Measuring the Affective Language of Principals’ Evaluation Feedback and Investigating Differences by Principal Gender and Race

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Principal Leadership and School District Personnel Staffing to Support High-Quality Conditions for Teaching and Learning (Table 37)

Abstract

Over the past decade, reforms to principal evaluation systems have sought to incorporate formal feedback structures as a lever for principal improvement. However, we know little about the feedback that principals receive. Using statewide administrative data from Tennessee, including principals’ written feedback from evaluators, we use sentiment analysis to uncover the affective language, or tone, or principals’ feedback, and examine differences in affective language based on principal gender and race. We find that the affective language of refinement feedback (constructive criticism) largely resembles that of reinforcement feedback (affirmative feedback) and that Black principals receive refinement feedback with less positive affective language relative to observably similar white principals. We conclude with implications for policy and practice and suggestions for future research.

Authors

• Ellen B. Goldring, Vanderbilt University

• Karin Gegenheimer, Research for Action