Teacher Evaluation and Conference Visits

Teacher evaluations do not need to be stressful. It is important to remember that the process of teacher evaluation is designed to improve your performance. All teachers have areas of strength and weakness. The conference superintendent can guide you in building on your strengths and improving areas of weakness. The conference process for evaluation should be shared with you during your in-service orientation. It will Likely include both formal and informal visits.

Most union conference education codes indicate that formal evaluations should be conducted twice a year for beginning teachers or teachers new to the conference and annually for experienced teachers. The primary purposes of formal evaluation are to provide constructive feedback regarding your teaching, recognize and help reinforce outstanding service, provide direction to help you improve your teaching, validate your professional expertise, and most importantly, provide information that will assist your efforts to educate students.

Formal Evaluations

The formal evaluation process should not be anticipated with fear and trepidation. Superintendents conduct formal evaluations to assist you on the teaching journey. It is not their purpose to catch you making a mistake, but to help you reflect on your teaching experience to become a better teacher.

Formal evaluation often includes an initial meeting, a period of observation, a post-observation meeting, and a written report. The initial meeting is a time when you indicate to the superintendent what areas you would especially like to be a focus of the observation. The observation is the time (usually 30-60 minutes or so) when the superintendent observes your classroom. During the post-observation meeting, the superintendent discusses what was seen during the observation and presents a written report of what was observed. The written report may be in either narrative, checklist, or some other format.

When preparing for a formal evaluation, plan a lesson that allows your superintendent to see you actively teaching your students. Many superintendents appreciate a copy of the lesson plan before you begin the lesson in order to be aware of what the goals and objectives of the lesson are. The lesson plan provides assistance during both the observation and post-observation meeting..

Be prepared to discuss with your superintendent both your strengths and weaknesses during the post­ observation meeting. You may even be asked to develop a plan of action with your superintendent to strengthen instructional methods, discipline approaches, etc.

Informal Observations

An informal visit is a time when your superintendent gets to know you and your classroom in addition to becoming familiar with your teaching style. Generally there is no official, written report of the visit. However, the superintendent will often give an informal overview of the visit and may ask an informational question or two.

Self-Evaluations and Peer Evaluations

Self- and peer evaluations can provide useful information for improving practice and may be especially valuable for times when local conference office of education personnel cannot visit very often. Self­ evaluation gives you the opportunity for introspection and honest evaluation of areas you see as strengths or as weaknesses that you would like to improve.

Peer evaluation is planned with a teacher colleague from another school. It is important that both you and your peer have clear objectives and common expectations. It is important that the objectives and plan for the observation and evaluation are written and agreed to beforehand.