This study considered the appraisal patterns of 29 teacher appraisers from a single high school district over a two year period. It discussed the district's efforts to assist its appraisers in evaluating teachers, and compared the frequency and range of the exceptional quality scores and overall performance scores assigned to teachers evaluated.

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While policy makers have attempted to standardize teacher evaluation, policy is implemented and enacted by school administrators. This study addresses the following question: Considering the legislative efforts to remove control of evaluation from local figures, do teachers perceive school principals as influencing the implementation of state-level evaluation policy and, if so, in what ways? I examined interviews from 14 teachers across four high schools within a district in North Carolina derived from a larger mixed method case study of teacher perceptions of evaluation policy and classroom practice. The results suggest a state-centralized teacher evaluation policy, such as the one utilized at the time of this study, can look vastly different to teachers at the school-level due to principal enactment of the policy. Furthermore, the data suggest the following themes influenced policy implementation: the capacity of principals to evaluate in a timely manner, what a principal chooses to value in a policy, and the perceived effectiveness of a principal as an evaluator of teaching. By taking a closer look at what is happening "on the ground"between teachers and principals in four schools utilizing the same state-level evaluation policy, the lessons learned in this study can help inform future policies.

A strong focus has been placed on accountability for the educational process and the achievement of all students. This has put tremendous pressure on teachers, as well as school administrators, superintendents, and school board members, to seek innovative ways to increase student achievement and to ensure that effective teachers are in all classrooms, so emphasis is on developing effective evaluation systems. Given the development and implementation of the Mississippi Teacher Evaluation System (MTES) in 2010, there is a need to discover the perspectives of the teachers who are evaluated within this process. The success of an evaluation process will only be successful if teachers use it to enhance their professional growth and effectiveness in the classroom. In order to gain an understanding of the perceptions of Mississippi teachers in Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) schools and their insight into the MTES, this study focused on three research questions: (1) how do Mississippi teachers perceive the usefulness of the MTES, (2) how do Mississippi teachers perceive that the MTES develops their effective teaching practices, and (3) how do Mississippi teachers perceive that the MTES supports teachers’ professional growth? A qualitative approach provided descriptive, narrative, and percentage responses to the research questions of this multiple-case study. Results showed that the majority of the TIF teachers who participated in this study perceived that the MTES to have some degree of usefulness, especially when implemented consistently across the campus. Teachers who did not experience the entire evaluation process and feedback conferences were frustrated and irritated by the process. Overall, teachers did experience an improvement in their instructional practices because of their participation in the MTES, and most perceived that the MTES supported their professional growth because of targeted professional development and the development of professional-growth goals. With timely feedback and evaluator support, teachers are enriching their teaching practices which enhance student engagement, but they are concerned that the instrument is not being implemented consistently in all schools. There is a lack of confidence in navigating the observation rubric and implementing the process with consistency.

Evaluating the quality of teaching in higher education institutions frequently relies on student ratings, which are popular and efficient, but biased and ineffective. Peer review of teaching warrants investigation for its usefulness in the tenure and promotion process within higher education institutions. A peer review of teaching study also has potential benefits for other instructors who seek to improve their teaching. This mixed methods study evaluates a proposed approach to peer review that is being considered for adoption across all colleges at Brigham Young University. This proposed approach includes peer observations and a submission of a professional teaching portfolio designed to follow the current research of best teaching practices and sustain ethical and professional standards. Data were gathered from 107 participants in treatment and control groups in the form of pre- and post-surveys and focus group interviews. A 2x2 Split Plot ANOVA was used to analyze continuous variables to determine interaction and main effects between groups (pre/post x experimental/control groups). We used a constant comparative method to identify themes in focus group responses, using open, axial, and selective coding of participants' focus group interviews (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Global themes identified were the positive and negative impacts of the peer review of teaching process. Most of the positive impact themes were gathered from those who had participated as peer reviewers, whereas much of the negative impact themes were gathered from those who had experienced a peer review of their teaching. Significant interaction effects between the assignment of treatment and time provide corroborating evidence for the themes identified. The results from this study provide better understanding of the peer review of teaching process that can ultimately lead to better evaluation practices as well as improved teaching and learning for higher education institutions.

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The process of teacher evaluation has often been less than satisfying for both teachers and administrators. Educational literature dealing with teacher evaluation shows that it is frequently a rote procedure with little or no benefit for the people involved. In this study, the researcher used the action research process to design, implement, and evaluate a new system of teacher evaluation and development in St. Anne's Catholic School. Twenty teachers of the twenty-two member faculty participated in the two-year study. Together, the teachers and administrator examined the original system of evaluation and then devised a new system. They put the new process into effect, critiqued it, and revised it. The administration and faculty learned that teacher evaluation can be more meaningful if teachers are involved in its planning, given a choice of evaluation methods, and evaluated consistently throughout the school year. / Ed. D.

School divisions in Virginia implemented revised or new teacher evaluation systems beginning in 2012. These evaluation systems incorporated teacher portfolios, goal setting, and teacher performance assessment based on student achievement, and they were substantially different from those previously used by both teachers and their evaluators. This study was about how teachers and administrators experienced the implementation of this new evaluation system. Their observations, thoughts, feelings, and learning about themselves, and how they experienced this change were the topics of interest in the study. The setting for this case study was one elementary school in a small school division in southwestern Virginia. In-depth interviews of two administrators and 13 teachers of varied experience levels were conducted with a researcher-developed protocol by an outside interviewer. Data were analyzed with the constant comparative method. The experiences of the participants are reported in their own words. Their stories are descriptions of how they experienced the implementation of a second-order change in the evaluation of teachers in this small school division. Their experiences encompassed the entire process of change from the introduction of the change through the assimilation of the purposes and components of the new system and on to the training and support provided throughout the process. They described the changes in their responsibilities, their uncertainties, and their thoughts and feelings about the system as it moved toward institutionalization. And, they shared some recommendations for change in the process and the system. A model of change was derived from the participants' experiences and labeled the Legg Model of Change. / Ed. D.

Teacher evaluation is mandated by state law and practiced in every public school district. The evaluation of teachers is a vital part of the work of school administrators and the evidence that aligns teacher supervision and its direct or indirect impact on student achievement is scant (Ebmeier, 2003). The researcher examined perceptions of elementary teachers in a southeastern Virginia school division regarding the teacher evaluation process. The goal was to determine how the teacher evaluation process influences professional growth and instructional practices at the elementary school level. In addition to identifying the overall perception of the evaluative practices employed in the school division, the researcher gleaned additional understandings of teacher perceptions on how a particular evaluation tool's effectiveness, purposes, and reliability impact teacher behavior. Perceptions of teachers from 20 elementary schools in an urban school division in Virginia were researched using a quantitative methodology. There were a total of 446 teachers in grades PreK through 5 in the 20 schools. Data were collected through an online teacher questionnaire. The revised Teacher Evaluation Profile (TEP), created by Stiggins and Duke (1988), was used as the survey tool. The TEP was designed to elicit responses on a Likert scale using five attributes of a particular teacher evaluation experience. Data from the TEP indicate that teacher perceptions of the overall quality of the evaluation process vary. While there was a consistent perception of neutrality, less than 50% of the teachers perceived the evaluation as a meaningful process. Furthermore, teachers reported that the evaluation process had minimal impact on their professional growth and professional practice. The results of this study may impact the professional development opportunities linked to the evaluation process. / Ed. D.

This study's purpose was to investigate the differences in scores and written comments given by two appraisal groups in their evaluation of a music teacher using the Texas Teacher Appraisal System (TTAS). One appraiser group had musical training while the other group specialized in other subjects. Analyses of both group's appraisal scores showed no significant differences. An examination of the written comments revealed that both appraisal groups focused on the same aspects of the lesson and used similar vocabulary. The TTAS instrument was a consistent measure of generic teacher behaviors in the music lesson, but it did not measure specific music teaching behaviors or encourage suggestions for improving musical instruction.