The primary purpose for evaluating novice teachers is to improve their performance. The paper presents a model for assessing and assisting novice teachers to have a broad variety of professional learning experiences, to acquire a wide repertoire of teaching competencies and skills, and to gain familiarity with the language and norms governing both…

This paper offers suggestions on how to help new teachers during their first year of teaching by offering a mentorship program with an established teacher on the school staff. A mentor is someone to whom the first-year teacher can turn during all the turbulence that is part of beginning any career, but especially for a beginning teacher in a…

In August of 1991, the Colchester (Vermont) Board of Education and the Colchester Education Association (CEA) jointly initiated a Teacher Evaluation Study Committee. The group assumed responsibility for producing a revised teacher evaluation model which would positively impact the district's teaching and learning process. During school year…

This book suggests that portfolios can become a new kind of credential of competent and effective teachers. The book includes 5 parts with 16 chapters. Part 1, "Prologue," offers: (1) "Portfolio Possibilities: Validating a New Teacher Professionalism" (Nona Lyons) and (2) "Teacher Portfolios: A Theoretical Activity"…

In an effort to improve the quality of teaching at Oklahoma Junior College (OJC), the college's administration mandated peer coaching as part of a peer evaluation process. Peer coaching, a means of keeping valuable experience from being lost to the college due to death, retirement, or other separation, encourages instructors to learn about the art…

This paper offers suggestions for using portfolios to assess teacher performance. Key policy decisions that should be addressed prior to preparation of the portfolios include purpose, domains, audience, administrative matters, technical issues, and legal issues. After these policy decisions have been made, guidelines for portfolio design--its…

Since July 1, 1985, all new faculty appointed to tenure-track positions in the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) have been subject to a promotion process which has been modified twice in the past 2 years. In addition, a new evaluation procedure and instrument have been adopted, and a competitive "Merit Step Advancement" feature has been…

Compiled as a resource guide for faculty development programs, this manual presents a collection of ideas, materials, and resources designed to increase the effectiveness of adjunct staff members in postsecondary occupational education. After a statement of the manual's purpose, the next section provides a perspective on disadvantages facing…

Teacher appraisal, now required in England and Wales and expected in Scotland in due course, should be open rather than secret. It should be done with emphasis on peer support; teachers should play a central part and be given the time to watch each other's lessons. (JHZ)

Discusses teacher evaluation in Great Britain, abandoning some common assumptions about "correct" teaching methods and hierarchical and "outside" appraisal systems. Advocates peer evaluation, flexible criteria, faculty discussion, and staff development as a primary purpose. Describes an evaluation sheet to be used by observing…

The first few years of teaching are the most challenging. During these years, teachers are most likely to become discouraged and disillusioned. Yet these early years are also the time when teachers establish practices that last throughout their careers. This book focuses on new teachers' needs while emphasizing high-quality teaching through the…

This document discusses the teacher preparation recommendations from a task force put together by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). These recommendations are needed due to the shortage of teachers and the lower national tests scores of U.S. high school students. The task force offers suggestions on four faculty-related topics: (1)…

This brief notes that very few states have developed comprehensive policies to improve and support their teaching force as they implement other education reforms. In creating a coherent system of teacher support, one important place to begin is with the state board of education, which has broad authority over teacher preparation and licensure.…

This report presents California's standards, which are intended for use by local planners to design, implement, and evaluate beginning teacher induction programs. For each standard, there is a statement of the standard itself, a rationale explaining why it is important, and a series of criteria to be used by program designers and evaluators in…

In order to assess the impact of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification process, the NBPTS commissioned two surveys in 2001. The first survey examined the impact of the assessment process on teachers who had achieved NBPTS certification. Researchers sent surveys to 600 National Board certified teachers (NBTCs)…