19 Jun 100-word response 1 reference Ray

100-word response 1 reference

Ray

 I believe the person who help teachers improve instruction should evaluate their performance, because teacher quality has a significant effect on educational outcomes. Teacher evaluation has become a way to ensure that educators are meeting state or district standards of education and student attainment. It is important to evaluate teachers and to let them what area they need improve in to better provide services to their students. To start, according to James (2021), “Evaluation is at its core a kind of judgment or assessment of something, whether it is a behavior, process, or even something like a law or policy. Evaluations are based on key categories related to questions that evaluators want answered” (p. 89).

     The results of these evaluative processes are meant to inform future decisions.  The main purpose of teacher evaluations is to enhance teachers’ pedagogical skills with the goal of improving student achievement (James. 2021). Teacher evaluations are not necessarily meant to serve a punitive function, but they can often feel that way to both educators and administrators. Given the very personal nature of the practice of teaching, many instructors feel like critical evaluation is a slight against them as a person, which means that evaluations can be a major cause of stress in their job.

     Primary to an effective formulation of teacher evaluation standards is to focus on providing necessary critical feedback.  Overall, it is important that school leaders understand the purpose of teacher evaluations, so they can better understand how to integrate them into practice. Evaluations should be understood with the purpose of comprehensive coordinated approaches to improving teacher quality and student outcomes. School leaders also need to focus on the “collaborative nature of the teaching practice and stress the importance of building these kinds of relationships between colleagues and teachers/administrators” (James, 2021, p.95).