As a first-time teacher, teacher evaluations—especially the informal, formative versions I receive daily from my mentors—are valuable sources of information to further my pedagogy. While they are not necessarily evaluations, they comprise a series of moments for reflection on my teaching experiences. As a young teacher with goals to approach my practice with modern, cross-disciplinary, and 21st Century sensibilities, several of the existing systems of teacher evaluation are difficult to find applicable to my own situation and that of my peers. In the National Educational Association’s Teacher Evaluation: A Resource Guide for National Educational Association Leaders and Staff, the authors have proposed some of the following forms of evaluation to which I strongly agree—in no particular order:
Classroom observations
Classroom observations can be a valuable source of information if done regularly. If an evaluator were to appear in the classroom on a rare occasion, the contingencies of a poor reflection might not be an accurate depiction of a teachers (and students) abilities. Evaluators might be able to see not only how a teacher performs but also how students respond to their practice.
Team planning meetings
Although I may not consider this method as a “strongly agreed” form of evaluation, it does gold weight to the growth of learning and pedagogy. From my own clinical teaching observations, team planning and team collaboration is a modern and crucial aspect of creating a streamline objectives within the department. Teachers have the opportunity to share, discuss, create, and problem-solve with other members of the team.
Teacher artifacts, such as lesson plans, curriculum plans, student work, student formative and summative course evaluation data
Lesson plans and curriculum plans are two items of which should be monitored and updated. Today’s students should have current and relevant lesson plans to reflect the world of which they are living. Additionally, student work could be a potential measure of teacher achievement and success though it can be inaccurate depending on the course and grade level. For my case, freshman and sophomore level Visual Arts is a course option mandatory by the school. Therefore, unsurprisingly, some students who choose to take the class are those who essentially have to fulfill a liberal arts requirement in order to graduate. I would like to think otherwise but that is the reality of the situation.
Student surveys of engagement, motivation, etc.
Student surveys of engagement and motivation can be a potentially important part of teacher evaluation if done in an ideal situation—meaning if the students were unbiased, honest, and subjective. As students, it would be hard for them to make evaluation subjective because their relationship to the teacher, class, and subject are all relative to their experiences.