Reflective Essay about Evaluation in Education

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Overview

As a part of the Lafayette Parish School System, L. Leo Judice Elementary School’s administrative team is given the option of using a single classroom observation at the end of the school year or multiple observations throughout the school year to evaluate each teacher. The administrative team has selected to use multiple observations throughout the school year in order to ensure teachers have the greatest opportunity to show how they meet the requirements of the teacher evaluation system being used in our district. As these observations are conducted, notes are taken of specific events taking place in the classroom that meet the requirements of the evaluation system. At the end of the school year, these notes are compiled to create a final evaluation for the teacher.

Theme

This activity aligns with Standard 4 of the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders. Standard 4 states that “Effective educational leaders develop and support intellectually rigorous and coherent systems of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to promote each student’s academic success and well-being” (National Policy Board for Educational Administration, 2015). This activity relates to the school improvement plan by providing support and guidance to classroom teachers concerning the effectiveness of classroom processes and procedures with regard to the school improvement plan.

Summary

The process for this activity began at the start of the 2018-2019 school year. Every one of the teachers at L. Leo Judice Elementary School would be observed several times throughout the school year rather than receiving one unannounced observation at the end of the year. These observations would be combined into one overall observation of the teacher’s ability to meet the standards of teaching set forth by the state. The idea of the use of multiple observations rather than a single observation is done in an effort to offset the negative feelings teachers have toward the evaluation system as seen in the study conducted by Anderson, Bergh, and Bohjanen (2019) in which teachers expressed a negative impact on teaching efficacy and teacher wellbeing from the stress of the evaluation process.

Observations took place on a regular basis. The administrative team ensured fairness in the process by having each member of the administrative team observe every teacher on campus at various times throughout the school year. Notes were taken at each observation and these notes were compiled to create an overall observation score for the teacher. As I am not officially a member of the administrative team I participated in the observations by going along with the administrative team to observe various teachers throughout the school year. I took notes on my own observations and compared them to those taken by the administrative team member with me at the time. At the end of the school year, I worked side-by-side with my mentor in creating a final observation evaluation for one of the teachers based on the observation notes accumulated.

Impact on Student Achievement

Through the use of regular classroom observations, the administrative team can more easily identify areas of need within the classroom. Teachers showing a need in a particular area can then be teamed up with teachers showing strength in that area in order to help the teacher in need gain the understanding and skills needed to be successful. If multiple teachers are showing need in a particular area professional development can be used to help close the gap. This directly affects student academic achievement by ensuring students receive everything needed to be successful in the classroom.

Reflection

This activity has provided practice in working with teachers in a more administrative role. By observing teachers in the classroom and providing feedback based on the observation I have gained practice in communication as well. As I completed teacher observations throughout the year looking for examples of practices that meet the criteria set in place by the teacher evaluation system in place to identify effective teaching practices it became easier to identify teachers that met these standards on a regular basis. Unfortunately, this also provided insight into how a classroom functions under an ineffective teacher. As explained by Schachter (2012), it is important that school administrators are trained to be effective classroom observers. It is important to know what you are looking for before walking into a classroom. By breaking a single observation up into multiple walkthroughs it allows the observer to focus on specific behaviors and actions rather than everything all at once. It is also important to be able to provide feedback on areas of needed improvement as well. This process is vitally important to the academic success of the school as a whole.

References

Anderson, D., Cameron-Standerford, A., Bergh, B., & Bohjanen, S. (2019). Teacher evaluation and its impact on wellbeing: Perceptions of Michigan teachers and administrators. Education, 139(3), 139–150. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=a9h&AN=136190811&site=eds-live&scope=site
National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015). Professional Standards for Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author. Retrieved from http://npbea.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Professional-Standards-for-Educational-Leaders_2015.pdf

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Reflective Essay about Evaluation in Education

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