Teacher Perceptions of Alternative Models of Teacher Evaluation

The history of teacher evaluation has been a controversial one, with myriad attempts to improve it and corresponding critiques of those efforts by educational scholars. One voice that often has been missing from the examination of teacher evaluation is that of teachers. This qualitative study asked K-12 teachers to review five models of teacher evaluation, choose the one they found most appropriate, and write a brief essay on why they selected their chosen model. The rationales of teachers who chose each of the five evaluation models were analyzed and themes within each subgroup were identified. Although there was no consensus regarding the most appropriate evaluation model, the model most often chosen limits summative evaluation and is focused on formative evaluation. This study shows that teacher perceptions on this topic can add significantly to discussions within the field of educational leadership on future directions for teacher evaluation.