Thank you for your question.
There appear to be a number of good studies and articles on methods for teacher evaluation available on the Internet. Here are some I found the most interesting in addressing your question:
REL Network
http://www.relnetwork.org/1997ar/9.html
"USE OF TEACHER EVALUATION MODEL RESULTS IN MORE MOTIVATED, SKILLED, AND COLLEGIAL TEACHERS.
Nothing builds parent confidence in public education more than learning that a seasoned, expert teacher is at the helm of their child's classroom. So teachers across the southeastern United States are excited when they report that using a new form of teacher evaluation has made them more motivated, given them more focus in their daily work, heightened their professionalism, and enhanced the feeling of collegiality in their schools...
...Most teacher evaluation is summative; that is, it calls for teachers to be observed and rated on a performance instrument that is the same for all teachers. Many teachers and administrators report that this rating process is not helpful for growth. But the formative evaluation process calls for the teacher to reflect on strengths and weaknesses and use peers to get feedback on progress made towards goals of professional growth and improved teaching skills...
...In 1997 more than 20 school districts in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina were involved in formative teacher evaluation plans that emphasize one of five elements: goal setting, menu of options, combined goal setting/menu of options, panel review, and peer coaching...
The Eric Database (Educational Resouces Information Center)
http://ericae.net/db/edo/ED278657.htm
"The Evaluation of Teachers. ERIC Digest 12.
Barrett, Joan
TEXT: The public views teacher evaluation as a major problem in the school system today (Soar and others, 1983). State legislatures, aware of the concern, want to mandate more effective evaluation. Common methods for evaluating teachers, such as measurement tests of teacher characteristics, student achievement test scores, and ratings of teachers' classroom performance, have been ineffective. Some research has been done to improve the evaluation process, but teacher assessment, in general, remains unorganized. This digest provides information about evaluation types, criteria, methods, procedure, and successful evaluation strategies...
...The most important characteristic for any successful evaluation method is validity - whether a test or procedure measures what it purports to measure. It becomes inappropriate, meaningless, and useless to make specific inferences from invalid measurements. Evidence of validity must be accumulated to support inferences made from evaluation results...
...Wise and others (1984) studied 32 school districts and found four - Salt Lake City, Utah; Lake Washington, Washington; Greenwich, Connecticut; and Toledo, Ohio - to have markedly more successful evaluation programs than the others. These researchers concluded that the following strategies can help in implementing an effective evaluation program.
1. Evaluation procedures must address local needs, standards, and norms.
2. Procedures must be consistent with the stated purposes for evaluation.
3. School districts must make a commitment of time and resources.
4. Resources must be used efficiently to achieve reliability, validity, and cost-effectiveness.
5. Teachers should be involved in developing evaluation procedures...."
This appears to be a most interesting and thoughtful article.
This page has a number of links to various other articles and methods of evaluation from ERIC: http://ericae.net/scripts/ft/ftcongen.asp?wh1=EVALUATION
For example, under Teacher Evaluation you will find this thought provoking article: http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v9n6.html
"Teacher Test Accountability: From Alabama to Massachusetts
Larry H. Ludlow, Boston College
Abstract
Given the high stakes of teacher testing, there is no doubt that every teacher test should meet the industry guidelines set forth in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Unfortunately, however, there is no public or private business or governmental agency that serves to certify or in any other formal way declare that any teacher test does, in fact, meet the psychometric recommendations stipulated in the Standards. Consequently, there are no legislated penalties for faulty products (tests) nor are there opportunities for test takers simply to raise questions about a test and to have their questions taken seriously by an impartial panel. The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the psychometric results reported by National Evaluation Systems (NES) in their 1999 Massachusetts Educator Certification Test (MECT) Technical Report, and more specifically, to identify those technical characteristics of the MECT that are inconsistent with the Standards..."
and Fair Test
http://www.fairtest.org/empl/tt.htm
Teacher Action Research offers a method for evaluation:
http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/tar.html
"Teacher action research (TAR) is an evaluation method designed to engage educational practitioners in the assessment and improvement of their own practice. It can be an individual tool, helping classroom teachers to reconsider their teaching methods or to adapt in order to solve a problem. It can also be a community activity, helping teams of educators to assess problems in schools, enact changes, and reassess. Although TAR looks different in every context, it is, in general:
-a non-traditional and community-based form of educational evaluation; -carried out by educators, not outside researchers or evaluators;
-focused on improving teaching and learning, but also social and environmental factors that affect the nature and success of teaching and learning; -formative, not summative--an on-going process of evaluation, recommendation, practice, reflection, and reevaluation; and -change-oriented, and undertaken with the assumption that change is needed in a given context..."
The Cincinatti Enquirer offers an interesting article on their public schools evaluations: http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/02/21/loc_study_links_teacher.html
"Study links teacher quality and student progress
Best teachers' students score higher on tests
By Jennifer Mrozowski The Cincinnati Enquirer
Teachers who rate highest under Cincinnati Public Schools' teacher evaluation system also show the greatest gains, on average, in their students' achievement on proficiency tests...
...The study gives a vote of confidence to the nearly 2-year-old teacher evaluation system. In May, the district could become one of the first in the nation to tie teachers' performance on the evaluation system to their raises and pay cuts.
“This study means teacher quality is a key component to determining student success and achievement,” said Sue Taylor, president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers. “It's gratifying to have empirical evidence to show the correlation between excellence in teaching and raising student achievement.”
She said it's also a validation that the evaluation system is on the right track.
The study showed, for instance, that students of teachers rated “unsatisfactory,” the lowest rating for teachers, scored as much as 13 points below what they would be expected to score on science proficiency tests, based on predicted averages. Math test scores for students of those same teachers were 9 points below expected outcomes.
For students of teachers rated “distinguished,” the highest rating for teachers, science scores were 3 points above expected averages. Math scores were also 3 points higher than predicted..."
This appeared very interesting, so I searched further to see if I could find the methodolgy of this evaluation plan:
Cincinnati Public Schools
http://www.cpsboe.k12.oh.us/general/TchngProf/TES/TEStitle.html
Teacher Evaluation System
"The new evaluation system is designed for only one purpose – to ensure a high quality teaching staff for every student and every school. Seventeen standards describing quality teaching have been identified as the foundation of the Comprehensive Evaluation. These standards articulate the skills and responsibilities integral to good teaching and thus establish clear expectations for performance and professional development in the Cincinnati Public Schools. Teachers will participate in a Comprehensive Evaluation at defined intervals.
An Annual Assessment occurs during those years the teacher is not scheduled for a Comprehensive Evaluation. During the four-year phase-in (2001-05), the annual assessment is structured to provide teachers with the opportunity to learn all of the standards.
The development of a portfolio is an essential part of the evaluation process. Each teacher is required to present a portfolio during the Comprehensive Evaluation. The portfolio contains artifacts the teacher has selected as evidence of having met the standards of good teaching. The teacher may begin working on the portfolio artifacts during the annual assessment years."
Do see all of the linked pages including Standards and Rubrics:
http://www.cpsboe.k12.oh.us/general/TchngProf/TES/StndsRubrics.htm
Education Week also comments on the Cincinnati system:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=29cincy.h21
"Study Tracks Cincinnati's New
Teacher Ratings, Test Scores
By Karla Scoon Reid
Cincinnati's first year of experience under its groundbreaking performance-pay program suggests that students of teachers who earn top marks for their instructional skills show higher achievement in the classroom.
A study conducted by the district's office of research and evaluation examines the first year of the Teacher Evaluation System, or TES. The new evaluation tool determines whether teachers advance in five career categories, based on frequent detailed evaluations, including teacher portfolios and classroom observations. ("Teacher Performance-Pay Plan Modified in Cincinnati," Sept. 19, 2001.).."
You might be interested in these pages from Western Michigan University's Evaluation Center: http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/checklists/
"Evaluation Checklists
Welcome to the Evaluation Checklists Web site!
This site provides evaluation specialists and users with refereed checklists for designing, budgeting, contracting, staffing, managing, and assessing evaluations of programs, personnel, students, and other evaluands; collecting, analyzing, and reporting evaluation information; and determining merit, worth, and significance. Each checklist is a distillation of valuable lessons learned from practice..."
http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/checklists/dutiesoftheteacher.htm
"DUTIES OF THE TEACHER
Michael Scriven
Claremont Graduate University
This checklist consists of the headings from a long analysis of this topic, consisting of the checklist plus explanatory text for each of the checkpoints (Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education,1994, vol. 8, no.2, pp.151-184). The checklist provides a good overview of the whole approach, however, and is based on a complex evaluative theory, which includes, for example, the ethical principle that one cannot evaluate teachers by looking at the teaching style they employ, except insofar as this is prescribed by the accepted duties of a teacher. They can use much or little lecturing, question asking, etc., no matter what the research shows, just so long as they successfully cause the acquisition of valuable knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the areas for which they are responsible, at a rate that is appropriate or better for comparable students, within current ethical, resource, and legal parameters. Teachers have no duty to teach using a particular style, only to teach successfully. It is weakly sequential because there are sociopolitical reasons for each item’s placement; e.g., the main reason for placing item 1 first was the perceived climate for acceptance by school boards, state and federal agencies, and parents..."
And reports and kits are available for purchase here:
http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/pubs/ecpub.htm
CREATE-Produced Materials
CREATE-funded research resulted in a large amount of information and materials. Much of this information is available through ERIC. Below are listed some of the most frequently requested materials from CREATE. (Bibliographic information follows.)
Teacher Evaluation Packet
The School Professional's Guide to Improving Teacher Evaluation Systems $ 15.00
Teacher Evaluation Glossary $ 5.00
Handbook for Developing a Teacher Performance Evaluation Manual: A Metamanual $ 10.00
Teacher Evaluation Kit on CD-ROM $ 10.00
and many others.
Other materials you might consider purchasing:
https://aaspa.securesites.com/pubs/description.phtml?II=5967
"Teacher Evaluation That Works!!
Teacher Evaluation That Works!! is a ready-to-use, hands-on guide that takes you through the most important facets of being a teacher supervisor and evaluator: the educational, legal, public relations (political), and standards and processes concepts which enable districts to develop successful professional development programs for evaluators. (E.L.P.S.) This guide gives districts the tools to systematically - and cost effectively - assess and revise their supervision and evaluation programs so they successfully address the E.L.P.S. You learn from real examples taken from actual teacher's evaluations, their evaluation documents, sample evaluations, case studies, and teachers' evaluations completed by administrators trained or supervised by the author. The focus is on proven techniques that are being used effectively in school districts today, coupled with sound theory and research."
Member Price: $31.50
List Price: $39.95
And lastly, an interesting article on New Jersey's Readington Township evaluations:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~iejll/volume5/spitz.html
"Through the Looking Glass: Teacher Evaluation Through Self-Reflection
Faith Spitz
Readington Township Board of Education
Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA
Using a nontraditional approach to supervision, teachers in Readington Township, New Jersey, reflect on teaching domains in which they need to grow. These domains contain standards for proficient teaching which include themes of high expectations, developmental appropriateness, differentiating instruction, equity, diversity, and appropriate use of technology.
The administrator serves as a coach and mentor collaborating with the teacher. This model treats teachers as professionals and has improved performance, motivation and morale. It has encouraged collegial sharing which has enriched teaching practices and school culture.
Using a differentiated process, the model offers different options for nontenured, tenured, and teachers in need of assistance.
This supervision process requires faculty members to use time beyond the school day for research and reflection. The model stresses growth and encourages teachers to take instructional risks and to raise the learning bar with no penalty for failure to achieve the mark..."
A most interesting article worth of reading.
Search Strategy:
"Teacher Evaluation" +method OR theory
I hope my research has hit the mark and provided you with interesting and valuable reading, thoughts, methods and links on teacher evaluation. If a link above should fail to work or anything require further explanation or research, please do post a Request for Clarification prior to rating the answer and closing the question and I will be pleased to assist further.
Regards,
-=clouseau=-
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