Research indicates that teacher performance is a critical focus for school districts, administrators, and teachers. Pre-service teacher preparation, teacher retention, job satisfaction, mentoring, continuous feedback, and onboarding support for new teachers are all factors that influence teacher performance (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond,…

Despite the perspectives of music educators in classroom evaluation processes, the perspectives of Texas administrators using the newest teacher evaluation process, the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS), have yet to be examined. The administrators' perspectives matter because the complexity of the T-TESS process coupled with the…

The purpose of this case study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of fairness under the new Texas teacher evaluation system (T-TESS). Using the theoretical framework of procedural justice, the qualitative study measured the teachers' perceptions of fairness utilizing Leventhal's six rules (1976) of representativeness, bias suppression,…

This cross-case synthesis gives voice to evaluators in EC-12 and higher education settings who are enacting a state-mandated system of teacher evaluation and support by examining their perceptions of the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS). Questions addressed included: How do differently situated school administrators and…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to test the theory of connectivism (Downes, 2012) by comparing Twitter educational followership and no Twitter educational followership in terms of the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS) rating scores for elementary, junior high, and high school teachers in a large urban public-school…

Technology is changing the landscape of higher education. As the editors of this special issue have noted, technology has been particularly useful when trying to solve problems. At Texas Christian University (TCU), we employed technology to create a tool that would help standardize the evaluation of teaching while still offering enough flexibility…

Teacher appraisal and evaluation systems have increased the level of teacher accountability, resulting in increased pressure to be successful in the classroom (Benedict, Thomas, Kimerling, & Leko, 2013; Derrington, 2011; Glazerman et al., 2011; Papay, 2012). As a result, several states have begun to stray from the traditional methods of…

This study reports on performance-based teacher evaluation systems in five states that have implemented such systems. It investigates two primary research questions: (1) What are the key characteristics of state-level performance-based teacher evaluation systems in the study states?; and (2) How do state teacher evaluation measures, the teaching…

Existing literature indicates that physical attractiveness positively affects variables such as income, perceived employee quality and performance evaluations. Similarly, in the academic arena, studies indicate instructors who are better looking receive better teaching evaluations from their students. Previous analysis of the website…

This study reports on performance-based teacher evaluation systems in five states that have implemented such systems. It investigates two primary research questions: (1) What are the key characteristics of state-level performance-based teacher evaluation systems in the study states?; and (2) How do state teacher evaluation measures, the teaching…

Despite policy efforts to encourage multiple measures of performance in newly developing teacher evaluation systems, practical constraints often result in evaluations based predominantly on formal classroom observations. Yet there is limited knowledge of how these observational measures relate to student achievement. This article leverages the…

Value-added evaluations use student test scores to assess teacher effectiveness. How student achievement is judged can depend on which test is used to measure it. Thus it is reasonable to ask whether a teacher's value-added score depends on which test is used to calculate it. Would it change if a different test was used? Specifically, might a…

This report highlights 10 of the most advanced and talked-about teacher evaluation systems nationally: Delaware; Rhode Island; Tennessee; Hillsborough County, Florida; Houston, Texas; New Haven, Connecticut; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Washington, DC (referred to throughout just as Washington); Achievement First (a charter management organization,…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the key implementation issues of a standards-based teacher evaluation system as perceived by campus administrators. The 80 campus administrators that participated in this study were from six public school districts located in southeastern Texas that serve students in grades Kindergarten…

With limited resources and fiscal strain, it is more important than ever for states and school districts to use available funds for education as efficiently and productively as possible. This is even more true today in order to educate young people to a higher standard of true readiness for college or career. This paper reviews both economic and…