Ideal Evaluation System

An ideal evaluation system would involve only things that teachers have direct control over. Also, they should be based on something that the teacher can concretely demonstrate by actions they take or direct evidence that they can show. Here is an example of what I would consider a good evaluation system that could be used to replace the current teacher evaluation system.

1) Knowledge of Instructor

The teacher who sits in the front of the classroom should be well versed in the subject matter they are teaching. Under this standard, a teacher will have to demonstrate what they have done in the past year to increase their knowledge of their subject. Possible things they could have done are taken a course at a college; taken a graduate level course online, read a series of books on their subject, attended a conference at a university where the subject the speaker was broaching is related to their topic, had special conferences with other professionals for the specific purpose of discussing their subject matter. For each one of these possible things, there would be a form to fill out where the teacher could demonstrate that they actually did these things. Their score on this category will be an objective number, based on a predetermined number of points given for each activity the teacher undertook to improve their knowledge

2. Teaching Methods

It has been demonstrated that there are different types of learners in a classroom. Some learners are aesthetic, some learners are visual learners, some learners do best when they hear the material verbalized, etc. In this standard, a teacher will have to demonstrate how many different methods they utilize in their classrooms to try to reach the students. As before, a teacher will fill out a form delineating the different forms of instruction used, and a concrete objective score will be determined based on a point system.

3. Parent Contact

Part of a teacher’s job is to keep parents informed of the progress of their child, and of any type of disciplinary action that was taken against a child in a classroom. For this standard, a teacher will have to show that for every child that ended a grading period with a “D” or “F” in their class, there was a parent contact attempted. They will do this by providing a list of students which had failing grades, and a list of phone numbers that they called, together with a date and time that each phone call was made. If the list matches the phone calls, they get maximum points. If there are discrepancies, the teacher loses points based on how many discrepancies there are.

4. Learning Environment

It is important that students have a safe and stimulating environment in which to learn. Under this standard, a teacher must show that their classroom has 1) Rules posted for all to see, 2) A bulletin board for samples of student work, 3) a board dedicated to learning objectives and homework that is up for students to see everyday, 4) A predetermined number of additional posters, maps, quotes, etc. 5) Enough desks to sit every student comfortably. We can see that there is nothing arbitrary about this standard, there is a specific number of things that a teacher must have, and they either have it or they don’t. Points would be deducted for anything missing from the checklist.

5. Classroom Management

This one is a bit tricky. Classroom management means being able to limit the amount of disruptions to learning in a classroom. This means keeping the students engaged and on task as much as possible, and avoiding altercations, horseplay, throwing, yelling, and other such behaviors in a classroom. As such, it is more difficult to find an objective way of measuring this. One way to do it is to see how many administrative referrals a teacher has produced in a year. If they were able to keep peace in their classroom without having to send a student out all year, then theoretically they have better classroom management. However, that policy seems to punish teachers who unfortunately in the luck of the draw that is scheduling, end up with the most disruptive students. Perhaps a better way to gauge classroom management is that there is a disciplinary plan in place that the students are aware of and that the teacher enforces. To prove proficiency, a teacher will have to show that during the times that there was disruptive students, those students were given verbal warnings, had their chair moved, had their parents contacted, had seen the counselor, and were eventually referred to the administrator. In other words, all steps in the disciplinary plan were followed.

6. Lesson Planning

Preparing for the days lesson is very important for a professional. A professional should never enter a classroom without a pre-made lesson that they are working from. The lesson planning standard supposed that teachers have lesson plans covering every day of the  school year, and that those lesson plans include 1) date, 2) activities planned, 3) learning objectives, 4) home learning assignments, and 5) types of assessment. If the teacher has all of these things included in their daily lesson plans, they get the maximum number of points. Points would be deducted for incomplete or missing lesson plans.

7. Commitment to the job

This would be the easiest standard to get points for. Simply, the teacher must come to work every day. Teachers get an average of 10 leave days allotted to them every school year. Some of these days are sick days and others are personal days. Under this standard, you will lose points for every day missed of work that doesn’t provide documentation of actual sickness. This is to curb teachers taking days off because they were tired, or because they wanted to start vacation early, or because they did not want to participate in field day, etc.

As you can see, none of these evaluation standards are based on the whims of any administrator, or an varying interpretations of the exact wording of the standard. All of these are based on an objective number that the professional has direct control over whether or not they can actually achieve the highest score.