Results

So what do teachers want from the evaluation process?  After a few months of inquiry and working with my local unit SAEA, the results of the survey that was a collaborative effort are in.  Of the 519 respondents, 51% were from the elementary level and 46% were from the secondary level.  The remaining were from preschool or below.

Respondents were asked to rate the current evaluation system in our district. The telling response was that fifty percent of the respondents found the system to be ineffective in some manner.  This alone should prompt a serious discussion when it comes time to examine the current system.  Many of the respondents included commentary along with their respective rating.  One teacher stated " it does not truly allow for reflection and improvement - it's just a snippet of a day - how does it truly evaluate my performance?" Another commented "How can someone with no teaching experience evaluate a teacher?" Insightful comments were made by non-classroom certificated staff which leads me to believe there is a true gap in the expertise of administrators to evaluate such personnel.

The second group asked the following questions: Rate the following statement "The current evaluation system benefits me as professional educator". Fifty-eight percent of the respondents responded positively and forty-eight percent responded with a negative response.  Once again with that many negative responses it is clear that changes need to be made to the current system.  Many teachers feel that the system is broken and administrators are not qualified to assess instructional practices because they lack sufficient classroom experience in the subject area that the teacher is being evaluated which related to the statement "My administrator is qualified to evaluate me in my subject area."   Perhaps this is a sign that there is a need to bring an additional person into the evaluation process.  Based on the final statement from the group ""The system is fair", a overwhelming majority (68%) stated that they agreed with the statement.  While this seems to conflict with earlier statement about the effectiveness of the system, there is still a clear message that most teachers desire a change.

In the final statements of the survey respondents were asked to evaluate the post-observation process along with evaluation options.  The majority of the respondents stated that procedures were being followed properly by administrators.

What is next in this process?  It is clear to me that there is a need for change, but this can only happen with dialogue from both sides along with reasonable options to overhaul the system.  Fortunately we are in era where plenty of school districts have shared their current evaluation systems.  Some involve peer evaluations coupled with administrative evaluations, others provide the option for teachers to select their own type of evaluation process, while others focus improving the teacher as a professional. Ultimately this decision must be made by teachers and their respective districts, not policy makers and those far removed from the educational setting.

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