Making a Shift in Teacher Evaluation

Abstract

The educator evaluation process can be a compliance task as well as an arduous process causing stress and anxiety for educators and their evaluators. The evaluation process in this suburban district is changing. Educators and evaluators are working together to create a new knowledge base and share it amongst their school community and others. Educators are being allowed voice and choice when determining how they will be evaluated and the areas in which they are going to focus their own personal growth. Teachers are becoming school-based experts on the topics that they are learning and researching. This has allowed for not only trust and genuine mutual respect to grow but also innovative practices to be fostered within the school community. Educator evaluation is changing, and it is becoming a tool that is offering our educators and schools new opportunities for self-reflection and growth.