This quantitative study examined perceptions of K-12 public school principals toward the Tennessee teacher tenure law under Senate Bill 1528 and how principals perceived that the law has affected their ability to evaluate and retain effective teachers. The Tennessee Teacher Tenure Principal Perception Survey was adopted and slightly modified from…

Teacher perceptions after 5 years of implementing evaluation protocols that were initiated under Race to the Top revealed attitudes about the evaluation instrument used and the nature of their relationship with the evaluator. This study surveyed middle and high school teachers in nine Eastern Tennessee school districts. Data indicated unintended…

The Collaborative Project (CP) began as a pilot project in five North Carolina school districts in 2007 featuring a performance incentive initiative for teachers and administrators. The objective of this study was to document principals' perceptions of the performance incentive initiative to determine challenges encountered during implementation.…

Prior research on Troops to Teachers (TTT) affirms that TTTs are effective instructors likely to work in high-poverty, high-minority schools, teach high-demand subjects, use research-based instructional and classroom management practices linked with student achievement, and plan to stay in the profession. A nonexperimental, mixed method design…

This study explored Wyoming school leaders' perceptions about the traits of incompetent teachers, strategies used to work with incompetent teachers, and the barriers to their dismissal. Most importantly, this study differentiated how principals and superintendents viewed incompetency issues. Some major findings include school leaders' beliefs that…

The demands placed on principals in the era of No Child Left Behind are rapidly increasing. In light of these challenges, balancing diverse roles and additional responsibilities can be arduous for even the finest school leaders. The use of portfolio-based teacher appraisals has emerged as an intriguing option to make the time required for teacher…

For principals to help teachers improve the quality of their instructions, this author suggests that judgmental attitudes must be completely eradicated. In the place of evaluation, non-directive supervisory conferencing is suggested. This article describes the technique. (Editor)

Author discusses the necessity and the methods of evaluating teachers, and points out damaging political results when evaluation is neglected. (GB)

By adopting the attitude that teacher evaluations should serve primarily to help the teacher improve and only secondarily to determine whether teacher contracts should be renewed, principals can establish a collegial atmosphere that makes the evaluation process less threatening and more effective. (PGD)

Presents guidelines for teacher observation and evaluation. (Author/MLF)

Describes the Evaluating Your Faculty Evaluation instrument, a device to help principals clarify their role in the teacher evaluation process and to identify areas needing improvement. To improve instructional leadership skills, principals should involve faculty in criteria development, attend seminars, and constantly examine their own personal…

Offers a supervision plan designed to help identify teaching deficiencies, assist in planning and managing improvement, and create situations promoting dialogue beween principals and teachers. The plan involves yearly goal setting, pre- and postobservation conferences, and an informal observation process. (MLH)

A comprehensive written documentation system for teacher evaluation usually includes classroom observations, assessment documents, principal's log, specific incident reports, and summary memoranda. Principals should be specific, involve others, be timely, treat all employees alike, state facts and conclusions, and use negative language where…

The principal should lead in instructional improvement and have a good understanding of the principles and practices of classroom management and a good classroom management system. Discusses instructional supervision and assessing teacher performance. (MD)

Suggests ways for ensuring that teacher evaluation methods used by principals when dismissing teachers will stand up to the challenges posed by hearings: Did the principal try to help the teacher improve? Were evaluation criteria relevant? Was the decision to terminate arbitrary or capricious? Was the evaluation process confidential? (PGD)