ISM recently published a new teacher evaluation model for private-independent schools. Today’s lead article describes how you can implement this type of an evaluation approach in your school.
OK—let’s say that over the last several months, you’ve been convinced that your school needs to move to a more effective teacher evaluation process. Now, you have one simple question: How do we do so?
Quick Overview and Re-cap
As you may recall from recent articles, we recommend focusing your teacher evaluation efforts on well-defined Characteristics of Professional Excellence (e.g., teacher skills and attributes, both inside and outside the classroom, that support your mission and align with your culture and values). ISM encourages you to use these same characteristics not only in evaluation, but also in the school’s hiring, induction, professional development, reward and recognition, and corrective action efforts.
Specific to evaluation, we see these characteristics as being central in a 4-step coaching and mentoring process:
- Step 1: Setting expectations (i.e., communicate the school’s required characteristics)
- Step 2: Observing performance and giving feedback regularly throughout the school year
- Step 3: Providing a written evaluation that summarizes the year’s coaching conversations
- Step 4: Helping the faculty member use the annual evaluation as the jumping off point for establishing his/her next professional growth and renewal plan
Putting This Approach Into Practice
We won’t kid you. Implementing this system isn’t necessarily easy—but we believe it will be well worth it, helping you perpetuate an ongoing cycle of learning, growth, and development for all teachers. To do so, we recommend that schools:
1. Appoint a committee of exemplary teachers to draft a Characteristics of Professional Excellence statement.
2. Communicate the approved characteristics statement to all teachers, indicating that this will be the basis of the school’s evaluation and growth efforts from this point forward.
3. Ensure that span of control (i.e., the number of teachers reporting to each administrator) is realistic and will allow regular coaching and mentoring.
4. Train division heads, department chairs, and other academic leaders on how to coach and mentor faculty.
5. Regularly encourage administrators to engage in coaching conversations as a central element of their job duties.
6. Require administrators to summarize the year’s worth of coaching conversations in written form (i.e., a written evaluation).
7. Ensure that administrators meet with each of their teachers to discuss the evaluation and help the teachers form professional growth plans for the coming year.
8. Repeat.
At its essence, this process isn’t about “the form” (i.e., the evaluation template) but rather, it’s all about the ongoing coaching conversations. If these coaching and mentoring conversations are happening on a regular basis, you’re most of the way home toward having a highly effective, growth-oriented evaluation system.
Additional ISM articles of interest
ISM Monthly Update for Business Managers Vol. 10 No. 5 Why Business Managers Need to Care About Teacher Evaluation
ISM Monthly Update for Division Heads Vol. 9 No. 5 The Teacher Evaluation Stalemate in New York
Private School News Vol. 11 No. 1 Evaluation Reforms Are Changing Schools Nationwide—Public and Private Alike
Additional ISM articles of interest for Consortium Gold members
I&P Vol. 37 No. 2 A 21st Century Teacher Evaluation Model
I&P Vol. 37 No. 2 Comparing and Contrasting Evaluation Approaches
I&P Vol. 37 No. 2 Aegis Academy Faculty Evaluation Sample
