In
psychology, the term, gestalt, traditionally signifies that the sum or whole
are greater than the individual parts. In teacher evaluation, H.E.A.T. is
the gestalt of the entire Danielson Teacher Evaluation process. The acronym, H.E.A.T.
(Higher order thinking, Engaged learning, Authentic connections, Technology
use) is embedded throughout the four domains of the Danielson Model addressing all of the categories in Domain 1: Planning
and Preparation, Domain 2: Classroom Environment, and Domain 3: Instruction.
You
may ask, “So what?” Well, for one reason: simplicity. Using H.E.A.T.
makes it relatively easy to track teacher progress in the classroom using the
standardized H.E.A.T. Framework and a mobile device. By collecting individual
or campus aggregate H.E.A.T. walkthrough data to organize meaningful and
authentic professional development interventions, the process of improving instructional practices becomes both targeted and achievable.
Since many of the Danielson categories are integrated with one another, attempting
to build individualized professional development interventions by telling
teachers that they need to work on isolated categories such as, Domain 1: Category 1D, Domain 2: Category 2A, or Domain 3: Category 3C is akin to mixing paint colors at a local Home Depot, not improving
classroom instructional practices. H.E.A.T. provides the needed thread to tie together the entire teacher evaluation process.
Ultimately,
what improves professional practice in the classroom is not a formal
observation form that is completed two or three times a year, but the ongoing
dialogue between campus leaders and teachers using common vocabulary in a
non-threatening, collaborative coaching environment. Turning up the H.E.A.T. is
not a buzzword, but an empirically-validated lens to view the impact of best practices research on
student learning in the classroom.
