• MBO (Management by Objectives)-Based Evaluation - a teacher evaluation approach based on a set of pre-specified objectives prepared for or in collaboration with the teacher. See  Foundation.

• Master Teacher - a teacher who has been identified as exhibiting superior performance and expertise.

• Mastery Testing - an assessment process designed to determine whether a teacher or student has acquired a predetermined level of content knowledge or skills.

• Measure (noun)  - an instrument or device that provides data on the quantity or quality of that aspect of teaching performance being evaluated. See  Instrument.

• Measure (verb)  - to classify or estimate, in relation to a scale, rubric, or standard, the degree of quality or quantity of that aspect of teaching being evaluated. See  Estimate, Scoring Rubric, Standard.

• Measurement-Based Evaluation - a teacher evaluation approach that is based on the use of methods which are not dependent on the expertise of the evaluator. See  Evaluator, Foundation.

• Mentor Teacher - an experienced, often specially trained, teacher who works with new teachers, interns, or regular teachers in a professional improvement program. Mentors serve as resources, coaches, advisors, and confidants to other teachers and may be involved in formative evaluation activities as well as in the development and implementation of the plan of assistance. See  Coaching, Intern, Master Teacher, Mentoring, Modeling, Plan of Assistance.

• Mentoring - the provision of support by experienced teachers to promote the development of new or less experienced teachers. See  Coaching, Mentor Teacher.

• Merit - the overall professional competence of a teacher. Merit can include such factors as breadth and depth of knowledge of a subject area, specialized training completed, ability to work with different types of students, and fluency in a second language. See  Competence, Competency, Meritorious Performance, Talent, Value, Worth.

• Merit Pay - the salary increments allocated to a teacher based on some form of evaluation that demonstrates the teacher's superior level of performance. See  Bonus Pay, Incentive Pay, Longevity Pay, Meritorious Performance.

• Meritorious Performance - a level of performance that well exceeds the standard for minimally acceptable and that may be worthy of professional recognition, career ladder advancement, reward, or merit pay. See   Merit Pay, Minimally Acceptable.

• Meta-Evaluation -

• Method of Assessment - the techniques or instruments used to measure teacher attributes and behaviors. Examples include rating scales, observation checklists, structured interviews, and portfolios.

• Method of Data Collection - the specific means used to document teacher performance. Essentially, this includes the data forms and procedures necessary to define the specifics of the teacher evaluation model or system. The five methods detailed in this kit are test scores, observation, reflection, ratings, and portfolios. See  Observation, Portfolio, Rating, Reflection, Scale (Rating), Score, Test (noun).

• Method of Evaluation - the approach used to conduct the evaluation (e.g., the use of formal classroom observations followed by an interview with the supervisor and an oral examination by a team of peers).

• Minimally Acceptable - a performance level that meets the minimum standards, as defined by its criteria. Any lower level of performance is not acceptable in terms of the purpose of the evaluation. See  Competency, Standard.

• Minimally Competent - See  Competence, Minimally Acceptable.

• Model - an example of a coherent method, approach, procedure, or strategy of teaching or of teacher evaluation, as defined by its key or unique assumptions, propositions, attributes, supportive theory, research, practical precedent, or foundation, and which implicitly defines accomplished or good teaching. See   Criterion, Foundation.

• Modeling - the use exemplary teachers and mentors to demonstrate practices of good teaching to other teachers for the purpose of improvement or of repertoire expansion. See  Exemplary Teacher, Mentor Teacher, Self-Assessment.

• Monitoring - the checking on a process or a person to verify that progress is being made, required activities are occurring, assessment and evaluation procedures are being implemented, suggested teaching practices are being tried, prior information is still applicable, earlier decisions can still be justified, and/or standards are being met. See  Audit.

• Multiple Measures - the array of different types of evidence that are collected or assessment instruments that are used to better assess a teacher's knowledge, skills, and performance. Together, multiple measures of the same attribute provide a more comprehensive, reliable, and valid measure of that attribute than any one measure alone. See  Congruence Analysis, Triangulation.

• NBPTS - National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

• NCTM - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

• Notes - the descriptive information about the context within which the teacher is being evaluated and/or about the process itself. For an observation, this might include the number and types of students present, a list of materials being used in the lesson, a description of the classroom arrangement, and information on events that occur during the observation. See  Comments, Scripting.

• Objective (adjective)  - a characteristic of an assessment, observation, or conclusion that minimizes the impact of bias and subjectivity, and that yields results which can be empirically verified. See  Low Inference, Replicable, Subjective.

• Objectives - the pre-specified intended outcomes of a program, process, or policy. In the case of education, these are usually in the form of learning and behavioral objectives for students. Professional development objectives may also be part of the teacher evaluation process. Objectives tend to be more specific than goals. See   Desired Outcomes, Goal.

• Observable - that which can be seen and documented by another person. For example, the tone of the teacher's voice can be observed and recorded, but the thinking of the teacher that determined the tone of voice cannot be observed.

• Observation - one of several methods used to collect data about a teacher's performance. It may also cover student behavior, the teaching context, and the learning environment. Observing should include the recording of evidence and notes while watching the teacher. Observations typically occur in the teacher's own classroom, but they may also occur in other settings (e.g., playground, staff meeting, parent-teacher conference) or may be based on audio tapes or videotapes. See   Announced Observation/Visit, Behaviors, Context (Teaching), Learning Environment, Observer, Performance (Teacher).

• Observer - the person who collects evidence and notes about what he/she is observing, either in a classroom or another setting. The observer is an assessor, but may or may not be an evaluator. See   Assessor, Evaluator, Observation.

• Obtained Score - the actual results for a teacher or student on an assessment. Because of error of measurement and other factors, the obtained score may not be the same as that teacher's or student's true score. See  Error of Measurement, Estimate, Score, True Score.

• OERI - Office of Educational Research and Improvement of the United States Department of Education (USED).

• On-the-Job Training - the structured provision of training in skills and knowledge through actual work experience rather than indirect methods such as workshops, conferences, or simulations. See  Experience, Mentoring, Training.

• Open-Ended Response - a format of a test, assessment, or survey item that calls for the answer to be supplied by the respondent rather than selecting from a list of options. Examples include essay questions, short-answer questions, drawings, and fill-in-the-blank items. See   Forced-Choice Response.

• Operational Definition - a very precise statement about how observed behaviors or events will be interpreted as representing a designated construct. See  Construct, Operationalize.

• Operationalize - the defining of a psychological or physical attribute by the way it is measured. For example, teacher expectation may be operationalized by the number of higher-order versus lower-order questions the teacher asks of individual students. See  Attribute, Construct, Operational Definition.

• Orientation - the acquainting of some or all stakeholders with the teacher assessment and evaluation policies, procedures, and processes in order to promote understanding and to improve the quality of the assessment and evaluation. See   Stakeholders.

• Outcome Variables - the results or products of teaching. Examples include student mastery of skills, completion of courses, teacher-developed instructional materials, student projects, and student performance on standardized tests. See  Input Variables, Student Learning Outcomes, Process Variable, Variable.

• Passing Score - a score or level of performance that represents the difference between those teachers whose level of performance is minimally acceptable and those whose performance is not acceptable. Teachers below the "passing score" (also called cut score or critical score) may be given a plan of assistance, mentoring, a job reassignment, or even be dismissed from teaching, depending on the level of performance and the merit and worth of that teacher. See  Cutting Score, Dismissal, Merit, Plan of Assistance, Worth.

• Pattern - a series of similar behaviors or common attributes over a period of time or across different settings or contexts.

• Pedagogy - the art and science of teaching. Some pedagogical skills apply across teaching situations whereas others apply only to specific subject areas (pedagogical content knowledge).

• Peer Review - the evaluation of a teacher by other teachers, usually done to provide feedback to the evaluee for purposes of professional development and improvement, or to provide subject-matter and context-related expertise not possessed by others involved in the evaluation process. See  Coaching, Mentoring.

• Percentile Rank - a number indicating an individual's performance level or score in relation to its standing in the distribution of scores of a representative group of individuals. A percentile rank of 95 means that the individual did as well as or better than 95% or the group upon whom the percentile ranks are based. Percentile ranks cannot be arithmetically manipulated due to their varying interval nature.

• Performance (Teacher) - that which a teacher does on the job. Performance depends upon the teacher's competence, abilities, and talents as well as upon the context within which the teacher works. See   Ability, Competence, Context (Teaching).

• Performance Appraisal - the systematic process of determining the merit, value, and worth of a teacher's current performance and estimating his/her potential level of performance with further development. See  Merit, Performance Assessment, Performance Evaluation, Value, Worth.

• Performance Assessment - (1) the process of measuring or describing performance attributes of the teacher being evaluated. (2) a measurement approach in which the teacher displays behaviors or prepares products that are judged by an assessor according to pre-specified standards or scoring rubrics. See  Assessor, Attribute, Merit, Performance (Teacher), Performance Appraisal, Performance Evaluation, Scoring Rubric, Standard, Value, Worth.

• Performance Evaluation - the process of determining the merit, value, and worth, based on assessment results, of some performance attribute(s) of the teacher being evaluated. See  Attribute, Merit, Performance Appraisal, Performance Assessment, Teacher Evaluation, Value, Worth.

• Performance Goal - a specific statement of what is to be accomplished by the teacher (e.g., growth in knowledge, development of a skill, changes in practice), how the goal will be met (e.g., activities, resources), when the goal will be met, and how achievement of the goal can be assessed or determined. See  Goal, Instructional Goal, Objectives.

• Performance Indicator - See  Criterion.

• Performance Review - See  Performance Appraisal.

• Performance Standard - See   Standard.

• Permanent Teacher - a teacher who has a permanent contract with the employing school district or educational agency. See   Tenure, Tenured Teacher.

• Personnel Evaluation - the systematic determination of the merit, value, and worth of the job-related performance of an employee. See  Merit, Value, Worth.

• Pilot Testing - a preliminary try-out of a new or revised assessment or process. Pilot testing considers such areas as comprehensiveness and clarity of directions, format of assessment materials, adequacy of resources or equipment to be used for the assessment, quality of assessor/evaluator training programs, and timing of assessment tasks.

• Plan of Assistance - a strategy for professional development and growth designed to address a teacher's deficiencies in meeting designated performance standards, based on the results of an evaluation. The plan of assistance should indicate goals and objectives for improvement, an action plan for improvement, what staff and resources are available, the timeline for development activities, benchmarks for ensuring that professional growth is occurring, and measures for verifying achievement of the goals and objectives. See   Contract, Diagnosis, Performance Goal, Professional Development, Remediation.

• Policy (Teacher Evaluation) - a set of mandates, rules, and guidelines issued by a governmental or administrative agency regarding the purpose of teacher evaluation and the manner in which it should be conducted. See   Practice (Evaluation), Procedures (Evaluation).

• Portfolio - a purposeful collection of documents concerning a teacher's performance (e.g., testimonials, student learning outcome reports, samples of students' work) and of products produced by the teacher (e.g., a lesson plan, a critique of a textbook chapter, a videotape of a lesson, a teacher-made unit test). The types of documents to be included may be specified, or the teacher may be free to choose what types of documents to include.

• Practice (Evaluation) - the manner in which evaluations are actually conducted, whether or not the practice is in accordance with the policy and/or follows the procedures. See  Policy (Teacher Evaluation), Procedures (Evaluation).

• Predictive Validity - See  Validity.

• Preponderance - the emphasis or weight given to the data and information on an attribute of a teacher, based on such considerations as the quantity and frequency of occurrence of a behavior, the importance of the attribute to the job of teaching, and the potential impact of a behavior or characteristic on students. See  Attribute, Evidence, Weighted Score.

• Prerequisite Knowledge - the prior knowledge that is necessary in order to learn how to solve problems or to acquire new knowledge and skills. See   Knowledge.

• Primary Standards - those standards that apply to the evaluation process and assessment methods rather than to the teachers being evaluated or to their performance levels, and which should be met or addressed before the assessments are administered and the evaluation process is implemented. See   Secondary Standards, Standard, Standards (Legal), Standards (Professional), Standards (Technical).

• Primary Trait Scoring - the assignment of scores to one or more designated attributes of each task or performance measure. See  Analytic Scoring, Holistic Scoring, Scoring Rubric.

• Priority Goal - (1) among the most important aims that a teacher or evaluator is trying to accomplish. (2) an important aim or purpose of instruction. See   Goal.

• Privacy Rights - a teacher's privilege to have his or her performance on an assessment or evaluation results to be confidential and not disclosed to unauthorized parties without thre permission of the teahcer. See   Confidentiality.

• Probationary Teacher - a non-tenured teacher who is usually a relatively inexperienced teacher (three years or less of teaching experience). See  Tenure, Tenured Teacher.

• Procedures (Evaluation) - the directions for implementing all aspects of the evaluation process in accordance with the rules and guidelines given in a district's policy. Procedures specify how the evaluation is to be conducted, designated timelines, persons responsible, forms to be used, documentation to be provided, the analysis plan, and the steps to be followed. See  Data Collection Procedures, Irregularity, Policy (Teacher Evaluation), Practice (Evaluation), Timeline.

• Process-Product Research - See  Effective Teaching.

• Process Variable - the manner in which teaching is conducted. Process variables include instructional strategies, sequencing of curricular content and skills, behavior management techniques, assessment and monitoring practices, and the use of materials and equipment. See Input Variable, Output Variable, Variable.

• Productivity (Teacher) - the accomplishment of the primary functions of teaching, including the promotion of increased student learning and of improved student behavior within the teaching context.

• Professional Development - a process designed to improve specific professional competencies or the overall competence of a teacher. See   Competence, Competency, Formative Teacher Evaluation, Plan of Assistance, Remediation, Teacher Improvement.

• Professionalism (Teacher) - a reform movement to promote teaching as a profession with its own knowledge base, licensure structure, standards for practice, and professional functions.

• Proficiency - sufficient expertise in a knowledge area or adequate mastery of a skill with regard to a standard. See  Expert, Talent.

• Profile - a representation of a teacher's performance on a number of attributes, measures, or dimensions that use the same scale.

• Project - a form of complex performance assessment involving several types of activities and products for completion. Most projects involve planning and usually end with a report (oral or written) or product. Examples are reviewing several CD-ROMs and writing a report recommending which ones the school should purchase with its limited funds, or designing and conducting an action research study.

• Prompt - a verbal statement or question that provides a cue, reminder, or inspiration, or that motivates the teacher being assessed into action. Examples include a request from the principal for comments on the quality of a proposed textbook, or questions during a semi-structured interview.

• Propriety - (1) the quality of being conducted in a proper, legal, and ethical manner with due regard to the welfare of all involved in and affected by the results of the evaluation. (2) one of four areas of standards in The Personnel Evaluation Standards: How To Assess Systems for Evaluating Educators  by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. This area has five sets of standards: Service Orientation, Formal Evaluation Guidelines, Conflict of Interest, Access to Personnel Evaluation Reports, Interactions with Evaluatees. See  Accuracy, Confidentiality, Conflict of Interest, Feasibility, Utility.

• Protocol - (1) the rules and formalities that guide the administration and scoring of an assessment and the implementation of an evaluation. (2) a record or document of evidence and information relating to an assessment or evaluation. See  Scoring Rubric.

• Psychomotor Domain - the range of locomotor behaviors needed to explore the environment and perform tasks as well as the sensory-motor activities that are essential to learning and communication. See  Affective Domain, Cognitive Domain.

• Purpose - the primary reason or intended use that provides direction for the design, interpretation, and use of an assessment and evaluation system.

• Qualitative Information - the facts and evidence that describe a teacher's performance and that typically are recorded in written, audio, or visual form. See  Quantitative Information.

• Quality Check - the process of verifying both the accuracy of specific data and information, and the appropriateness of the techniques used to collect, score, or rate, and to analyze the data and information (e.g., trained observer used, proper timing given for a performance task, right scoring key used for a test, correct formula used to weight various scores). See  Accuracy, Audit, Verification.

• Quantitative Information - the facts and evidence that describe a teacher's performance and that typically are recorded in numeric, statistical, or graphic form, or can be meaningfully represented by numbers. See  Qualitative Information.

• Questionnaire - an instrument consisting of a series of queries and statements that is used to collect data and information from a teacher concerning such factors as educational background, goals and objectives, instructional plans, teaching context, attitudes and opinions, and professional activities, and from others (e.g., students, parents) concerning the teacher's performance.

• Ranking - the process of ordering or arraying from highest. A teacher's level of performance is compared to other teachers rather than being judged independently of how others perform, as it the case with ratings. See  Rating.

• Rate - to assign judgments or estimations to the magnitude of degree of some aspect of teaching behavior or performance. See  Rating.

• Rater Drift - the tendency for assessors and evaluators to unintentionally redefine criteria and standards over time or across a series of ratings. See  Consistency, Rater Effect.

• Rater Effect - the tendency of an assessor or an evaluator to rate a teacher's performance at a level that does not accurately or consistently reflect the performance level of that teacher. There are several types of rater effect, all of which are possible sources of systematic error of measurement. See  Assessor, Bias, Central Tendency Effect, Consistency, Contamination, Contrast Effect, Error of Measurement, Evaluator, First-Impression Effect, Halo Effect, Inconsistency, Leniency, Reliability, Similar-to-Me Effect, Stringency.

• Rating - a systematic estimation of the magnitude or degree of some attribute of teaching, using a numerical or descriptive continuum. See  Rate, Scale (Rating).

• Raw Score - a score obtained from a test, assessment, observation, or survey that has not been converted to another type of score such as a standard score, percentile rate, ranking, or grade. By itself, a raw score provides little useful information about an individuals' performance. Examples of raw scores include a count of the number of correct answers on a vocabulary text, a tabulation of the occurence of a certain type of event during an observation, or an initial rating on a protfolio document. See   Percentile Rank, Ranking, Standard Score.

• RBTE - See Research-Based Teacher Evaluation.

• Recommendations - a set of suggestions derived from the teacher evaluation results. For formative teacher evaluation, they may include a list of professional development activities and a plan of assistance. For summative teacher evaluation, they may consist of personnel actions such as tenure, dismissal/termination, reassignment/transfer, contract renewal, or promotion.

• Record (noun)  - the written or taped data, evidence, judgments, notes, recommendations, and other statements for use in the teacher evaluation process. See  Documentation.

• Record (verb)  - to register and store data and other information. See   Record (noun).

• Reduction in Force (RIF) - layoffs of teachers necessitated by reductions in budgets or decreases in student enrollment. RIF decisions are typically based on teacher seniority rather than level of performance and staffing needs. See  Dismissal, Forced Resignation.

• Reflection - the process by which a teacher reviews his/her past performance as a means of improving future performance. See  Log (Teacher), Self-Assessment.

• Relevance (Domain) - the extent to which the domains and indicators covered by a teacher evaluation system apply to a teacher's professional functions in terms of both importance and frequency.

• Reliability - the degree to which an assessment or instrument consistently measures an attribute. See   Error of Measurement.
  There are several types of reliabilities, for example:
  1. Intra-Rater - the degree to which the measure yields consistent results over different administrations with the same teacher performing at the same level by the same assessor;
  2. Inter-Rater - the degree to which the measure yields similar results for the same teacher at the same time with more than one assessor;
  3. Internal Consistency - the degree to which individual observations or items consistently measure the same attribute; and
  4. Test-Retest - the degree to which the measure produces consistent results over several administrations assessing the same attribute of a teacher.
• Remediation - those techniques or strategies designed to improve a teacher's performance in general deficiencies or specific areas of weakness. See  Clinical Supervision, Coaching, Diagnosis, Feedback, Formative Teacher Evaluation, Incompetence, Modeling, Plan of Assistance, Professional Development, Reflection, Self-Assessment, Teacher Improvement.

• Replicable - an attribute of an assessment, observation system, or evaluation indicating that the process used to obtain the data and evidence is explicit and can be repeated. See  Objective, Subjective.

• Reporting - the process of communicating results and recommendations to the designated individuals or groups. When reporting to the teacher, this would be considered part of feedback. See   Confidentiality, Consent, Feedback, Informed Consent, Recommendations.

• Reporting Scheme (Complex) - a record of evidence describing a teacher's performance that provides detailed information about the performance and the context. See  Reporting Scheme (Reductive).

• Reporting Scheme (Reductive) - a record of evidence describing a teacher's performance that simplifies the data collection through classifying, coding, or analyzing them. See  Reporting Scheme (Complex).

• Research-Based Teacher Evaluation - a teacher evaluation approach that is based on "empirically-validated" criteria or indicators of competence derived from research studies of effective teaching practices. See   Effective Teaching, Foundation.

• Responses - the answers to test, interview, or questionnaire items.

• Responsibility - that which a person is expected and obligated to do and for which he/she is accountable. See   Duty.

• Results - the consequences and outcomes of a process or an assessment. They may be tangible such as products or scores, or intangible such as new understandings or changes in behavior.

• Review - to examine again or to look at thoroughly in order to assign a grade, make a judgment, come to a conclusion, or evaluate.

• Reward - that which is given to recognize deserving performance or service. See  Bonus Pay, Incentive Pay, Merit Pay, Sanction.

• RIF - See   Reduction in Force.

• Rubric - See   Scoring Rubric.

Glossary S thru Z

Glossary References

Agencies and Associations with resources related to teacher evaluation.