Teacher perceptions of evaluation: Purpose and efficacy of value-added and performance-based evaluation approaches
Abstract
School districts use teacher evaluations to facilitate professional growth and positively impact student achievement. Researchers disagree about how evaluation frameworks contribute to student performance, but most agree that evaluation processes should be improved. The goal of this study was to examine teachers’ understanding of the purpose and efficacy of traditional performance-based (PB) and value-added (VA) models blended in a single evaluation system and to determine whether such perceptions differ based on length of experience with the blended system. Data were collected from 81 elementary-school teachers from two school districts in New England that used the same blended evaluation approach (45% based on student scores, 40% on observations, 10% on parent feedback, and 5% on student feedback), but for different lengths of time (one year versus seven years). A significant difference was noted in the perceived purpose of evaluations based on years of experience with the assessment model. That is, teachers who had less experience with blended evaluation approaches that included VA models reported more negative perceptions about their role in evaluations than did teachers who had more experience, suggesting that experience with VA models may reduce concern about their use in evaluations. It was recommended that evaluation stakeholders (a) increase transparency about the evaluation process to improve teacher buy-in and their perceptions about the process, and (b) organize sessions with teachers who have extensive experience being evaluated with VA approaches to demystify the process and debrief the teachers about negative perceptions of VA components of a blended assessment.
Subject Area
Educational evaluation|Educational leadership|Education
Recommended Citation
Beck, Marek, "Teacher perceptions of evaluation: Purpose and efficacy of value-added and performance-based evaluation approaches" (2016). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI10145754.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI10145754
