Evaluating State Principal Evaluation Plans Across the United States

Abstract

Recent federal legislation has created strong incentives for states to adopt principal evaluation systems, many of which include new measures of principal effectiveness such as estimates of student growth and changes in school climate. Yet, there has been little research on principal evaluation systems and no state-by-state analysis of the principal evaluation systems adopted at the behest of the legislation. This study uses survey data and document review to assess the components of principal evaluation systems in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Finally, based on recent research, this study critiques the various components of these new evaluation systems.