Promoting Teacher Effectiveness and Professional Learning
We invite you to join the discussion on a Framework for Teaching.
Through this community we seek to help our members advance their understanding and application of Charlotte Danielson's concepts in the educational community.
In this Educational Leadership article, differentiation guru Carol Ann Tomlinson describes her “dream evaluator” – an administrator who would push everyone toward excellence by:
• Communicating a vision of the potential power of teaching – “It’s easier to muster the courage to change when that change is in service of labor that seems meaningful and important,” says Tomlinson.
• Mentoring – This requires knowing a lot about each teacher, knowing the content area, and caring.
• Visiting classrooms frequently – This is essential to having a multidimensional sense of what teachers are doing and how they’re doing.
• Communicating feedback clearly and respectfully – Compliments on strengths and progress are an important component of feedback.
• Pointing out areas for growth – All teachers need a specific, descriptive roadmap of next steps on where and how to become more effective.
• Being timely – Prompt feedback reduces anxiety and is important to fixing problems before the summative evaluation.
• Listening and building autonomy – “My ideal evaluator would help me construct my own options for how I might use feedback to move forward as a professional, rather than dictate next steps,” says Tomlinson. “At the same time, he or she would provide concrete support for my continuing growth. I’m not always my own best teacher; like all workers, I need structures, guidance, and coaching that are appropriate to my development.”
“The Evaluation of My Dreams” by Carol Ann Tomlinson in Educational Leadership, November 2012 (Vol. 70, #3, p. 88-89), www.ascd.org; Tomlinson can be reached at
The Danielson Learning Community
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Promoting Teacher Effectiveness and Professional Learning
We invite you to join the discussion on a Framework for Teaching.
Through this community we seek to help our members advance their understanding and application of Charlotte Danielson's concepts in the educational community.
Carol Ann Tomlinson on What Evaluation Should Be
by Michael Keany
Nov 24, 2012
Carol Ann Tomlinson on What Evaluation Should Be
(Originally titled “The Evaluation of My Dreams”)
In this Educational Leadership article, differentiation guru Carol Ann Tomlinson describes her “dream evaluator” – an administrator who would push everyone toward excellence by:
• Communicating a vision of the potential power of teaching – “It’s easier to muster the courage to change when that change is in service of labor that seems meaningful and important,” says Tomlinson.
• Mentoring – This requires knowing a lot about each teacher, knowing the content area, and caring.
• Visiting classrooms frequently – This is essential to having a multidimensional sense of what teachers are doing and how they’re doing.
• Communicating feedback clearly and respectfully – Compliments on strengths and progress are an important component of feedback.
• Pointing out areas for growth – All teachers need a specific, descriptive roadmap of next steps on where and how to become more effective.
• Being timely – Prompt feedback reduces anxiety and is important to fixing problems before the summative evaluation.
• Listening and building autonomy – “My ideal evaluator would help me construct my own options for how I might use feedback to move forward as a professional, rather than dictate next steps,” says Tomlinson. “At the same time, he or she would provide concrete support for my continuing growth. I’m not always my own best teacher; like all workers, I need structures, guidance, and coaching that are appropriate to my development.”
“The Evaluation of My Dreams” by Carol Ann Tomlinson in Educational Leadership, November 2012 (Vol. 70, #3, p. 88-89), www.ascd.org; Tomlinson can be reached at
cat3y@virginia.edu.
From the Marshall Memo #460