Evaluating Evaluations: 6 Tips to Try!

Evaluations are essential for teachers and staff. Are you making the most of your evaluations or is it time to evaluate HOW you evaluate?  

Teacher and Staff evaluations can benefit a team in several ways: 

• Feedback for improvement: Teacher evaluations provide feedback to teachers on their teaching practices, which can help them improve their skills and become more effective in the classroom. Evaluations can help identify areas where a teacher may need additional support or training and provide specific suggestions for improvement. 
• Recognition of strengths: Evaluations can also recognize a teacher’s strengths and areas of excellence. Teachers can use this information to build on their strengths and continue to develop as educators. 
• Professional growth: Teachers can use evaluation results to create professional development plans, set goals, and work on areas of improvement. This can help them grow as professionals and enhance their teaching practices.  
• Career advancement: Teacher evaluations may be used as part of the criteria for promotions or advancement within the school district. Positive evaluations can also be used to support applications for teaching awards, grants, and other forms of professional recognition. Using digital tools like Helios or other resources to track teacher evaluations can be a great resource for educators to revisit over time.  

Having effective teacher evaluations is crucial for ensuring the quality of education and promoting professional growth. A recent study by Simon Burgess, Shenila Rawal, and Eric S. Taylor (2019) found that teachers being observed by a peer, as well as the peer observer saw increased achievement in their classes. This highlights that achievement significantly increased for the observer teachers’ classes as well, suggesting that the act of observing peers can be a valuable means of improving teaching practices for all educators.  

Alright, you’re ready to evaluate… now what? Here are some key steps to consider when implementing teacher evaluations: 

1. Clear Evaluation Criteria: Establish clear evaluation criteria that align with the educational goals and standards of your institution. These criteria should cover various aspects of teaching, such as content knowledge, instructional strategies, classroom management, student engagement, and assessment methods. 
2. Multiple Data Sources: Gather data from multiple sources to gain a comprehensive understanding of a teacher’s performance. These sources may include classroom observations, student feedback, self-assessment, lesson plans, student work samples, and any other relevant evidence. Using multiple sources reduces bias and provides a well-rounded assessment.
3. Peer Review: Incorporate peer review as a component of teacher evaluations. Encourage collaboration among teachers and have them observe and provide feedback to one another. This promotes professional development and a supportive learning environment. 
4. Professional Development: Provide opportunities for professional development based on the evaluation results. Identify areas where teachers may need improvement and offer targeted training, workshops, or mentoring programs. Continuous professional growth helps teachers enhance their skills and knowledge. 
5. Transparent and Constructive Feedback: Deliver evaluation feedback in a transparent and constructive manner. Focus on strengths and provide specific recommendations for improvement. Encourage open dialogue between evaluators and teachers to foster a culture of continuous improvement. Have you ever found these conversations to be challenging? Join us for our upcoming webinar, “Courageous Conversations During the Evaluation/Coaching Process” with guest speaker Jonathon Brunson on Tuesday, December 5^th at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET. You can sign up to register here. 
6. Continuous Improvement: Regularly review and refine the evaluation process based on feedback from teachers, students, and evaluators. Keep up with the latest research and best practices in educational evaluation to enhance the effectiveness of the process. 

Remember that effective teacher evaluations should be seen as a tool for professional growth and development, rather than a punitive measure. Creating a supportive and collaborative environment will encourage teachers to engage in self-reflection and improve their instructional practices. 

In summary, teacher evaluations can provide valuable feedback, recognition, and opportunities for growth and advancement for teachers and staff. Creating a supportive and collaborative environment will encourage teachers to engage in self-reflection and improve their instructional practices. Using teaching evaluation tools can be an excellent way to provide a comprehensive evaluation process for all involved.  

Which tip are you going to use during your next evaluation?