Teacher Evaluations: The Ultimate Guide

The United States alone has approximately 3.2M teachers, which is an amazing number of professionals dedicated to developing our youth. This means we have the ability to impact millions of people through world-class teacher evaluation and professional development.

While most organizations have the intention of growing and engaging their teachers through teacher evaluations, few actually do. This, unfortunately, is leading to teachers leaving the classroom at an alarming rate. In fact, “The teacher shortage is real, large and growing, and worse than we thought.” as so aptly described by The Economic Policy Institute. And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic sped up the rate in which teachers are leaving the classroom.

Additionally, teachers rate receiving actionable feedback as the 3rd lowest question in the iAspire 4 Principles of Connection™ Employee Experience survey.

Throughout this guide you will learn about some of the key components of an effective teacher evaluation system along with some suggestions about developing your teachers, engaging your staff, connecting evaluation and professional development, and even increasing teacher retention rates.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHER EVALUATIONS

According to ASCD, there are two main purposes for teacher evaluations:

  1. Measuring teacher effectiveness - This is the more traditional thought process when evaluating teachers. Teachers instruct, and observers (typically principals) evaluate the performance according to a scale or rating system.

  2. Developing teacher effectiveness - Those whose evaluate for the purpose of teacher development identify areas of celebration as well as areas for growth. These growth opportunities are developed through professional development opportunities, coaching, collaborating with others, and self reflection.

While many teacher evaluation systems start with the intent of developing teachers, oftentimes policy makers end up creating compulsory evaluation requirements that are measurement focused. This has unintentionally resulted in a teacher evaluation environment that does not increase teacher success or student achievement.

Based on the research, we will maintain a focus on increasing teacher effectiveness throughout this Guide.

TEACHER EVALUATION RESEARCH

The research on the current state of teacher evaluations and professional development (PD) is scary. According to the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching report:

  • Teacher evaluations did not lead to improved student achievement.

  • Teacher evaluations did not lead to improved teacher effectiveness.

  • Teacher evaluations did not improve the retention rate of effective teachers

With regard to Professional Development:

  • Teachers Know Best describes that each year in the US alone, approximately $18 billion is spent on professional development, yet 71% of teachers are dissatisfied with the PD offered.

  • <50% of teachers receive any type of coaching.

Educators are leaving the classroom at an alarming rate. Teachers are 56% more likely to leave now than before the pandemic, and 50% of new teachers resign within their first five years. It is imperative that we engage our teachers in professional growth and support in ways they want to be developed. The data shows what happens when we don’t.

TYPES OF TEACHER EVALUATIONS

Like any assessment, there are two main categories of evaluations:

  • Formative - According to the Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning, “Formative Evaluations are evaluations FOR learning.” The intention here is to help the teacher grow, so formative teacher evaluations could include:

    • Classroom Walkthroughs - 5 - 15 minute classroom visit designed to allow observers to measure something specific in the classroom.

    • Informal Observations - 10+ minute classroom visit that can be evaluative or non-evaluative based on the organization’s defined process. These can be announced or unannounced.

    • Formal Observation - 10+ minute classroom visit that typically includes a pre- and/or post-observation conference. These are typically announced but can be unannounced.

    • Instructional Rounds/Peer Observations - “The primary purpose is for observing teachers to compare their own instructional practices with those of the teachers they observe.” Teachers are the observers during instructional rounds.

    • Self Reflections - Teachers reflect on their own performance. Typically a rubric or other source is used as a guide or benchmark to be used for scoring, goals, etc.

      • TIP: Ongoing student data review - Educators can learn a lot about their performance when spending time to review student data and learn what is working well for students and what is not.

    • Coaching cycles - Instructional coaching guru Jim Knight defines a coaching cycle (or Impact Cycle) as having three steps:

      • Identify - add more

      • Learn - add more

      • Improve - add more

  • Summative - Using Berkley’s definition format, Summative Evaluations are evaluations OF learning, or in this case, evaluations of educator performance during a period of time. Since evaluations are similar to a final grade, summative evaluations could include:

    • Rubric rating - a rubric is a scoring guide that is used to evaluate the quality of performance across several different rating categories. Rubrics are helpful as they list examples of specific criteria that fit within a certain rating. A rating system of 1-4 is popular, but other ratings are possible too.

    • Multiple Measures (student achievement/value-added data). Many organizations require additional data to be included in a final teacher evaluation rating. A final rating is then based on a weighted average, with each type of measurement representing a certain percentage of the final rating. Multiple measures could include:

      • student achievement scores as measured by a common assessment;

      • student growth scores;

      • student surveys;

      • parent surveys

POPULAR TEACHER EVALUATION FRAMEWORKS

There are several different models and frameworks for teacher evaluations. While somewhat similar in nature, they each go about defining and measuring teacher effectiveness in different ways. Below are some of the most popular frameworks used:

The Framework for Teaching, by The Danielson Group; Charlotte Danielson

“The Framework for Teaching provides a common language for instructional practice, as well as a philosophical approach to understanding and promoting great teaching and learning. It is a vision of instructional excellence, a roadmap for pursuing it, and a set of discrete practices that describe it.”

Focused Teacher Evaluation Model, by the Marzano Center; Robert Marzano

“The Marzano model includes 23 essential teacher competencies with each including a focus statement and desired effect, sample instructional techniques, and strategies for evaluations student work.”

CUES Framework, by McRel

“The CUES framework strengthens teaching and learning by emphasizing the knowledge, skills, and abilities teachers need to make a positive difference in student achievement.”

Stronge Effectiveness Performance Evaluation System, by Stronge and Associates

“The Stronge Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Performance Evaluation System is a comprehensive, uniform evaluation system that consists of teacher, educational specialist, and leader components. Each of the aforementioned educators is evaluated against six research-based professional standards.”

5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning, Center for Education Leadership, University of Washington College of Education

“We realize how critical it is to provide leaders and teachers with the skills necessary to support excellent classroom practice and we also know that this work needs to be thoughtful, intentional, and focused. That’s the intent of our research-based instructional framework, the 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning™ (5D), composed of the core elements that constitute high-quality teaching.”

TEACHER EVALUATION FORMS

One of the first steps in creating or reviewing a teacher evaluation system is to think through the forms you will be using during teacher observations. Start with your goal of observations. Why is it you are thinking through teacher evaluations in the first place? Are you simply checking a compliance box (hopefully not), or is teacher growth a priority for you?

Assuming you are focused on teacher growth and support, think through the types of observations and frequency in which you would like to complete them. Walkthroughs and more formal evaluations serve different purposes. Each are important for data collection and feedback/feed-forward. Some school leaders make goals to complete walkthroughs every other week (or sometimes even every week), while others plan to visit each classroom once per month or even quarter. The frequency of observations is dependent on the culture of your building and the relationships within. If you are just starting, consider less frequent observations until trust is built among your teachers, staff, and observer(s). More formal teacher evaluations are typically completed in December as a mid-year check-in and at the end of the school year.

Once you have determined the goal, types of observations, and frequency of your teacher evaluation forms, it’s time to start thinking through the criteria for teacher evaluation. Having a common set of questions to answer during an observation provides consistency in what is being observed and the feedback provided. In fact we don’t recommend using solely a “blank piece of paper” on which to write notes because of the lack of consistency this provides. Bias has a tendency to creep in without a form structure. Walkthroughs may have 5-15 questions to answer when observing the classroom while a more formal evaluation form may have 20+ indicators to observe.

To create the questions for your teacher evaluation forms, first be sure you are following any mandates from your state, region, district, or school. Many times pre-determined questions or frameworks are provided and must be used.

If you have flexibility in the questions asked, consider looking at expert teacher evaluation frameworks such as those listed above. Many times you can use them as a basis for your more formal evaluations when a rubric is the best tool to use. For walkthroughs, consider instructional best practices to determine the strengths and growth areas for your teachers. What have you noticed so far in the classroom? Do lesson objectives/learning targets seem to be lacking? Do your teachers mostly ask low-level questions that lack rigor? Are checks for understanding a strength you want to reinforce with your teachers? Consider creating questions that specific to your goals and how you/your schools defines success in the classroom.

TEACHER EVALUATION EXAMPLES

iAspire has several pre-created walkthrough forms if you need some samples of walkthrough questions. These include:

  • iAspire Instructional Walkthrough - focus on the teacher actions in the classroom

  • iAspire Learning Environment Walkthrough - focus on classroom culture, rules and routines, and behavior management

  • iAspire Student-Centered Walkthrough - focus on what the students are doing, not the teacher

  • iAspire Classified Evaluation - focus on providing feedback to non-certified staff (custodial, food service, instructional assistants, etc)

  • RISE Rubric - a formal evaluation based on the Indiana RISE Rubric

TEACHER EVALUATION PROCESSES

Teacher evaluations can be complex, with many states requiring conferences, student data collection, and other components.

An effective process starts with understanding the purpose - what exactly are you trying to accomplish through your own teacher evaluation process? Performance pay only? A means to removing ineffective teachers from your schools? Hopefully somewhere in your definition is the concept of growing teachers.

To think through your process, first provide clarity on what you are trying to accomplish in your observations and evaluations.

  • What goals are you trying to reach?

  • What does success look like?

  • What do you expect from teachers?

  • What should teachers expect from you?

Then think through how to make this happen:

  • How many observations are necessary to reach your goals?

  • When should these observations take place?

  • Which framework will you use?

  • What is our balance among walkthroughs, observations, and evaluations?

Typical process components to consider include:

  • Pre-observation conference - a conference between an observer and the observee held prior to an observation beginning

    • Provides teachers an opportunity to demonstrate their planning and preparation for instruction.

    • Provides teachers an opportunity to ask for specific feedback about their teaching (i.e. questioning techniques, engagement strategies, etc.)

    • Provides observers the chance to clarity expectations and/or seek additional information from the teacher.

  • Observation - the observer observes the learning environment, instructor teaching, and has a chance to interact with the students

TIP: Don’t forget to talk to the students! A district in Georgia has a process where the observers speak to five different students during each classroom visit and ask five specific questions to each student about the student’s understanding of the lesson objective and how they know when they are able to meet the goal for the lesson. This is incredibly powerful information to collect!

  • Feedback - The observer reflects on the observation and provides specific, actionable feedback to the teacher.

  • Post-observation conference - The teacher and observer meet to have a collaborative, reflective conversation about the lesson. Typically specific commendations and recommendations are discussed along with next steps (what’s left as part of the observation process, specific steps the teacher should take, etc).

TIP: For struggling teachers, first identify one or two specific areas you are seeking improvement from the teacher. Then work with that teacher on a plan for improvement and support her along the way. If warranted, and as part of your process, you may want to think about a more formal Professional Improvement Plan. The Society for Human Resources Managers has a nice outline of the steps for a Professional Improvement Plan.

Something to Consider: Some processes have the same number of observations required regardless of teacher experience or performance. Some organizations require beginning teachers and/or lower performing teachers to participate in observations more frequently than veteran or higher performing teachers.

Something else to Consider: If your organization has a collective bargaining agreement between a teachers’ union and district, be sure you are following the agreements within. Many teachers actually want more actionable feedback than they receive, but be sure additional observations and their structures are permissible.

USE OF VIDEO DURING TEACHER EVALUATIONS

Many organizations are leveraging the power of video observations as part of their process.

The use of video can be impactful for several different reasons:

  • It’s impossible to capture everything that happens in a classroom during an observation. Each observer misses something, or many somethings during each observation. Using video observations creates a concrete artifact go back to and reference as needed to ensure the feedback is consistent with what occurred in the classroom.

  • Teachers also have a concrete artifact to use as a reflection tool. Many teachers are too hard on themselves and don’t actually realize all the great things they are doing! Alternatively, many teachers have a perception that they are amazing and don’t realize how they are coming across in the classroom. Recording instruction is a great way for teachers to self reflect on what actually happened in their classroom.

  • Local videos are a fantastic source for Professional Development. While watching instructors teach in classrooms across the country is valuable, there is nothing quite like being able to watch and learn from your neighbor, colleague, or a person close to you. Organizations can even create their own internal professional development library from such videos.

TIP: Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research has a wonderful resource called The Best Foot Forward Project with a tremendous amount of resources to help schools and organizations implement video observations. Their Video Observation Toolkit can be extremely helpful for those looking for specific guidance on implementing video observations.

QUICK TIPS AND REMINDERS

An observation is simply a snapshot - The time you spend in the classroom observing is just a snapshot, a window into the classroom. There is always much more to the story of instruction than your short time in the classroom. When meeting with a teacher, or sending feedback, be sure to ask questions to better understand what you saw. For example:

  • What were you hoping the students would get from your lesson today?

  • Where does this lesson fit into the bigger picture of the unit?

  • What is the intended transfer or application of this learning into the real world?

Easing anxiety - Teacher evaluations and observations can be stressful for teachers. In order to reduce the stress on your teachers, consider the following:

  • Provide transparency and clarity on your process. Let your teachers know upfront about the types of observations you will be completing, what to expect during the process, and how the data will be used.

  • Be fair, open, honest, and human. Remove any preconceived perceptions/biases you have, collect observational data based on what you saw and heard, and provide feedback based on what actually happened during your observation. Be honest with teachers, even if that means having the hard conversation. While not easy, your teachers will appreciate your transparency. However, also be respectful and professional with all feedback sent and/or meetings you have with the teachers.

  • Make sure your teachers know you will support them and their growth, yet challenge them for excellence. We all do our best work in an environment where we are (appropriately) challenged and supported.

  • Be consistent. If you communicate a process, use that process. If you communicate the fact that you will support your teachers, support your teachers. Consistency helps everybody know that teacher evaluation and growth are taken seriously.

Observer’s mindset - According to the NEA’s Teacher Assessment and Evaluation Whitepaper, “The core purpose of teacher assessment and evaluation should be to improve the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and classroom practices of professional educators.” Instead of entering the classroom with the intention of strictly evaluating, think about how you can help the teacher improve in their knowledge, skills, dispositions, and classroom practices.

CONNECTING TEACHER EVALUATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/COACHING

As the research shows, evaluating teachers is not enough. We must engage and provide meaningful professional development to our teachers in order to grow and retain them.

According to the Teachers Know Best research, teachers describe an ideal professional learning experience as:

  • Relevant and personalized

  • Interactive

  • Delivered by someone who understands their experience

  • Sustained over time

  • Treats teachers like professionals

  • Focused on applying learning through demonstrations or modeling and practice

The problem is most professional development isn’t any of the above bullets, let alone all.

At iAspire, we empathize with teachers who describe their ideal professional development yet experience otherwise. We also empathize with those offering professional development and understand how difficult it is to provide personalized and interactive coaching to all of your teachers.

We realize that most current professional development offerings simply aren’t working, and we’re here to change that.

iAspire created an Intelligent Assistant to offer individualized and relevant coaching experiences to your teachers. To offer this coaching, teachers create growth plans (which the Assistant helps them create, so no extra work for you!) and are able to opt-in to specific coaching that is delivered through micro-learning experiences.

Observers are also able to offer coaching based on classroom observations and walkthroughs.

The offered instructional coaching is

  • relevant and personalized based on teacher growth goals and/or feedback from the observer;

  • interactive through the use of micro-learning experiences;

  • created and curated by the iAspire team of former educators, administrators, and coaches;

  • sustained over time through continuous top-of-mind coaching and reinforcements throughout the year;

  • has specific activities and opportunities to invite colleagues into the coaching;

  • will actually treat your teachers as the professionals they are.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT TEACHER EVALUATION SOFTWARE

There are many teacher evaluation tools for administrators. Some principals still complete observations manually using paper and pen. Some use free tools like Google Forms. Most, however, use teacher evaluation software.

It is difficult to know when to make the move to digital evaluations. For those who haven’t made the move to digital yet, some indicators that you are ready for this change include:

  • You are frustrated by your paper/pencil process and are overwhelmed with the thought of evaluating your teachers

  • You have a hard time keeping track of your process

  • You want to make data-informed decisions

  • Your observations and evaluations are taking too much of your time and energy

Once you are ready to make the change to digital observations and evaluations, or if you are contemplating changing your current system, there are many questions for you to consider:

  • Evaluation vs Growth - Are you looking to only evaluate your teachers for compliance sake, or do you want to grow your teachers through embedded coaching, growth plans, and/or meaningful professional development experiences

  • Budget - what is your budget, and how much are you able to spend

    • TIP: If you are looking at a combined evaluation and growth system, consider using PD funds such as Title II

  • Collaborative - Does your current system intentionally help bring your team and you together? Or does it keep you divided?

  • Feedback from your team - What are you currently hearing from your team (both fellow observers, teachers, and other team members)? What is this feedback saying to you?

  • Data - Based on observation data, do you have the answers to your biggest process, performance, and engagement questions? If not, what questions are you trying to answer but can’t currently?

  • Training - How much time and energy will learning and operating this system take you and your teachers initially? Over time?

  • Ease of Use - Do you have to work for the system, or does the system work for you?

  • Current retention rates - How big of an impact might a change in a system make on your teacher retention rates?

  • Value - Ultimately what value are you getting from my current system? Are you just ‘okay’ with it, or are you thrilled with it?

Creating an Effective Teacher Evaluation System

There is a lot to consider when creating an effective teacher evaluations system as there are many different teacher evaluation methods for doing so. Be sure you are following any required forms and processes, and think through your goals before making any major changes.

If you need help with teacher evaluations, from software to processes, please don’t hesitate to reach out and connect with us.