Teacher evaluation has emerged as a major focus for reform at the highest levels of education policymaking, and for good reason. Most evaluations are based on scant evidence of actual effectiveness, produce inflated ratings, and provide teachers with little useful feedback. This paper offers policymakers and practitioners important "lessons…

The only valid reason for supervising and evaluating teachers is to improve instruction. Boards of education can improve teaching and learning in schools by setting up a teacher evaluation system, letting administrators do their jobs, and giving backup with funding. (MLF)

In Toledo, Ohio, teacher union and school system leaders have collaborated on a controversial, but apparently effective, plan to purge the staff of incompetent teachers. It combines rigorous evaluation, training for new teachers, remediation for veteran teachers, and peer review by a corps of highly skilled consulting teachers. (TE)

Describes a 1984 report from the Rand Corporation that studied teacher evaluation practices. Problems revealed include lack of resolve and competence in principals, resistance or apathy of teachers, inconsistent evaluation practices between schools, and inadequate training for evaluators. (TE)

In examining the dynamics of change processes in high schools, this study makes initial interpretations about school officials who serve as change facilitators. The researchers found that a trend exists for the source of change to come from outside the high school. Principals, assistant principals, and department heads as well as central office…

Designed to help school administrators and board members promote instructional excellence, this publication reports survey results involving over 35 school districts in Northern California, Utah, and Nevada engaged in instructional improvement efforts. Specifically, the report describes alternative strategies used to organize and manage three…

An Indiana district's teacher evaluation plan developed cooperatively by teachers and administrators is described and its implementation outlined. Based on the shared responsibility of teacher and supervisor, the plan is intended to provide a positive approach to stimulating self-growth, instructional effectiveness, and overall improvement in…

Paraprofessionals in education have become specialists, who are more accurately described as paraeducators. Paraeducators work alongside their professional colleagues and participate in the delivery of instruction and related services. This pamphlet provides information about strategies that can improve the deployment, supervision, and training of…

This chapter examines the legal issues involved in state evaluation statutes as interpreted by the judiciary. The nature and purpose of state statutes governing evaluation are described, followed by a discussion of how these statutes relate to tenure laws, administrative regulations, board policy, and collective bargaining agreements. Next,…

A study was conducted to develop a model to strengthen the linkages between appropriate Ohio universities and the Ohio Department of Education, State Division of Vocational and Career Education (SDVE). Alternative delivery patterns were reviewed, and appropriate vocational education-university linkage factors were identified. Next, three workable…