The author highlights increasing district efforts to provide greater on-the-ground supports to help principals succeed as instructional leaders amid the many challenges of their job. The article looks in particular at district mentorship and supervision programs for principals that, according to initial studies and principal experiences, have…

At a Monday evening monthly meeting of school administrators, discussion ensued about how to improve the administrators' schools. Ideas such as increasing student achievement, energizing teachers, and engaging parents were offered. One principal suggested focus should be turned to the students' restrooms, "because lots of problems emerge…

Co-­teaching is the newest initiative to be implemented in school districts. Students with special needs can no longer be simply physically "included" in general education classes. These students need and deserve authentic opportunities to access and participate in the curriculum. To accomplish this goal, co-­teaching has been embraced.…

Peer review of teachers is controversial for several reasons. Some say peer reviewers encroach on the rightful domain of the principal as instructional leader. Others argue that, because peer evaluators are fellow teachers, they may be biased or unwilling to make hard decisions. Many teachers find the prospect of peer evaluation unsettling because…

Like high-stakes student assessment, high-stakes teacher evaluation threatens to be an occasional event that is disconnected from day-to-day teaching and learning, producing results that do not help teachers improve their performance and placing teachers in a passive role as recipients of external judgment. For several years, the authors have…

Classroom observation is a crucial aspect of any system of teacher evaluation. No matter how skilled a teacher is in other aspects of teaching--such as careful planning, working well with colleagues, and communicating with parents--if classroom practice is deficient, that individual cannot be considered a good teacher. Classroom observations can…

As many states and districts rethink teacher supervision and evaluation, the team at the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) Project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has analyzed thousands of lesson videotapes and studied the shortcomings of current practices. The tentative conclusion: Teachers should be evaluated on three…

Even the most effective teachers have room to grow, but it's not always easy for principals to give adequate guidance through short observations. High school principal Jenne Colasacco decided to bring more depth to her observations by observing each of her teachers during one class for an entire week. The new observation structure, which included…

Traditional systems of teacher evaluation are often ineffective because they rely on outmoded evaluative criteria, usually in the form of checklists; simplistic assessments, such as "needs improvement"; procedures that fail to differentiate between new and veteran teachers' experience and expertise; lack of consistency among evaluators;…

Michelle is a first-year English teacher at Vailsburg Middle School, a public school in Newark, New Jersey. Michelle is dedicated, caring, energetic, and insightful. This year, the author had the chance to watch Michelle and her principal, Serena Savarirayan, meet for their weekly debriefing of Michelle's teaching. Serena began by praising…

Article discusses advantages to supervisors operating on an authority based on competence and plan. (GB)

Elementary school teachers and their supervisors were surveyed to determine their perceptions of supervisory tasks. (GW)

Lists some reasons why supervisors are often among the first personnel to be cut in a budget crunch, then lists six abilities essential for the survival of supervisors in education's changing climate. (JM)

Businesses are finding that positive reinforcement is a useful tool in management and supervision. However, there are few reports of the systematic use of positive reinforcement by educational administrators and supervisors. (Author/MLF)

Summarizes the "Theory Z" characteristics of supervisors whereby they serve as coordinators rather than as buffers or information blocks. (MLF)