Making Sense to Make It Happen: How Teachers and Administrators Make Sense of a New Teacher Evaluation System and the Implications of Their Understanding for Implementation

• In Event: Accountability Reforms Experienced by Teachers and Administrators

Abstract

States and districts across the country are implementing new standards-based multiple measure teacher evaluation systems (SBMMTES) in an effort to both hold teachers accountable for student performance and improve teacher quality. Despite the quick pace at which these new systems are being rolled out, little is known about their implementation. Existing research identifies understanding of a reform as central to implementation; how this understanding is constructed by key implementing agents plays a pivotal role in what gets implemented and whether a policy’s goals are achieved. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into how teachers and administrators make sense of a new SBMMTES, and how the understandings they construct shape their engagement in the implementation of a SBMMTES.

Author

• Tracey Lynn Weinstein, University of Southern California