Reading, Writing, and Ratings: Literacy Teachers’ Notions of Effectiveness Within a New Teacher Evaluation System

• In Event: Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: How Teachers Teach in Response to Top-Down Mandates and Policies in Education

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand early career educators’ thinking about their effectiveness as literacy teachers, including their professional preparation and their instructional and assessment practices, as it is situated in the context of a new, statewide teacher evaluation system, which is characterized by increased observation requirements, standardized and formalized criteria of teacher practices, and inclusion of student performance measures as a contributor to teacher performance. This case-study inquiry aims to illuminate the variations among a small number of teachers’ experiences and the actual implementation of the evaluation system across the differing social contexts of upper middle-class suburban school districts to urban, high-poverty districts.

Author

• Francine Del Vecchio, Caldwell College