Social Justice Evaluators: Using the Teacher Evaluation System to Promote Equity and Access in Schools

• In Event: 31.023 - Social Justice Leadership in the Trump Era

Abstract

Teacher evaluation reform has taken a hold in public school systems across the United States. Many districts adopted new evaluation tools and frameworks (e.g. Charlotte Danielson) designed to improve the human capital in their school systems. The focus on leveraging the evaluation system as a means for improving and enhancing student achievement omits the leadership role of the principal in the school building. The principal’s responsibility to visit the classrooms, to support the teachers’ understanding of a standards-based evaluation system, and to offer multiple and meaningful experiences that can improve the quality of instruction cannot be ignored in the era of high stakes teacher evaluations.

Author

• Elva Cortez-Covarrubias, Pepperdine University