Checklist for Teacher Progress Monitoring
Monitoring teacher progress is integral to the maintenance of a successful school atmosphere. Working with teachers to ensure progress promotes good teaching strategies and encourages collaboration with colleagues, both of which serve to benefit students. A variety of opinions persist, however, on exactly how to monitor teacher progress. Current standards use student performance as the primary assessment, but evaluation methods also include in-class observations, peer reviews and consideration of professional development plans.
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Student Performance
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Student performance is the typical basis for measuring and monitoring teachers. Using this method, high scores reflect positive teacher progress, while low scores show little or no progress. Critics of this argument claim you cannot fully understand teacher progress solely based on student performance, because it does not take into account other factors, such as class size, environment and students' test-taking abilities. Consider these factors along with student performance for proper progress evaluation.
Classroom Observation
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Observing teachers provides feedback on critical details, such as class size, student-teacher relationships and general teacher effectiveness in the classroom. Using a rubric to evaluate teachers in the classroom is a consistent means of monitoring teacher progress. Incorporate evaluations on curriculum planning, student interaction, ability to express material and classroom atmosphere within the rubric. Ask administrators, principals, community members or students to complete this rubric through observations.
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Collaboration and Peer Reviews
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Working with colleagues creates a learning environment for teachers to share and develop new ideas to use in the classroom. Successful collaboration produces methods that come from a culmination of experiences. It's important for teachers to work with one another in a professional manner. Arrange for peer reviews for teachers to evaluate one another. Rely on a combination of formal and informal reviews to offer productive feedback.
Professional Development Plans
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Continuing education shows dedication to progress in the education field. Advancing a professional development plan encourages teachers to expand their vision and goals of teaching to benefit students. Establishing a plan for continuing education prompts action. Create a timeline and standards for teachers to adhere to in continuing education to achieve short- and long-term goals. Assess these plans for adherence to standards and timely implementation.
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References
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