Surveying Teachers on Evaluation Procedures

“Learning organizations aren’t created by hope or exhortation alone,” say Ross Wiener (Aspen Institute) and Kasia Lundy (Parthenon Group) in their helpful 26-page report on using teacher surveys as part of the evaluation process (see link below); “this work requires infrastructure and tools.” In an Education Week article, they summarize the big ideas of the report: “Surveying teachers, and acting on the results, respects teachers’ voice, provides diagnostic information regarding principals and schools, and offers an invaluable, authentic lens into classroom implementation. Used well, teacher surveys just might save evaluation reform from itself.” 

Wiener and Lundy are pessimistic that current changes in teacher evaluation will solve the basic problem, which is that most principals don’t provide teachers with detailed feedback on their performance, and teachers have become accustomed to a perfunctory process that rarely includes criticism. Using test scores as part of teacher evaluation won’t change the basic dynamic, say Wiener and Lundy. Instead, principals need to spend much more time in classrooms, share their observations with teachers, and use the conclusions to improve professional development. Teacher surveys are an excellent way to “provide important, timely information on whether this work is happening and how it is being perceived.”

Employee surveys are routine in the corporate world, say Wiener and Lundy: “Employers act on the results because they know top talent is more likely to be attracted to and retained by workplaces that value employees’ perspective.” And some schools use high-quality surveys in meaningful ways. For example, the 34 Aspire schools in California make teacher questionnaire results part of principals’ goal-setting, and Aspire leaders close the loop each year in all-staff meetings in each school, showing how teachers’ feedback was used and sending “a powerful signal that teachers’ voice is important.” 

From Wiener and Lundy’s full study, here are some suggested action steps to implement teacher surveys:

• Engage key stakeholders up front.
• Decide what you want to know and what you can act on.
• Make high-quality questions part of existing staff surveys.
• Share results and intended actions with key stakeholders.
• Report results at the school level and take action to address issues identified by stakeholders.
• Ask about effectiveness of solutions over time.
• Preserve anonymity to guarantee honesty.

And here are some suggested teacher survey questions:

• How many times this year (or semester, if conducting the survey twice a year) have you been observed formally (i.e., announced, full-lesson) and informally (i.e., shorter unannounced visits)?
• Who conducted these observations?
• How many different observers conducted formal and informal observations this year?
• On average, how long after your observation did you receive feedback (verbal or written)?
• Have you had an end-of-year conversation with your primary evaluator?
• To what extent do you agree with the following statements?

• The person who evaluated my performance evaluated me fairly and accurately.
• The person who evaluated my performance knew what my goals were for my students.
• The person who evaluated my performance knew how much growth and progress my students made this year.
• The end-of-year conversation provided good formative feedback to help me improve.

• Do you have a professional growth/development plan that you developed with your evaluator and that guides your work?
• If yes, is your professional development plan a “living” document that is updated throughout the year and incorporates observation feedback?
• To what extent do you agree with the following statements:

• My observer(s) understand my content area well enough to assess my performance accurately.
• My observer(s) have been fair and objective.
• Post-observation feedback identified areas of strength in my performance. 
• Post-observation feedback identified areas of expected growth/areas in which I am expected to improve. 

• To what extent do you agree with the following statements:

• Specific resources were provided to help me learn and grow in the areas identified in my observation feedback.
• The professional development and training I received throughout the year (or semester, depending on the frequency of the survey) was tailored to my specific needs/development areas.

• To what extent do you agree with the following statements:

• I know the criteria that are used to evaluate my performance as a teacher.
• Overall, the annual observation and feedback cycle has helped me improve my teaching practice and become a better teacher.

• Do you receive student-achievement growth results or student survey results in a timely manner (i.e., before your year-end evaluation)?
• If student growth data are prepared after the year-end evaluation deadline, do you receive them before the next school year begins?
• Were specific resources provided (at the school or district level) to help you interpret the student growth (or student survey) data and to help you make relevant adjustments to your practice?
• What was the most helpful activity you participated in this year or support you received that helped address your areas of growth or think about instruction differently? This could include school-based coaching, peer coaching, a specific PD event, etc. 
• What could improve the evaluation system?

“Want to Build a Better Teacher Evaluation? Ask a Teacher” by Ross Wiener and Kasia Lundy in Education Week, May 8, 2013 (Vol. 32, #30, p. 26-27), www.edweek.org; the authors’ full study, “Evaluating Evaluations: Using Teacher Surveys to Strengthen Implementation,” is available at http://bit.ly/12J9Sjh. 

From the Marshall Memo #485