The
goal of implementing any comprehensive teacher evaluation program is to improve
teacher effectiveness. In theory, the structure is already in place nationwide.
Administrators conduct a series of formal announced/unannounced observations (the
exact number depending on tenured status), provide feedback via
post-conferencing sessions, and combine the observation score with some form of
student growth, and/or statewide assessment score to produce a final rating.
Does
such a process guarantee improved teacher effectiveness? The jury is still out;
however, early returns suggest that what occurs during formal observations does
not necessarily align with the day-to-day cycle in most K-12 classrooms.
Bringing your “A” game daily to the classroom is an immense challenge given the
amount of BTU’s consumed in preparation and delivery of quality instruction.
Just ask professional athletes who are expected to perform at their highest
level daily or weekly and are ridiculed by fans for “taking a night off” based
on the game’s outcome.
From a
professional development perspective, creating a professional development plan
based on two or three formal “beauty contest” observations does not reveal the
greatest instructional needs for the other 177 instructional days. Moving the
proverbial pendulum from “evaluation” to “effectiveness” requires that targeted
recommendations to elevate teacher effectiveness occur during one’s daily
rhythm of instruction.
Placing
a renewed emphasis on classroom walkthroughs can accomplish this feat. Completing
frequent 5 to 7 minute H.E.A.T. (Higher order thinking, Engaged learning,
Authentic connections, Technology use) Walkthroughs can provide leaders with
both the empirical support and practicality to establish ongoing professional
development that is targeted and
specific to each staff member’s greatest instructional needs and concerns.
At
LoTi, we have created a Danielson Crosswalk for the H.E.A.T. Walkthrough instrument
that auto-populates Domains 1-3 of the Danielson Framework for Teaching to
provide teachers with a snapshot of their actual Danielson ratings based on the
daily pulse of their classroom interactions. Only
through frequent feedback using common vocabulary in a non-evaluative setting
can change happen leading to improved teacher effectiveness and
elevated levels of academic growth in the classroom.
