方式两个维度跨越时空全面搜集资料并对教师教学工作作出价值判断,旨在通过向教师提供反馈和推动专业发展而引导教师为质量而教,实现教学的背景、投入、过程质量和学生学业成就质量的多维提升。深入研究与反思在理念和内容等方面具有明显优势的FFT课堂教学评价框架,启示中国应在自由和规则、过程和结果的动态和谐关系中,以创设学习文化、促进深度学习为核心,构建具有全球视野的新时代中国特色高质量课堂教学体系,并基于此研发相应的课堂教学质量评价体系和监测工具,构建实现高质量课堂教学的教师教育质量指标体系,促进教育高质量发展。     

Teacher and pupil ratings of self-esteem in developmental dyslexia

Neil Humphrey is a lecturer in psychology at Bolton Institute. In this article, based on the research he carried out for his PhD thesis, he explores the relationships between dyslexia and self-esteem in pupils. Neil Humphrey gathered data using both teacher rating scales and pupil self-reporting. He compares results from a group of pupils with dyslexia in mainstream settings; a group attending units for pupils with specific learning difficulties (SpLD); and a control group. In discussing his findings, Neil Humphrey presents practitioners working towards inclusion with a carefully considered challenge.