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Rethinking Teacher Supervision and EvaluationErik Ellefsen – Kim Marshall – November 4, 2013

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Research findings• Occasionally an individual teacher can transform

students’ lives.

• But the more powerful effect is when students get effective teaching from class to class, year to year.

• Especially students with any kind of disadvantage.

• However, the quality of teaching varies widely within the each school.

• With ineffective teaching, we get the “Matthew Effect.”

• School leaders’ job is orchestrating effectiveness.

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44

79

96

0

20

40

60

80

100

Test Scores by

Percentile

Students with 3 Least EffectiveTeachers

Students with 3 AverageEffective Teachers

Students with 3 Most EffectiveTeachers

FIFTH GRADE MATH SCORES ON TENNESSEE STATEWIDE TEST

BASED ON TEACHER SEQUENCE IN GRADES 3, 4, 5(Second Grade Scores Equalized)

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The key toimproved student learning

is to ensure more good teaching in more classrooms

more of the time.

DuFour and Mattos, 2013

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A game changer: the 4-point scale

4 –

3 –

2 –

1 –

• Differentiates four levels of performance• Level 3 is solid, expected professional performance• The goal – all teachers performing at Level 3 and 4• Identify master teachers, use their magic, hold onto

them!• Intervene with mediocre and ineffective teaching

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We’ve been using the wrong model!• Extremely time-consuming:

– Pre-observation conference – 30 minutes

– Full-lesson observation – 45 minutes

– Write-up – 120 minutes or more

– Post-observation conference – 30 minutes

• No evidence it improves teaching and learning.

• “Takes me out of the game for four hours!”

• In other words, it’s not a good use of a leader’s time.

• And it’s a recipe for mediocrity.15

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Behind some classroom doors…• Teacher texting or e-mailing during class• Going over homework for the first 25 minutes• Round-robin reading• Teacher lecturing, many students tuned out, heads down• Teacher teaching while side conversations go on• COPWAKTA syndrome• Teacher calls on those who respond most quickly• Worksheets with low-level, one-word answers• Teacher showing a entertaining movie• Finishing a class early, students have “free time”• With all of these, the “Matthew Effect”

Nothing undermines the motivation of

hard-working teachers more than

poor performance in other teachers

being ignored over long periods of time.

Not only do poor-performing teachers

negatively affect the students in their classes,

but they also have a spillover effect by

poisoning the overall climate of the school.Michael Fullan, 2003

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Supervision and evaluation: the goal1. Quality assurance – Honestly telling the public

that every child is taught well in every classroom based on an accurate evaluation of every teacher

2. Praise and improvement – Affirming effective teaching and coaching less-than-effective teaching

3. Motivation – Giving teachers one more reason to bring their ‘A’ game every day

4. Personnel decisions – Making fair judgments for retention, tenure, awards, merit pay, dismissal

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The dog-and-pony show stories; why?• We tidy up the house when company is coming.

• “I want to see her at her best, what she’s capable of.”

• “I can see right through the dog-and-pony show.”

• “If he can’t teach well when he knows I’m coming…”

• Union contracts, based on mistrust

• Makes the principal feel good; power trip

• A way to avoid difficult conversations

• Additional work when we confront mediocre teaching

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So using the traditional model,teacher evaluation is…

• Inaccurate – not a true appraisal of teaching

• Ineffective – rarely improves sub-par teaching

• Dishonest – can’t give quality assurance to the public

• A major blind spot for researchers

• We need to LET IT GO and find a better approach!

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How to evaluate 900 lessons?

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The consistent

use of effective teaching

practices over time is what

closes the gap