How Middle School Teachers Make Sense of Changes in Teacher Evaluation Policy

• In Event: 66.057 - Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: 66.057-20 - Everybody's Doing It: Principals and Teachers Making Sense of Evaluation, Reform, and Charter Schools

Abstract

This study draws on interview data to examine how experienced special educators and general educators at a Virginia middle school perceived and responded to teacher evaluation reforms, including formal classroom observations, informal walkthroughs, and student growth measures. The special educators reported that evaluation changes failed to account for their focus on students with disabilities’ social and emotional development and their responsibility for managing students’ Individual Education Plans. The general educators indicated that the amount of time that they were observed by the principal seemed insufficient for providing data related to the six professional practice domains stipulated in the policy. Further, the participants reported that the principal’s use of a scripted approach to formal observations had little effect on their instruction.

Authors

• Peter A. Youngs, University of Virginia

• Alisha Brown, Michigan State University