photo credit: http://olympiamoving.com/files/2011/08/ChecklistClipboard.jpg
Climate, Culture and Teacher Evaluation
After attending the Teacher Leadership Conference
in Syracuse last week, and reflecting on the discussion of Peer Assistance and
Review (PAR), I began to think about the impact of a given district's/school's climate
and culture on teacher evaluations. It
seems to me that a positive school climate, and a culture that has a consistent
and clear stance on learning are necessary for teacher (and principal)
evaluations to be viewed as an opportunity for reflection and growth. A
supportive community of educators and administrators with a shared sense of
purpose, shared leadership, collaboration and trust is better positioned to use
the evaluation process to improve and enhance school effectiveness.
Making a Case for Peer Assistance and Review
Like many of my colleagues, I support
an evaluation process that reflects and puts an importance on what I do
everyday. I welcome evaluators, peers
and the casual observer to see first-hand how I engage, motivate and challenge
students, and the opportunity to show the incremental student growth as well as
the milestone accomplishments is welcome.
However, we don’t have to look very far to find teacher evaluation
systems that are cumbersome and often punitive.
With limited, and often infrequent, feedback teachers lack the
opportunity to leverage the information into meaningful professional
development that could potentially improve and enhance their effectiveness.
Peer Assistance and Review used in a
district/school with a positive school climate and culture can put the emphasis
on professional growth. With the
high-stakes attached to teacher evaluations it seems only sensible to have a
process that incorporates performance review and assistance from a consultant
teacher, in addition to the support of curricular specialists and
administrators. This collaborative
approach goes a long way in helping to establish trust and promote a shared
sense of purpose.
Thoughts?
I am interested in the experiences of
those who have participated or are currently participating in PAR. How is it working in your district or
school? How do you see it fitting in
with the mandated teacher evaluation processes taking place across the country?
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