The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) has challenged test developers to create a voluntary program of certification in which highly accomplished teachers receive recognition for meeting rigorous standards. These four papers report the experiences of teacher-candidates, school district administrators, researchers, and test…

Videotaping, lesson plans, lesson evaluations, structured interviews of students and their supervisors, and pupil and student questionnaires were used to evaluate a three-year student teaching course. (Available in microfiche from: Carfax Publishing Company, Haddon House, Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxford 0X9 8JZ, England.) (CP)

A qualitative evaluation of the system for appraisal of headteachers in the United Kingdom identifies strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken and directions for future policy development. Data came from interviews with 15 headteachers. Inadequate resources, appraisal criteria, and performance standards hamper the evaluation system. (SLD)

Discusses problems in the understanding and practice of teacher supervision, particularly resistance to evaluation, in South Africa's historically black schools. These include the judgmental nature of conventional evaluation procedures, lack of acknowledgment of teacher concerns and aspirations, lack of supervisor training, and tendency to…

The development of teacher evaluation systems that promote professional growth is discussed, based on studies in South Kitsap, North Haven, and Levittown of adult development and teacher evaluation and the professional experiences of D. L. Duke. "Decoupling" accountability from professional growth provides the best means of forwarding…

This article discusses a pilot project at the Department of Special Education at West Virginia University of peer teachers' supervision of practicing, uncertified teachers in on-the-job experiences, describes components of training sessions to develop supervising teachers' skills in observing performance, providing feedback, and evaluating…

The article examines issues of concern to the introduction of required teacher appraisals in British special schools. A survey of 32 headteachers in special schools suggests some guidelines for an effective and fair system, including integrating appraisal with staff development, encouraging self evaluation, and improving inservice education. (DB)

Since 1986, teacher training colleges in Scotland have reported the professional competence of newly qualified teachers to potential employers. Analysis of 1,222 such reports and interviews with 12 employers (local education authorities) reveal a lack of standardized evaluation across colleges and employer preoccupation with teachers' personal…

It is argued that establishing assessment criteria in teacher evaluation is not synonymous with demonstrating content validity. Validity and standards-related issues in developing teacher performance assessment criteria are discussed, with reference to the Praxis Series of professional assessments for beginning teachers. (SLD)

Ways and means of evaluating a teaching program, as distinct from making assessments or measurements of student achievement, are suggested. Achieving a structured, integrated, but holistic evaluation of the performance of teachers and classes throughout the year should be a goal. Emphasis is on teacher evaluation in Australia. (SLD)

The context and development of the assessment center exercises used in the field of secondary history and social studies under Connecticut's Teacher Assessment Center Program are reviewed. Preliminary findings suggest success in designing an assessment that combines the knowledge from formal instruction with the skills gained through classroom…

The power of an adult developmental perspective for educators is discussed and its relevance to teacher evaluation explored. The conversation among four Florida school districts about teacher evaluation, professional development, and school improvement shows their interest in methods to allow adults to participate in shaping their own professional…

Seeks to identify and reach consensus on criteria that can be used to assess and evaluate faculty sabbaticals. Using a sample of senior academic affairs administrators, 16 assessment criteria were identified, with recommendations made for further research and current practice. The measures included: increased scholarly output, new research…

Reviews the effect of class size, grades given, and college and national academic field rankings on student opinion of instruction. Finds no significant correlations between the three input variables and student opinion of instruction. These results leave teacher effectiveness as the most likely variable to explain student ratings. (Contains 13…

In a high-quality professional development system, goals are student-centered, focused on learning, and incorporated into teachers' daily routine. School boards can foster this model by ensuring that professional development is aligned with student learning needs and district improvement plans and by providing sufficient resources. (MLH)