Principal and Teacher Sense-Making in Teacher Evaluation Reform: Evidence From Connecticut

• In Event: Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Observation, Evaluation, and Performance

Abstract

Teacher evaluation has taken center stage in recent efforts to reform U.S. schools. Race to the Top, No Child Left Behind waiver requirements and other federal initiatives have pushed over 40 states to incorporate student achievement in teachers’ evaluations. Despite the proliferation of teacher evaluation reform, scant research examines how front-line practitioners—principals and teachers—make sense of these changes. This paper presents findings from three rounds of interviews with over 200 principals and teachers in 14 Connecticut districts. Using a sense-making framework, we examine how principals and teachers made sense of the state’s new teacher evaluation system, the extent to which principal and teachers’ interpretations aligned within schools, and implications for the reform’s success at the local level.

Authors

• Morgaen L. Donaldson, University of Connecticut

• Rachael Gabriel, University of Connecticut

• Sarah L. Woulfin, University of Connecticut

• Kimberly LeChasseur, University of Connecticut

• Richard Gonzales, University of Connecticut

• Aliza Makuch, University of Connecticut