Principals' Use of Teacher Effectiveness Data to Support Teachers

• In Event: 63.055 - Diverse Approaches to Teacher Evaluation: Policy, Implementation, and Impacts

Abstract

Professional development is a mechanism to improve teacher practice, yet it is regularly criticized for being ineffective. Teacher effectiveness data, collected in many districts as part of new teacher evaluation policies, have the potential to address this problem by providing information that school leaders can leverage to target professional development. This paper uses interview data from school principals and central office personnel in eight urban school systems that are early adopters of teacher effectiveness data to examine how principals use these measures to provide teachers with feedback, support, and professional development. Principals demonstrated that teacher effectiveness data can be leveraged to identify instructional strengths and weaknesses at the individual and school level to offer ongoing, job embedded support.

Authors

• Mollie Rubin, Vanderbilt University

• Christine M. Neumerski, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College

• Ellen B. Goldring, Vanderbilt University

• Marisa A. Cannata, Vanderbilt University

• Jason A. Grissom, Vanderbilt University

• Timothy Drake, North Carolina State University

• Patrick Schuermann, Vanderbilt University