Teacher Perceptions of "What Is" Versus "What Should Be" in Music Teacher Evaluation

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Music Teacher Evaluation: What Have We Learned and Where Are We Going?

Abstract

In 2009, the United States Department of Education introduced Race to the Top (RttT) grants, which made funds available to states that followed education reform guidelines specified by the federal government. Among the planning areas outlined in RttT, the strongest emphasis was placed on improving teacher and administrator effectiveness by applying more rigorous evaluation procedures. Evaluative criteria were expanded to include student achievement as a substantial measure of teacher performance, and evaluative outcomes became closely tied to incentives and sanctions. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine music teacher evaluation practices in four states that earned RttT grant funding: Florida, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Tennessee.
In the spring of 2014, a total of 288 music teachers from each of these states completed a 23-item online questionnaire, responding to items specific to their most recent evaluation process. At the time of data collection, the four sample states had implemented their revised teacher evaluation systems for at least one full school year; therefore, participant perspectives reflected RttT-specific evaluative procedures. Demographic data were collected, and a combination of closed- and open-ended items was used to solicit variety of teacher self-report data on the evaluation process. In particular, participants addressed the following questions:
1. What elements characterize the process used to evaluate music educators?
2. How do music educators perceive the teacher evaluation process, in terms of fairness and utility?
3. In what ways do music teachers believe evaluation practices impact and/or benefit the classroom?
4. How to teacher evaluation practices affect music educators’ perceptions of the professional status of music teaching?
Descriptive analyses of the music teacher evaluation process were reported in aggregate form because of the varied response rates across the four states. Reliability analyses revealed that internal consistency for each multi-item subscale was strong. Group comparisons were applied to determine mean differences in teacher perceptions across multiple individual difference variables. Open-ended items were subject to descriptive and in vivo coding to reveal patterns and themes regarding participants’ thoughts about the evaluative process.
Music teachers felt that the evaluation experience encouraged them to be more reflective about their professional practice, believing that the evaluation process was more formative than summative in nature. However, additional results revealed that music teachers lack clarity regarding the evaluation process, particularly with regard to high-stakes sanctions associated with evaluative outcomes. Building administrators with no music expertise were typically the primary authorities in music teachers’ evaluation experience, and students’ non-music standardized test score data was the most common measure of student growth used in music teacher evaluation. Overall, music educators were slightly dissatisfied with the evaluative process, expressing concerns about the fit an associated time demands. Participants also expressed concern regarding how evaluation process promoted teaching practices inauthentic to the music classroom.
Considering these results, implications and recommendations are made for both policymakers and music education leadership, specifically regarding the evaluator and student growth characteristics of teacher evaluation design.

Author

• Lisa Martin, Bowling Green State University