A principal's most important role is instructional leader. There is a growing recognition of the importance of working with teachers, serving as a mentor and coach. Coaching has emerged as one of the more effective professional development options for adult learners. It is an important tool because it is an investment in human capital and in the…

The 2012-2013 school year represents a pivotal juncture for DC Public Schools. Last spring, Mayor Gray and Chancellor Kaya Henderson introduced "A Capital Commitment," their ambitious plan to dramatically accelerate student achievement in the district over the next five years by providing all of their students with a safe, academically…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using the intervention of consistent feedback of classroom observations, on the teachers' efficacy and motivation to improve their use of instructional delivery methods. The principals of a metropolitan school district in Missouri were mandated to observe and give immediate feedback to each…

Co-teaching, the collaboration between a general education teacher and a special education teacher, is an option that is being perceived by many educators as the means to ensure that special education students have access to the same curriculum as their non-disabled peers as well as the specialized instructional strategies necessary to nurture…

This study examines the views of administrators (i.e., principals and vice-principals) in Ontario, Canada, with regard to the province's Teacher Performance Appraisal process. A total of 178 responses were collected from a survey that examined five areas: 1) preparation and training; 2) classroom observations; 3) preparing the formal evaluation;…

Literature has confirmed that teacher appraisal can and should facilitate the professional development of teachers. In the past, teacher appraisal in China has been conducted mainly for administrative purposes; nowadays, it is increasingly being viewed as a means of teacher professional development. However, the way in which teacher appraisal…

Implementing teacher evaluation systems across the United States has created both challenges and opportunities to improving teacher quality. Lessons learned at the state level illustrate a wide range of challenges with system implementation, including value-added growth scores, implementation timetables, and human capital demands (McGuinn, 2012),…

Like high-stakes student assessment, high-stakes teacher evaluation threatens to be an occasional event that is disconnected from day-to-day teaching and learning, producing results that do not help teachers improve their performance and placing teachers in a passive role as recipients of external judgment. For several years, the authors have…

Current policy promotes more rigorous evaluations of teaching as a key lever in measuring and promoting teacher quality. As school systems implement new evaluation systems, Kane and Staiger (2012) argue that school systems must ensure that principals are capable of implementing the evaluations well before they use the results to make high-stakes…

Many teachers are already keen observers and skilled in supporting and collaborating with their colleagues. Leveraging this rich talent among staff can be an efficient way to address capacity challenges and enrich teachers' evaluations with more targeted feedback. Teachers, however, require training to become systematic, reliable observers who can…

The question for this brief is whether education leaders can use value-added measures as tools for improving schooling and, if so, how to do this. Districts, states, and schools can, at least in theory, generate gains in educational outcomes for students using value-added measures in three ways: creating information on effective programs, making…

Learning to systematically analyze the relationship between teaching and student learning is an important but difficult skill to engender in teachers. In this study, we examine how pre-service teachers who were introduced to a framework for analyzing teaching in a video-based teacher education course drew on this tool to analyze their own practice…

This study was primarily undertaken by teachers for teachers, and focuses on the potential contribution of global learning and development education (DE) methodologies to a core aspect of curriculum provision, namely writing. The aim of the study is to explore whether using global learning and DE methodologies can have an impact on pupils'…

Between 9 December 2014 and 2 February 2015 the Government conducted a consultation into its vision for a world-class teaching profession and the establishment of a College of Teaching. The Government is committed to improving teacher quality as a key part of our plan for education. The teaching profession is fortunate to include many thousands of…

Saying "teaching matters most" is easy, and seems obvious. Making it the top priority for school leaders and staff is not so easy--in fact, it's messy. If we want to change how students write, compute, and think, then teachers must change how they teach. They must transform the old "assign-and-assess" model into engaging, compassionate, coherent,…