Teacher Evaluation Protocols

Program Standard 7
Throughout the course of my graduate program, I have become familiar with a variety of ways to grow my reflective practice as well as evaluate my work and that of my colleagues. In my initial reflection for the very first class I took, here's what I wrote:

Understanding of TPEP Framework (Danielson)I have very little understanding of the Danielson Framework, nor do I know if it will be the framework used by my school going forward. Beyond my student teaching, I have never worked at a public school, so I am unfamiliar with a lot of the current standards and practices that schools in public districts deal with. My experience with teacher evaluation has been for administrators to drop by my classroom at various points in the year to give me some feedback on whatever they happened to observe. At the end of the last school year I received an "annual snapshot" that gave notes in three areas: Teaching and Learning, Community/Professional Responsibility, and Leadership. I feel like this  hits on three of the Danielson areas: Classroom Environment, Instruction, and Professional Responsibilities. However, this wasn't very useful to me on a day-to-day basis as I planned my lessons and assessments. Throughout the course of this class, and this program at SPU, I hope to become a more reflective and informed teacher so that I can back up what I "feel" to be good or what seems to be working in my classroom with actual evidence.

Throughout the course, I learned more about how the Danielson Framework is used, and I practiced applying it to my work. For my accomplished teaching synthesis paper, I wanted to improve my instruction of academic writing. I focused on feedback and incorporating more opportunities for smaller, practice writing assignments. Here's how I related my work to elements of the Danielson Framework:

This skill relates to domain 3 of the Danielson framework, the TPEP framework I am exploring. This part of the framework refers to instruction. 3a- communicating with students- asks that teachers communicate clear expectations to students. It is possible that part of the problem I am having with my students’ writing is that my instructions are not clear enough. 3d- using assessment in instruction- also is important to my area of focus because I use the essays as the primary mode of assessment for my juniors. Some examples of distinguished teaching in this area include reminding students of the assessment criteria, providing substantive feedback (both from the teacher and from peers), and self-assessment. 3e- demonstrating flexibility and responsiveness- fits what I have been doing, since I have built in a lot more essay practice in response to my students’ difficulties in writing.

This is an example of a writing assignment I give my 9th grade students,
using a historical fiction book they have read.

This is an example of feedback I might give, with
clear correlation of feedback to the requirements of the assignment, as well as
suggestions for resources if the student needs help improving her work.

While my school has not yet incorporated the Danielson Framework, or any standard TPEP Framework, I have grown in my understanding of teacher evaluation and I plan to be on a committee that will work to formalize and grow our teacher evaluation program. In my grad school work, I have found many ways to use all sorts of frameworks to evaluate teaching. I practiced observing colleagues for the course "Survey of Instructional Strategies" and evaluated my own teaching through video clips. For "Engaging Communities" I looked through the lens of a principal and created a plan to meet various benchmarks of the WA state principal program, including evidence of how I would know the goal was met.

I think that evidence is the most important part of any observation. A good teacher asks, "How do I know I accomplished what I set out to do?" This leads to all sorts of quality practices, including backward design, learning targets, and data-driven work. However a teacher is evaluated, this ideal should be the driving force.



References

Berg, J. H. (2010). Constructing a clear path to accomplished teaching. Theory into Practice, 49(3), 193-202.

Chalikandy, M.A. (2014). Reflection: Tool for professional development. Researchers World, 5(3).117-124. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1547695051?accountidid=2402

Danielson, Charlotte (2011). The framework for teaching evaluation instrument. The Danielson Group. [PDF].

Farrell, T., & Ives, J. (2015). Exploring teacher beliefs and classroom practices through reflective practice: A case study. Language Teaching Research, 19(5), 594-610.

Gray, J., Kruse, S., & Tarter, C. J. (2016). Enabling school structures, collegial trust and academic emphasis. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 44(6), 875-891.