Before beginning a teacher-dismissal process, principals must check the district's political climate and tenure rules, and assess teacher performance using appropriate evaluation instruments. To facilitate dismissals, principals should communicate with legislators, unions, and professional organizations; work with districts to improve teacher…

Administrators' classroom observations should be supplemented by more thorough evaluation techniques. This article describes a simple device for measuring teachers' progress toward completing instructional goals based on electronically submitted lesson plans. Repeated low "turn" rates may signify the need for extra classroom resources or problems…

Some districts consider traditional teacher evaluation systems ineffective. Mentor teachers in Columbus, Ohio, pinpoint colleagues' weaknesses, sometimes recommending their dismissal. In Rochester, New York, parents rate their children's teachers. In Anchorage, Alaska, both students and parents are involved in evaluating teachers. The nation's…

Observing administrators should watch and listen to both teachers and students, noting use of the target language by both groups, prevalence of student-centered activities, instructional strategies that encourage language learning and accommodate varied learning styles, well-integrated lesson plans, and presence of a comfortable classroom climate.…

Problems with J. Frymier's conception of accountability are discussed, and recent evidence is summarized that shows the strong connection between school and teacher effectiveness measurements and student achievement. Policy issues and cautions in using teacher effectiveness measures in teacher accountability systems are considered. (SLD)

Presents an evaluation of a distance education course for elementary and middle school teachers at Indiana University that used dynamic quad technology so audio and video could be seen and heard at four separate sites. Evaluates how instructors used the technology and offers instructional design guidelines. (Author/LRW)

Students in part-time courses were interviewed about their perceptions of good teaching and tutoring. The perceptions differed markedly between those with reproductive conceptions of learning and students holding self-determining ones. The former preferred didactic teaching but disliked interaction, whereas the latter had almost diametrically…

simple wedge with its tip made of durable, clear, and appropriate teaching standards forged in the furnace of science and theory widens to bring the materials and processes of art and practice to bear on the work of strengthening and renewing all of teaching by applying the national board's standards and assessment processes. With this model,…

This study represents an initial effort to determine the content of induction programs to improve beginning teachers' instructional performance. The study investigated the perception of beginning teachers' instructional performance problems and explored its relationships with demographic characteristics such as years of teaching experience and…

The prospect of overseeing the rapid preparation of many participants in fast-track alternative certification programs presents several challenges for state education officials who seek to maintain, or even enhance, the quality of the state's teaching force. This study examined a range of fast-track alternative teacher certification programs in 11…

A research team consisting of doctoral students and their faculty advisor investigated the differences in perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes between school principals and teachers in a United States suburban Midwest school district using a qualitative embedded case study research design. Researchers interviewed all building principals; they…

This study used a multistage mixed-methods analysis to assess the content-related validity (i.e., item validity, sampling validity) and construct-related validity (i.e., substantive validity, structural validity, outcome validity, generalizability) of a teaching evaluation form (TEF) by examining students' perceptions of characteristics of…

Forms used for evaluating teachers from every geographic area to the United States were examined to determine common characteristics. Thirty of 75 forms received from school districts (local educational agencies) were analyzed. A synthesis of evaluation schemes across the country includes certain characteristics: (1) each teacher must have a…

This paper recounts the modification of a specific communication context, teacher evaluation, to produce improved instruction and better teacher-supervisor relationships. Dissatisfied with a checklist-based evaluation system considered moribund by many, a committee of teachers, administrators, and educational professionals at Anchorage (Alaska)…

Teacher quality can be improved through teacher evaluation, intervention programs, incentives or rewards, and counseling. In the Toledo, Ohio, peer evaluation program, evaluation and staff development go hand in hand. The program was developed through a collaborative and cooperative process and uses teacher consultants to evaluate and supervise…