Communication and Collaboration: The Role of Sense-Making in Integrating Student Growth Measures Into Teacher Evaluations

• In Event: 61.087 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: 61.087-3 - Accountability Results: Its Impact on Teacher Practice, Instruction, and Students' Lives

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a yearlong mixed methods research study investigating the influence of statewide teacher evaluation systems on classroom practice. Consistent with nationwide trends, the 2010 passage of Colorado’s Senate Bill 10-191 marked a shift in teacher evaluation, requiring that at least 50 percent of a teacher’s annual evaluation be based on multiple measures of student learning (MSLs). Using sensemaking theory, we analyze teacher interviews and statewide survey data to examine the impact of time and collaboration on teachers’ understanding of and attitudes towards MSL implementation in the first year of the bill’s implementation, highlighting the delicate relationship between universal evaluation requirements and the ability to capture each teacher’s diverse array of skills.

Authors

• Emily Claire Price, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Amy Nichole Farley, Colorado Education Initiative