Argues that the use of teaching portfolios can improve college faculty teaching skills and provide evaluators with useful information in promotion/tenure decisions. Suggestions are offered for portfolio content, portfolio design, and ways to create an institutional climate of acceptance. (DB)

Growth contracts, described as faculty plans for personal and professional growth proposed by each member of the faculty, are examined. The rationale for growth contracts is explained and a list of some institutions using growth contracts or variations of the concept is provided. Growth contract advantages, the role of the evaluation committee or…

In the past, faculty evaluation programs have been more often prone to failure than success. Characteristics of a successful program include: (1) deciding the system's purpose; (2) seeking solid administrative support; (3) securing faculty involvement; (4) overcoming faculty resistance; (5) selecting the evaluation instruments; and (6) obtaining…

A guide to understanding and improving faculty evaluation procedures at all types of colleges and universities is presented. The causes of today's crisis in higher education and survival strategies are reviewed, and the search for solvency is related to major changes in assessing faculty performance. The proliferation of court challenges to…

Questions raised frequently by college and university faculty about use of portfolios to document effective teaching are answered. The questions address such issues as how the portfolio is organized, what it should reflect, how and by whom it is used, preparation time, the mentor's role, reliability, subjectivity, maintaining the portfolio's…

This book examines the teaching portfolio approach to evaluating classroom performance of college instructors. It identifies key issues, warnings, and benchmarks for success. It differentiates between portfolios for personnel decisions and portfolios for teaching improvement. It describes how 10 different institutions use portfolios. It lists 30…

Much has occurred in higher education to lead to expectation for change in the process of evaluation. The academic deans of all accredited private liberal arts colleges were asked to report on the procedures used in rating both overall and teaching performance, with 83.5 percent replying. Purposes of the questionnaire were to: (1) determine the…

This book offers information on fostering effective use of teaching portfolios by college faculty. The first chapter, "The Teaching Portfolio Concept" (Peter Seldin), discusses how the teaching portfolio concept differs from other evaluation approaches, what is and is not included in a portfolio, and why the content depends on the purpose of the…

Significant changes that have occurred in the evaluation of overall faculty performance and classroom teaching performance between 1983 and 1988 are discussed from the viewpoint of a 1988 study that surveyed all accredited, four-year undergraduate, liberal arts colleges listed in the "Higher Education Directory". For years, faculty evaluation has…

A growing movement to improve the quality of teaching has been called "faculty development." It is based on three assumptions: the primary professional activity of most faculty is teaching; instructional behaviors are learned skills, attitudes, and goals; and faculty can be taught how to improve their classroom performance. Interest in faculty…

This book examines the teaching portfolio approach to evaluating classroom performance of college instructors. It notes that an estimated 1,000 colleges and universities in the United States are now using or experimenting with portfolios, and that this approach, called a "teaching dossier" has been in use in Canada for 20 years. Key…

Four aspects of faculty self-evaluation are discussed: its relationship to student ratings and teacher characteristics; its use for personnel decisions and improving performance; sample self-evaluation forms and their proper use; and faculty growth contracts. (MSE)

Commonly asked questions about methods of faculty evaluation (including student, peer, and self-evaluation) are answered, and guidelines for improving a failing evaluation system are discussed. (MSE)

Seven separate areas of faculty evaluation are discussed: student, colleague and self-assessment, student learning, student advising, institutional service, and research and publication. Designed for use by faculty and administrators, this book is intended to serve as a practical resource in developing and upgrading programs for evaluation. Each…

A decade of interest in the evaluation of college teaching has produced both a wide variety of approaches and a concise set of practical guidelines for assisting college teachers in improving instruction. (Authors/MSE)