Appropriate wording & proper evaluation

By Sandi Detwiler

Teachers know that simply writing Good or Poor on a student’s essay is meaningless feedback. Yet many teachers receive equally meaningless feedback in the form of evaluations that label them average or above without any suggestions to help them improve their skills. These vague, meaningless phrases are called “valentines” by Superintendent Patricia Hopkins who is cited in Morgaen Donaldson’s article in the May 2010 edition of Educational Leadership “No More Valentines”. Donaldson describes several districts which are working to improve teacher evaluations so that better teaching will increase learning.

One model I found interesting was in Cincinnati, Ohio where teachers are trained as evaluators and work for a three year term as an evaluator or consulting teacher. Teachers are sorted into different groups for evaluations so that new teachers and teachers who are struggling are evaluated more often and are given specific feedback. This reminds me of the peer coaching models of the past. After three years as an evaluator, the teachers return to their classrooms to continue growing as teachers.

And they return with a new understanding of challenges of working with adults. Wouldn’t it be great to be a part of such a school system?