The New Teacher Evaluation Systems and Leadership Work Practice in Schools: Toward a Conceptual Frame

• In Event: Understanding Educational Improvement Through the Lens of Institutional and Organizational Theory: From Teacher Communities to Teacher Evaluation

Abstract

State teacher evaluation and tenure reforms enacted since 2009 have dramatically reshaped how districts can make personnel decisions. The enactment of these policies has been contentious, with considerable debate around how to most appropriately make determinations about teacher quality and the likely impact of these policies on the teaching workforce. This paper argues that these policies also have significant consequences not adequately addressed in the existing literature for schools as organizations and for the leadership work practice that unfolds outside of classroom walls. To make this argument, I develop a practice-based conceptual frame and explore emerging evidence from the implementation of new approaches to teacher observation in twelve Michigan school districts.

Author

• Angeline Kathryn Spain, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor