Citation/Abstract

This study was conducted within a large urban high school in the northeastern United States. This school resides in a district that utilizes a standards-based system of teacher evaluation. The purpose of the study was to determine teachers' perspectives on the effectiveness of standards-based teacher evaluation systems as a means of improving instruction and student achievement. The question for research, "What are teacher perceptions of evaluation in an urban high school that uses a standards-based evaluation system?" served as the framework for development and implementation of this study and for interpretation of the study findings. The body of related literature provided the theoretical rationale for the data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Major sections of the literature review included: a historical perspective on performance standards and of teacher evaluation from the mid-nineteenth through the early twenty-first centuries; an examination of contemporary teacher evaluation systems; a review of recent theoretical and empirical research concerning best evaluation practices; and a review of the research regarding teachers' perceptions of supervision and evaluation. Data were gathered from thirty participants through a thirty-one question Likert-based attitude scale. Key findings included teachers' perceptions that: they were not familiar with the teaching performance standards used in their district; they did not believe that their evaluations were rooted solely in the these standards; they believed their evaluation conferences with supervisors helped then to improve their practice; their evaluations were not tied to annual goals or individual and school professional development plans; supervisors did not use multiple sources of data as a part of teacher evaluation; supervisors do not spend enough time in classrooms to carry out expectations for effective evaluation; and that peer observation aided teachers in improving their practice. While current research asserts that standards-based teacher evaluation systems coupled with an array of activities that foster teacher ownership for the process can be used as a powerful vehicle for improving student achievement, study findings were inconclusive regarding any perceived association between standards-based performance evaluation structures and practices and the improvement of student achievement.