Presents a case study in supervising and evaluating a new teacher in which the principal verbalized the teacher's assumptions about her performance and about the teaching profession as a whole, in addition to giving hard observational data. (WD)

Expresses, from a principal's viewpoint, the dramatic transformation of his role and principal-staff relations in Fairfax County Schools (Virginia). The system's schools are now more professionally managed, thanks to a new Teacher Performance Evaluation Plan that has revamped training, evaluation ratings, teacher rewards, and principals'…

Effective instructional leaders must be knowledgeable and skilled enough to recognize poor teaching and know how to improve it. Fairfax County Schools (Virginia) has developed a teacher performance evaluation plan based on Jon Saphier's Skillful Teacher Model, featuring eight standards developed through teacher, principal, and community…

Discusses the educational reform movement's progress sine the 1983 landmark report "A Nation At Risk." Praises elementary school principals for concentrating on basic education while secondary schools were lowering graduation requirements. Urges sound leadership, student motivation, higher principal salaries, careful teacher evaluation, and strong…

Teacher evaluation should take into consideration the artistic aspects of teaching, which are ignored by rigid evaluation formats. To do this, principals should participate in the classroom; observe the total learning environment; learn how a teacher deals with peers, students, and parents; and gain perceptions of the students themselves.…

A principal explains how he fulfills his responsibility as an instructional leader by teaching each class at least once every year and helping teachers with instructional problems. (JM)

Suggests ways of judging teacher performance based on the five basic steps in the teacher evaluation process: (1) gathering information and making judgments; (2) holding the evaluation conference; (3) identifying areas needing improvement; (4) providing assistance; and (5) guiding the teacher out of teaching if improvement cannot be made.…

The incompetence of a few teachers can destroy the efforts of many excellent teachers. Principals need to know how to evaluate teachers effectively and act on their evaluations. The rationalizations typically used to justify failures to dismiss incompetent teachers will not stand up to scrutiny. (PGD)

Norm-referenced testing is not appropriate for use in teacher evaluation. A truly equitable method of teacher evaluation is based on a clear set of instructional targets and on the teacher's effectiveness in helping students master the specific skills and knowledge targeted. (Author/MLF)