It is argued that despite the current view of college teaching as a discrete set of skills, good teaching is more complex and involves understanding the specific contexts in which teaching occurs, and how teachers understand and communicate concepts to a changing student population. Portfolio-based peer assessment of college teachers is…

Singles out three interrelated areas in the exposition of faculty evaluation and assessment: (1) the nature of the procedure; (2) the rhythms of professional life; and (3) mutual rights and responsibilities, particularly in the process of posttenure review. (Author/VWL)

Contributes to a special issue on how the reconsideration of what scholarship is affects the way in which scholarship is assessed. Examines the scholarship of application, which involves the practical application of theory to respond positively to the needs of the community. Offers two case studies demonstrating this beneficial role. Discusses…

There are many problems common to faculty evaluation, in particular its subjective and unsystematic form. There are solutions to some of those problems. The first task is to delineate exactly what responsibilities faculty will be expected to perform. Too often so many tasks are expected of faculty that no one can complete them all well.…

A project to develop criteria for evaluating the quality of faculty outreach activities in continuing education and public service is described. The project, which was conducted at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, was also designed to achieve the utilization of these criteria by faculty members engaged in outreach and by staff who…

"The Practitioner" is subtitled "A Newsletter for the On-Line Administrator." This theme issue is devoted to recent developments in the teacher evaluation process. Contents include a review of research on teacher evaluation, an overview of legal requirements, and examples of outstanding teacher evaluation programs in six high schools. Thirteen…

Information is provided on various aspects of the faculty evaluation and development system at Mountain Empire Community College (MECC). The compilation includes: (1) a statement of the purposes of the faculty evaluation and development system; (2) evaluation procedures; (3) definitions of key terms; (4) an explanation of the Index of Success…

A system with ten components or stages for college faculty promotion, tenure, or assignment is presented as an aid to establishing criteria, defining purposes, and helping college departments meet the demands of accountability. The components are as follows: (1) at the start of the year, the department defines its needs, purposes, and priorities;…

The Oregon State System of Higher Education recently completed a 3-year study entitled Faculty Teaching: Models for Assessment of Quality. Over 400 teaching and administrative faculty selected on a random or stratified basis answered the following questions: (1) What factors are considered in the assessment of faculty performance? (2) What…

Much has occurred in higher education to lead to expectation for change in the process of evaluation. The academic deans of all accredited private liberal arts colleges were asked to report on the procedures used in rating both overall and teaching performance, with 83.5 percent replying. Purposes of the questionnaire were to: (1) determine the…

As a guide to its deliberations, the Faculty Professional Growth Committee of the St. Louis Junior College District prepared and distributed to all members of the professional teaching staff a questionnaire covering what should be included in faculty evaluations, how much weight should be given to each item, and whether teaching effectiveness…

The Department of Anthropology and the Educational Assessment Center (EAC) cooperated in a project to assess the effect of certain variables on student ratings of instruction. For this purpose, the entire teaching faculty of the department was requested by the department's Teaching Effectiveness committee to administer the EAC Student Ratings Form…

Present evaluation techniques depend heavily upon student input, with little or no reference to the circumstances under which faculty work. Using the Fried Transdisciplinary Model in evaluating faculty would do much to alleviate this situation. Questions about quality of performance would still be considered under the Task Requisites Zone of the…

Five different metaphors of evaluation are discussed: judging, criticizing, assessing, appraising, rating; the faculty can be evaluated for appointment, tenure, promotion, salary, termination, improvement. Faculty can be evaluated for research, teaching, and service, and they can be evaluated by other faculty, administrators, students, and outside…

Suggestions on how to develop comprehensive systems of instructional improvement and evaluation are offered. In order to measure and evaluate instructional effectiveness accurately, criteria and guidelines for that evaluation must be set up. This first step is accomplished most effectively at the departmental level. (MLW)