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Teacher Evaluation Kit
Complete Glossary
- Ability - the present or potential capacity of a
teacher to perform a task or to use skills, including ones that are
intellectual and physical. See
Aptitude,
Performance,
Skill,
Talent.
- Accountability - the responsibility for
implementing a process or procedure, for justifying decisions made, and for
results or outcomes produced. Teachers are often said to be accountable for
their students' learning in the assigned subject area, within the limits of
the students' abilities and the time and resources available. See
Responsibility.
- Accuracy - (1) the degree to which the data and
information collected about the performance of a teacher are precise and
correct measures of performance and are free from error. (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 eight sets of standards: Defined Role,
Work Environment, Documentation of Procedures, Valid Measurement, Reliable
Measurement, Systematic Data Control, Bias Control, Monitoring Evaluation
Systems. See
Bias,
Conflict of Interest,
Credible,
Error of Measurement,
Feasibility,
Propriety,
Quality Check,
Rater
Effect,
Utility,
Verification.
- ADA - Americans with Disability Act. See
Handicapping Conditions.
- Administrative Feasibility (of
Teacher Evaluation) - the extent to which appropriate data are readily
available or can be obtained, produced, or interpreted with available
resources such as staff expertise, time, and equipment. See
Feasibility.
- Administrative Responsibility
(for Teacher Evaluation) - accountability, as stated in the teacher
evaluation policy, for the conduct of the evaluation process and for the
decisions made based on the evaluation results. See
Accountability.
- Administrator - the person who is
responsible for the management of the organization within which the teacher
works, who usually is in charge of the evaluation of teachers, and who is
accountable for the quality of teaching and for ensuring that teachers have,
to the extent possible, the resources needed to perform their duties and
professional responsibilities. See
Supervisor.
- Adverse Impact - a difference between
certain identified groups in the effect of assessment and evaluation results
on personnel decisions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC)
indicator for possible adverse impact is that the selection rate for any
race, sex, or ethnic group is less than 80% of the rate for the group with
the highest rate. The pool of candidates in which adverse impact is said to
have occurred must include only qualified candidates. See
Fairness.
- Affective Domain - the range of
feelings and emotions including interests, attitudes, motivations, values,
and appreciations. See
Cognitive Domain,
Psychomotor Domain.
- Aggregating - The combining of two ro more related scores into one
total score.
- Alignment - the process of strengthening the
linkage between job responsibilities and teacher evaluation systems, or
between curriculum/instruction and assessment.
- Alternative Assessment - a
variety of assessment approaches that do not use multiple-choice or
closed-response items, but instead require the teacher or students to
generate or produce responses. Examples of alternative assessments are
portfolios, interviews, and observations. See
Authentic Assessment.
- Analysis - the treatment of data and information
in order to elicit certain statistical data, assessment results, and
evaluative conclusions. See
Congruence Analysis,
Quality Check,
Synthesis.
- Analytic Scoring - an approach to
scoring or rating that considers various parts or aspects of the attribute or
performance being assessed, for use in profiling strengths and weaknesses or
in obtaining an overall summary. Scores may be recorded as a check mark for
presence or absence of an attribute, marked on a numerical or descriptive
rating scale, or put in the form of a brief comment. See
Holistic Scoring,
Primary Trait Scoring,
Scoring,
Scoring Rubric.
- Anecdotal Record - a short narrative of
an event or activity that may be used to support generalizations about the
performance of a teacher.
-
Announced Observation, Visit - an observation or visit that is prearranged with the teacher to
be evaluated and for which the teacher can prepare.
- Appeal Process - a procedure by which the
teacher or another stakeholder can challenge the results of or a decision
rendered based upon an evaluation of a teacher. An appeal may lead to a
formal hearing. See
,
Grievance,
Hearing,
Stakeholders.
- Aptitude - the potential for acquiring abilities
or developing competencies. See
Ability,
Capacity,
Competency.
- Arbitrary - a characteristics of a decision or
action that is uninformed or is based upon one person's judgment or
discretion. See
Capricious.
- Artifact - (1) a product developed by the teacher
or another individual. Examples include a sample lesson plan based on a
designated chapter in a book, or a letter to parents from the teacher
regarding a upcoming change in homework policy. (2) an artificial statistical
phenomenon or result (e.g., test ceiling and floor, lack of reliability,
limited sampling of teaching performance). (3) that which is artificial,
contrived, or fictitious.
- Assessment - the process of or instrument for
measuring, quantifying, and/or describing those aspects of teaching related
to the attributes covered by the evaluation. See
Evaluation.
- Assessment Center - the process of
using simulation techniques to measure teaching performance. This term does
not refer to a specific location. Depending on the nature of the
assessment, it could be implemented at any of several locations. See
Simulation.
- Assessor - the person who collects data and who
measures attributes related to the performance of a teacher. Assessors may
be principals, other teachers, students, parents, district staff, or other
persons. This term includes, but is not limited to, the interviewer, judge,
observer, and scorer. See
Evaluator,
Interviewer,
Judge,
Observer,
Scorer.
- Attribute - a characteristic, capacity, or
perceived quality of an individual or of a thing or place such as the work
context or the school. For individuals, attributes include, but are not
limited to, attitude, ability, behavior, skill, knowledge, or interest.
See
Construct.
- Audience - those individuals who have a potential
interest in the results of teacher performance assessment and evaluation and
in the quality of teaching. See
Stakeholders.
- Audit - an independent quality check and
verification of the assessment and evaluation of a teacher. See
Monitoring,
Quality Check,
Verification.
- Authentic Assessment - an
assessment approach that has been designed to provide a realistic task,
simulation, or problem related to that attribute or performance being
measured. See
Alternative
Assessment,
Portfolio,
Simulation.
- Bargaining Unit - See
Collective Bargaining Unit.
- BARS - See
Behaviorally-Anchored Rating Scale.
- Behavior Summary Scale (BSS) - a
type of rating assessment in which judgments about teacher performance are
related to general or abstract benchmarks representing various levels of
performance. See
Behaviorally-Anchored Rating Scale,
Rating,
Scale (Rating).
- Behavioral Checklist - See
Checklist.
- Behavioral Observation Scale
(BOS) - a type of rating assessment in which judgments about teacher
performance are related to a series of statements describing specific
examples of observable teacher behaviors. See
Observable,
Rating,
Scale (Rating).
- Behaviorally-Anchored
Rating Scale (BARS) - a type of rating assessment in which judgments
about teacher performance are empirically linked to specific examples of
incumbent performance at each level of effectiveness on the rating scale.
See
Behavior Summary Scale,
Rating,
Scale (Rating)
- Behaviors - the actions of the teacher or
others, including the students, that are specific and observable.
- Benchmark - a referenced behavior for comparing
observed performance at a given level. See
Holistic Scoring,
Scoring Rubric.
- Bias - (1) a systematic tendency toward a lack of
objectivity, fairness, or impartiality on the part of the assessor or
evaluator, often based on personal preferences and inclinations. (2)
systematic error in the assessment instrument and procedures, or in the
interpretation and evaluation process. See
Contamination,
Differential Functioning,
Error of Measurement,
Fairness,
Rater Effect.
- Bonus Pay - an additional sum given to a
teacher for substantive accomplishments (e.g., completing a graduate degree,
receiving professional certification, earning an additional credential or
license). See
Incentive Pay,
Longevity Pay,
Merit Pay.
- BOS - See
Behavioral Observation Scale.
- BSS - See
Behavior Summary Scale.
-
Capacity - the potential for acquiring skills and
competencies through such means as self-study, on-the-job training,
mentoring, coaching, and professional development activities. See
Competency,
Skill.
- Capricious - that which is unpredictable,
unaccountable, impulsive, or without a supporting rationale, or which is
characterized by implied unruly or whimsical behavior. See
Arbitrary.
- Career Ladder - an incremental scale of
professional teaching positions through which a teacher advances, based on
evaluations of past performance.
-
Ceiling - the highest limit of performance that
can be assessed or measured by an instrument or process. Individuals who
perform near to or above this upper limit are said to have reached the
ceiling, and the assessment may not be providing a valid estimate of their
performance levels. Such individuals should be given a more difficult
assessment of the same attribute if it is necessary to differentiate between
higher levels of performance. See
Floor,
Functional-Level Testing.
- Central Tendency Effect - a type
of rater effect in which an assessor or an evaluator tends to rate teachers
toward the mid-point of a scale or to judge the performance as average or
neutral when it is actually well above or well below the middle level of the
scale. This use of term central tendency is not the same as that use in
statistics. See
Rater Effect.
- Certification - (1) official recognition of
advanced status, outstanding performance or a high level of expertise in the
profession, usually granted to incumbent teachers who have several years of
teaching experience. (2) sometimes certification is used as a synonym for
credential or license. See
Credentialing,
License,
NBPTS.
- Checklist - an instrument that specifies
criteria or indicators of merit on which the assessor or evaluator marks the
presence or absence of the attributes or teaching behaviors being assessed.
- Client - the agency or individual who commissioned
the evaluation and to whom the evaluator has legal responsibility.
- Clinical Supervision - a process of
collaboration between the teacher and the supervisor or administrator,
designed to improve the teacher's performance. This process usually includes
pre-observation conference, observation and data collection, data analysis,
post-observation conference, and post-observation conference evaluation
report.
- Coaching - the assistance given to teachers in
ways that will improve their job performance, not just for the purpose of
doing better on the evaluation, but also for the purpose of improved teaching
and increased student learning. Coaching can include reviewing teacher
products related to the domains being assessed, tutoring on the attributes
being assessed, and offering feedback on the teachers' strengths and
weaknesses. Coaching can also refer to teachers coaching students so that
the students will perform better on a measure used as an indicator of the
teacher's performance. See
Mentoring,
Peer Review,
Test Score Pollution,
Training.
- Code- a symbol, either numeric or alphabetic, used to
represent attributes or words (e.g., G3 = Third Grade, M = Math, TQ = Teacher
asks question).
- Coding - the process of transforming data,
evidence, information, judgments, notes, and responses to numeric and/or
alphabetic codes. See
Code.
- Cognitive Domain - the range of
knowledge and knowledge-related skills needed for learners to achieve
different types of instructional objectives. These range from perception to
knowledge of facts and acquisition of skills to higher-order inference.
See
Affective Domain,
Psychomotor Domain.
- Collective Bargaining
Agreement - a written document, approved by representatives of
administrators, policymakers, and teachers, that addresses concerns such as
teacher salaries, benefits, working conditions, evaluations, terminations and
dismissals, appeal procedures, fair hearings, teachers' rights, and other
aspects of teaching. See
Contract,
Hearing,
Teachers' Rights.
- Collective Bargaining Unit -
a group that represents the teachers' interests in negotiations with
administrators and policymakers. See
Teachers 'Rights.
- Combined Model - a scoring or evaluation
procedure that uses features of both compensatory and conjunctive models.
See
Compensatory Model,
Conjunctive Model.
- Comments - the information provided by anyone
involved in the evaluation process (e.g., teacher being evaluated, observer,
interviewer, data collector, judge, analyzer, evaluator) concerning incidents
or factors that could affect the quality and accuracy of the assessment data
and the judgments and evaluations made (e.g., fire alarm sounded during the
pre-conference interview). See
Critical Information,
Notes.
- Comparability - the similarity of phenomena
(e.g., attributes, performances, assessments, data sources) being examined.
The amount or degree of comparability is often used to determine the
appropriateness of using one phenomenon in lieu of another and to help ensure
fairness. See
Equivalence,
Fairness.
- Compensatory Model - an evaluation or
scoring procedure that permits trade-offs of one attribute against another
(i.e., low performance on one attribute can be offset by high performance on
another). Most compensatory models have an absolute minimal level of
performance for each attribute, below which trade-offs are not permitted.
See
Combined Model,
Conjunctive Model,
Disjunctive Model.
- Competence (Teacher) - a teacher's
repertoire of competencies. See
Competency.
- Competency (Teaching) - a knowledge, skill,
ability, personal quality, experience, or other characteristic that is
applicable to the profession of teaching. See
Competence.
- Component - one of the parts or processes in
an evaluation system (e.g., pre-observation conference, group interview,
classroom observation, portfolio).
- Composite Score - a score that combines
two or more scores or results for the same or related attributes. See
Weighted Score.
- Computerized Assessment - the
use of computers to measure performance on some attribute, not necessarily an
attribute related to computers and technology.
- Concurrent Validity - See
Validity.
- Conference - a meeting between the teacher and
the assessor or evaluator to discuss mutual concerns and to promote the
understanding of the assessments being used, the evaluation procedures, the
criteria and standards being applied, and how the results will be used. The
conference can also be an opportunity to collect teacher responses if the
conference includes an interview. See
Debriefing Interview,
Interview,
Responses.
- Confidentiality - the protection of data
and information from persons other than those authorized to have access.
See
Consent,
Informed Consent,
Privacy Rights,
Propriety,
Reporting.
- Configural Scoring Rule - a rule
for interpreting a pattern of scores on two or more assessments or parts of
one assessment for the same teacher. See
Pattern,
Synthesis,
Weighted Score.
- Conflict of Interest - a situation
in which the private interests of someone involved in the assessment or
evaluation process (e.g., interviewer, rater, scorer, evaluator) have an
impact (either positive or negative) on the quality of the evaluation
activities, the accuracy of the data, or the results of the evaluation.
See
Accuracy,
Propriety.
- Congruence Analysis - the
verification of data by using more than one instrument or source of data for
assessing performance on the same criterion. See
Multiple Measures,
Triangulation,
Verification.
- Conjunctive Model - an evaluation or
scoring procedure that requires the teacher to attain a minimal level of
performance on all attributes assessed. See
Combined Model,
Compensatory Model,
Disjunctive Model.
- Consent - the granting of permission by a teacher,
or by the parents of students, concerning the collection, use, retention, or
access to assessment data and information. See
Confidentiality,
Informed Consent,
Reporting.
- Consequences - any outcomes that occur as a
result of implementing an assessment or measurement process. For example,
just for the observation by the supervisor, a teacher uses a hands-on
activity from the district's curriculum guide because the evaluation criteria
encourage hands-on learning activities and require that the teachers
implement the district curriculum. See
Unintended Consequences,
Validity-Consequential Basis of,
Validity-Systemic.
- Consequential Basis of
Validity - See
Validity.
- Considered Necessary - that which
is judged to be required, but may not be sufficient, to obtain an accurate
and valid estimate of teaching performance or to make a sound decision about
a teacher.
- Consistency - (1) implementation of procedures in an identical or
near identical manner across individuals or over time. (2) obtaining the same or similar results
across multiple administrations or scoring of an assessment.
(3) a type of rater effect in which an assessor or an evaluator tends to rate or to interpret
different data and
information in a similar way. Such a rater tends to assign the same grade or
rating to all assessment results and products without regard to their
quality or to the scoring rubric. See
Inconsistency,
Rater Effect,
Scoring Rubric.
- Construct - an attribute of an individual or a
phenomenon that is not directly observable, but which is theoretically based
or is inferred from empirical evidence (e.g., a teacher being enthusiastic
about the subject area). See
Attribute,
Operational Definition,
Operationalize,
Valildity-Construct.
- Construct Validity - See
Validity.
- Contamination - a tendency for the
assessor's data, the scorer's ratings and judgments, or the evaluator's
conclusions to be influenced or confounded by irrelevant knowledge about the
teacher, other personnel, or other factors that have no bearing on the
teacher's level of performance. See
Bias,
Error of Measurement,
Rater Effect.
- Content Validity - See
Validity.
- Context (Teaching) - the environment
within which the teacher works. This includes, but is not limited to,
physical facilities and setting, types of students, school and community
characteristics, resource availability (staff, materials, equipment, funding,
time), classroom climate, school climate, degree of support provided by
others, and demands made on the teacher. See
Critical Information,
Induction,
Learning Environment.
- Contextual Variables - See
Notes,
Variable.
- Contract - a binding agreement (written or oral)
between two or more parties concerning expectations, responsibilities, and
possibly remuneration or award of each party. See
Collective Bargaining Agreement,
Plan of Assistance.
- Contrast Effect - a type of rater effect
in which an assessor or an evaluator tends to compare one teacher to other
teachers rather than comparing that teacher's level of performance to the
standards. See
Rater Effect.
- Correlation - the degree of relationship
(linear or curvelinear) between two variables, scores, or assessments.
Correlations, by themselves, do not imply cause-and-effect linkages between
the two variables. See
Effective Teaching,
Validity Coefficient,
Variable.
- Corroborating Evidence - the
documentation that confirms or strengthens, and that provides support for
other documentation on the same attribute, competency, or situation.
See
Documentation,
Evidence,
Triangulation.
- Cost - the quantity of resources required in order to
achieve a desired end. The cost of teacher evaluation involves such factors
as time, energy, disruption, foregone opportunities, and stress that are not
completely reducible to monetary terms.
- CRA - Civil Rights Act of 1964. See
Due Process.
- CREATE - The federally-funded research and
development Center for Research on Educational Accountability and Teacher
Evaluation, located in The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University
in Kalamazoo and directed by Dr. Daniel Stufflebeam. CREATE was established
on November 1, 1990, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education
(USED), Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) through October
31, 1995.
- Credentialing - the process of reviewing
potential teachers' qualifications and issuing licenses to teach. See
Certification,
License.
- Credible - that which is worthy of confidence and
acceptance by others, usually based on the expertise, trustworthiness, and/or
reliability of the source of the evidence or judgment. Credible does not
necessarily mean accurate or valid. See
Accuracy,
Expert,
Trust,
Validity-Face.
- Criterion, Criteria - a
dimension along which performance (e.g., effective teaching) is rated or
judged as successful or meritorious. Each criterion falls within a
domain covered by the evaluation system and is defined by
elements, indicators, and descriptors (see below for
examples). The indicators and descriptors should be stated specifically and
in measurable or observable terms. Satisfactory levels of performance on
criteria are specified by standards. See
Foundation,
Standard.
- Example of a Criterion - The teacher can select and create
materials that are related to the subject area and are developmentally
appropriate for the students.
- Domain - a broad area covered by a teacher
evaluation system and for which criteria and standards are specified for assessing performances in
that domain.
Example of Domain - I. Knowledge of
Instructional Design
- Element - a major category of teacher knowledge, skills,
abilities, behaviors, and attributes within a domain.
Examples of
Elements for Domain I. - I.A. Planning of Courses and
Lessons I.B. Selection and Creation of Instructional
Materials
- Indicator - for each element, the types of knowledge, skills,
abilities, behaviors, and attributes that are empirically or by definition
connected to the criterion.
Examples of Indicators for Element
I.B. - I.B.1. Materials selected/created fit into instructional
plan. I.B.2. Materials selected/created are current, correct,
developmentally appropriate, and comprehensive. I.B.3. Materials
created by the teacher are readable to the students in terms of level of
content difficulty, design, and printing quality.
- Descriptor - for each indicator, a specific example of the
performancebeing assessed.
Examples of Descriptors for Indicator
I.B.1. - I.B.1.a. Teacher's handout refers to some topics covered
in previous lessons. I.B.1.b. Homework assignment addresses two
of the district's instructional goals and objectives in this subject area for
this grade level.
- Criterion-Related Validity -
See
Validity.
- Critical Incident - a significant and
observable episode or performance (effective or ineffective) in a teacher's
career that alters the direction of subsequent teaching behaviors,
activities, or events. Such events may include noteworthy accomplishments,
substantive improvement, and/or significant failures that are not typical of
the teacher's performance, but which should be considered as potential
information for the evaluation of that teacher's performance. See
Critical Incident Appraisal.
- Critical Incident Appraisal
- the use of documentation concerning critical incidents when evaluating
and making decisions about a teacher's current and potential performance.
See
Critical Incident,
Documentation.
- Critical Information - the
knowledge about the teacher being evaluated or the assessment instruments,
evaluation process, and/or working conditions and teaching context that must
be known to avoid incorrect interpretations of results. See
Context (Teaching).
- Critical Score - See
Cutting Score,
Passing Score.
- Curricular Validity - See
Validity.
- Curriculum - (1) a comprehensive overview,
including activities planned for delivery to the students, the scope of
content, the sequence of materials, interpretation and balance of subject
matter, and motivational, instructional, and assessment techniques to be
used. (2) a set of ordered intended learning outcomes.
- Cutting Score - a score that marks the
difference between two levels of teaching performance (e.g., good and
excellent). When the difference is between minimally acceptable and not
acceptable, or pass and not pass, it is referred to as a cut score, critical
score, or passing score. See
Passing Score.
- Dance of the Lemons - the practice
of reassigning teachers who are incompetent or who are performing below
acceptable levels to other positions in the school or the district. This
practice is also called "pass the turkey" or "turkey trot." See
Incompetence.
- Data - the information and evidence gathered during
the assessment process for use in determining the level of teaching
performance. See
Evidence,
Extant Data,
Information.
- Data Collection Procedures -
the steps and sources used to obtain qualitative and quantitative data and
information about a teacher's qualifications and performance. See
Procedures (Evaluation).
- Data Integration - the merging of
related data for use in scoring, judging, and evaluating.
- Data Sources - the persons, documents,
products, activities, events, and records from which the data are obtained.
- DBTE - See
Duties-Based Teacher Evaluation.
- Debriefing Interview - a series of
questions asked after an assessment activity to clarify behaviors and
activities, to fill in missing information, to encourage a teacher to reflect
of his/her performance, and to identify future directions and plans for
improving performance. See
Conference,
Interview.
- Decision Rules - the guidelines for
determining the level of merit, value, or worth of an aspect of a teacher's
performance from available and relevant data and information, or for
connecting those performance levels with subsequent actions such as hiring,
job assignment, tenure, or licensure.
- Defensible - an action, conclusion, or
statement that is explainable or justifiable, based on a solid foundation and
policy, explicit evaluation procedures, valid assessments, and sound
evaluation and decision-making practices.
- Definition - the description, explanation, or
interpretation of various aspects of the evaluation process (e.g., attribute,
domain, standard, instrument, assessor).
- Demonstration (Performance)
-< a specified assessment task, procedure, or activity that the teacher
implements and during which performance of that teacher is observed.
See
Exhibition.
- Descriptor - See
Criterion.
- Desired Outcomes - the results or
products that a training program, process, instructional unit, or learning
activity strives to achieve, as defined in measurable terms. See
Goal,
Objectives.
- Developmentally Appropriate
- a characteristic of an assessment task that reflects the skills and
knowledge which teachers and students, with a given level of training and
experience, have had a reasonable chance of acquiring or learning. See
Fairness.
- Diagnosis - the process of determining a
teacher's strengths and weaknesses, based on the results of the assessments
use in the evaluation. Diagnosis is an essential preliminary to preparing a
professional development plan for a teacher or a plan of assistance in cases
where remediation is needed. See
Plan of Assistance,
Remediation.
- Differential Functioning - a
characteristic of an assessment approach, task, instrument, or evaluation
system that yields higher results for one group than another group, even
though both groups have the same level of ability or competence on that
aspect of teaching. See
Bias.
- Differential Prediction - the
extent to which a measure estimates future performance on the same attribute
differently for two or more groups of teachers who vary on relevant
characteristics (e.g., years of teaching experience, special training
completed).
- Discrepancy - the difference in results
between two or more raters or scorers on the same assessment, or between two
or more evaluators concerning the same teacher. See
Reliability.
- Disjunctive Model - an evaluation or
scoring procedure that requires the teacher to achieve a minimal level of
performance on only one of the attributes assessed. See
Compensatory Model,
Conjunctive Model.
- Dismissal - the involuntary termination of
employment which should be based upon a teacher's level of performance,
school staffing needs, or reductions and layoffs. See
Forced Resignation,
Hearing,
Incompetence,
Reduction in Force,
Tenure.
- Documentation - the collection or
compilation of all tangible materials, records, and forms used in the
assessment of a teacher and the evaluation of teaching performance.
See
Record (noun).
- Documenting - the process of recording and
providing tangible evidence and information about the performance of a
teacher.
- Domain - See
Criterion.
- DOTT - Duties of the Teacher. (Scriven, 1993).
Kalamazoo, MI. Center for Research on Educational Accountability and Teacher
Evaluation, The Evaluation Center, Western Michigan University.
- Drift - See
Rater Drift.
- Due Process - a teacher's right to fair and
impartial treatment as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and Bill of
Rights, by various laws (e.g., Civil Rights Act of 1964), and by related
procedural requirements. See Appeal
Process,
Dismissal,
Hearing,
Tenure.
- Duties-Based Teacher Evaluation
(DBTE) - a teacher evaluation approach that is based on what a teacher is
legally and professionally required to do as a teacher. Duties and
professional responsibilities are specified, to a limited degree, in state
laws and regulations, school district policies, job descriptions, and the
normal expectations and demands for a given teaching context. See
Teacher Norms.
- Duty - that which a teacher is legally required and
morally obligated to do (or not do) as part of his/her job. See
Duties-Based Evaluation,
Responsibility.
- EEOC - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
See
Adverse Impact.
- Effective Teaching - those teaching
practices that lead to desirable results such as student learning as measured
by standardized tests. Often such practices are identified based on
correlational research, referred to a process-product research, that does not
indicate a cause-and-effect link between certain teaching practices and
student learning. See
Correlation,
Teacher Effectiveness.
- Effectiveness - an attribute of those
schools, teachers, programs, and approaches that meet their stakeholders'
needs. See
Efficiency,
Stakeholders.
- Efficiency - an attribute of those schools,
teachers, programs, and approaches that balance effectiveness against
considerations of costs (i.e., are effective with a minimum use of
resources). See
Effectiveness.
- Element - See
Criterion.
- Environment - See
Context (Teaching),
Learning
Environment.
- Equitable - that which is fair, impartial, and
just, and which provides equal opportunity for all. See
Fairness.
- Equity - a quality or state that is fair,
impartial, and just. See
Equitable,
Fairness.
- Equivalence - the comparability of two or more
parallel measures that have been designed to assess the same aspect of
teaching and to yield similar evaluation results regardless of the measure
used or the scoring/rating procedure applied (e.g., two different social
studies textbook chapters to be analyzed as part of a semi-structured
interview; two essay questions on teaching the same content area in math, but
to different types of student groups). See
Comparability.
- Error - the extent to which a score, assessment, or calculation is
incorrect or inaccurate. See
Accuracy,
Error of Measurement.
- Error of Measurement - the
difference between a teacher's obtained score and his/her true score on an
assessment that is due to factors beyond the control of that teacher,
including lack of reliability in the assessment instrument or process,
variability of settings of the assessment, limited sampling of teacher
performance, bias of the assessor, rater effects, and interactions among such
factors. See
Assessor,
Bias,
Contamination,
Obtained Score,
Rater Effect,
Reliability,
Sampling of Performance,
True
Score.
- Estimate - an approximation of a true score,
parameter, or value. A rating of a teacher's portfolio is an estimate of the
quality of that portfolio and, indirectly, the performance of that teacher.
Because no instrument or statistical procedure can provide an exact (or true)
score or value, essentially all data are estimates. The smaller the error of
measurement, the more precise the estimate of the true score or value.
See
Error of Measurement,
Measure (verb),
Obtained Score,
Score,
True Score.
- Ethical - performing the evaluation or behaving in accordance with a
moral code of conduct that addresses such issues as the well-being of the teacher and his/her
students, the good of the school and its community, and the innate rights of individuals.
- Evaluand - that which is being evaluated (e.g.,
program, personnel, product, policy, proposal, procedure). See
Evaluator,
Evaluee.
- Evaluation - the systematic process of
determining the merit, value, and worth of someone (the evaluee, such as a
teacher, student, or employee) or something (the evaluand, such as a product,
program, policy, procedure, or process). See
Assessment,
Teacher Evaluation.
- Evaluation Stages - the major steps in
the teacher evaluation process (e.g., orientation meeting; distribution of
copies of job descriptions, evaluation procedures, and timelines; scheduling
of the first conference and the first formal observation).
- Evaluation System - See
Teacher Evaluation System.
- Evaluator - a person who assembles data and
information collected about a teacher, analyzes them, makes judgments as to
whether that teacher's performance level meets the pre-specified standards,
prepares a summary report, writes recommendations, and may provide feedback
to the teacher, directly or through another person. In general, one
evaluator determines the overall merit, value, and/or worth of the evaluee.
See
Assessor,
Evaluand,
Evaluee.
- Evaluee, Evaluatee - the person
whose qualifications and performance are being evaluated. See
Evaluand,
Evaluator.
- Evidence - the documentation and verbal
statements by credible witnesses (e.g., students, peers, principal)
concerning the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors of a teacher.
Evidence is used both to generate and to justify judgments about a teacher's
performance for purposes of evaluation. See
Corroborating Evidence,
Credible,
Data,
Inference,
Validity - Evidential Basis of.
- Excellence - a quality or state of high or
superior performance, or of having virtues and values surpassing most others.
- Exemplary Teacher - a teacher whose
level on some aspect of performance is regarded as deserving of imitation and
modeling. See
Modeling.
- Exhibition - an inclusive demonstration of
skills or competencies. The performance is judged against standards of
excellence known to teachers ahead of time. Typically, these are live
performances, often interdisciplinary, and may require individual creativity
as well as a display of developed skills. Exhibitions can include individual
or group/collaborative projects produced over an extended period of time.
See
Demonstration (Performance),
Group/Collaborative Product.
- Expectation - the anticipated performance of a
teacher. The performance of a teacher can be affected by the expectations
that the assessor or evaluator has for the teacher being evaluated. If the
evaluator has high expectations for the teacher being assessed, there is an
increased likelihood of the teacher performing at a higher level than he/she
might otherwise; holding low expectations for a teacher can reduce
performance levels. Sometimes the opposite impact can occur. Too high
expectations can undermine a teacher's confidence, while too low expectations
can impel the teacher to strive for greater performance. The same applies
with regard to teachers' expectations of students.
- Experience - that which is acquired through
exposure to or participation in an activity or process. See
On-the-Job Training,
Track Record.
- Expert - one who has demonstrated a high level of
proficiency in a knowledge area or skill. See
Credible,
Proficiency.
- Extant Data - existing data, information,
and observations that have been collected or that are available for use in
the assessment and evaluation processes. See
Data.
- Face Validity - See
Validity.
- Fairness - impartiality. Fairness refers to such
aspects of the assessment program and evaluation system as equal opportunity
to acquire the knowledge and skills to be assessed, use of developmentally
appropriate assessments, sound procedures, appropriate use of evaluation
results, and reasonable demands on the teachers being evaluated in terms of
such factors as time, costs, and personal resources required. See
Adverse Impact,
Bias,
Comparability,
Developmentally Appropriate,
Equitable,
Equity.
- Feasibility - (1) the likelihood or extent to
which appropriate data and information are readily available or can be
obtained, produced, or interpreted with available resources such as staff,
expertise, time, and equipment. (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 three sets of standards: Practical Procedures, Political
Viability, Fiscal Viability. See
Accuracy,
Administrative Feasibility,
Propriety,
Utility.
- Feedback - the information and recommendations
provided to a teacher about his/her performance based on the results of that
teacher's evaluation and designed to help the teacher improve his/her
performance and make decisions concerning professional development and
improvement. See
Reporting.
- First-Impression Effect - a
rater effect in which an assessor or an evaluator tends to base judgments and
evaluations on early opinions rather than on a complete picture and tends to
distort subsequent information to fit the initial opinion. See
Halo Effect,
Rater Effect.
- Floor - the lowest limit of performance that can be
assessed or measured by an instrument or process. Individuals who perform
near to or below this lower limit are said to have reached the floor, and the
assessment may not be providing a valid estimate of their performance levels.
Such individuals should be given a less difficult assessment of the same
attribute if it is necessary to differentiate between lower levels of
performance. See
Ceiling,
Functional-Level Testing.
- Forced-Choice Response - a format for a test,
assessment, rating, or survey item where the respondent is given a limited number of options from
which to select an answer. In cases where there is a correct or best answer, the other options are
referred to as distractors. Examples of forced-choice items are multiple-choice questions,
true/false items, checklists , and a five-point rating scale. See
Open-Ended Response.
- Forced Resignation - a termination of
employment in which the teacher leaves against his/her will, but which is
recorded as voluntary (e.g., early retirement instead of layoff). See
Dismissal,
Reduction in Force,
Tenure.
- Formal - the conducting of an assessment or
evaluation activity in accordance with a prescribed plan, structure, or
advance notice. See
Informal.
- Format - the structure of assessment instruments,
evaluation forms, and materials. Format includes shape, size, mode of
delivery (e.g., paper versus computer, in-person versus telephone, audio tape
versus video tape), and general design or layout of the materials and
equipment.
- Formative Teacher
Evaluation - an evaluation conducted primarily for the purpose of
improving the teacher through identifying that teacher's strengths and
weaknesses. Formative evaluation is usually done by a supervisor or another
teacher rather than an administrator and is typically part of professional
development. See
Professional Development,
Summative Teacher Evaluation.
- Foundation - the rationale for the attributes
and domains covered by the teacher evaluation. Foundations can include
teacher duties and professional responsibilities, research on teaching,
governmental policies, professional expertise, and theories of teaching and
learning. Through descriptive or prescriptive analysis, foundations become
the basis upon which the domains to be covered by the evaluation are
determined and the elements, indicators, and descriptors are identified. This
approach will help ensure that the criteria reflect the school's and
district's missions and policies. See
Criterion,
Model.
- Frequency of Evaluation - how
often an evaluation is conducted (e.g., every year for a tenured teacher,
three times a year for a non-tenured teacher). See
Schedule,
Timeline.
- Functional-Level Testing - the
administration of an instrument or assessment process whose difficulty level
is appropriate for the individuals being tested, but not necessarily for the
age or grade level or group membership of that individual. Functional-level
testing refers to the individual being tested, not to the group for whom the
assessment was designed nor the group to which the individual belongs. See
Ceiling,
Floor.
- Generalizability - the appropriateness of
using results from one context or purpose in another context or for another
purpose. See
Context (Teaching),
Situational Specificity,
Transferability,
Transportability,
Validity,
Validity Generalization Study.
- Goal - a statement of intent or an end that a
person or a group strives to attain. A goal tends to be more general than an
objective. See
Desired Outcomes,
Instructional Goal,
Objectives,
Performance
Goal.
- Grievance - a claim by a teacher who has been
evaluated that the results misrepresent the teacher's level of performance. A
grievance may lead to the filing of an appeal and possibly to a formal
hearing. See
Appeal Process,
Hearing.
- Group/Collaborative Product
- the outcome or result of two or more teachers working together to complete
an assessment task for use in evaluation (e.g., a team of teachers preparing
a joint review of prospective field trips). See
Exhibition.
- Halo Effect - a type of rater effect in
which an assessor or an evaluator tends to base overall judgments or
evaluations on selected pieces of information rather than on all available
relevant information. See
First-Impression Effect,
Rater Effect.
- Handicapping Condition - a
disability (auditory, visual, other physical, emotional, learning) that
affects a teacher's or student's performance on an assessment if the
assessment is administered under standard conditions. Adjustments made for
such disabilities include use of an amanuensis, computerized testing,
large-print materials, and extended time limits.
- Hearing - an opportunity for a teacher facing
dismissal to appeal the decision by presenting arguments, proofs, evidence,
and testimony by others. The process includes several steps such as
discovery, direct examination, cross and re-direct examinations, closing
arguments, deliberation, and the issuance of a written ruling. See
Appeal Process,
Collective Bargaining Agreement,
Dismissal,
Due Process,
Grievance.
- High Inference - the types of judgments,
decisions, and conclusions that are based on complex inductive reasoning and
that require a high degree of subjectivity on the part of the individual
(e.g., since the classroom noise level is excessive, students are off task).
See
Inference,
Low Inference,
Subjective.
- High-Stakes Testing - an assessment
to which important consequences, such as licensure or hiring, are attached to
the results. See
Test Score Pollution.
- Holistic Scoring - the assignment of a
single score that reflects an overall impression of performance on a measure.
Scores are defined by prescribed descriptors of levels of performance, or
scoring rubrics. See
Analytic Scoring,
Benchmark,
Primary Trait Scoring,
Scoring,
Scoring Rubric.
- Incentive Pay - the allocation of special
payments or salary increments to a teacher who does different types of work
or assumes additional responsibilities (e.g., coaching an athletic team,
being a mentor teacher, teaching a particularly challenging group of students
or a difficult course). See
Bonus Pay,
Longevity Pay,
Merit Pay.
- Incompetence - the intentional or
unintentional failure to perform the duties and professional responsibilities
of the teaching job in a minimally acceptable manner as specified by the
employing district. Incompetence usually results in remediation,
reassignment, or dismissal. See
Dance of the Lemons,
Dismissal,
Remediation.
- Inconsistency - a type of rater effect in
which an assessor or an evaluator tends to rate or to interpret similar data
and information in different ways. See
Consistency,
Rater Effect.
- Indicator - See
Criterion.
- Induction - an initial period of exposure to a
school or work setting during which the teacher learns local policies and
practices and the norms of teaching in that setting. See
Context (Teaching),
Teacher Norms.
- Inference - a logical conclusion or judgment
that is explicitly supported by data, evidence, and information gathered as
part of the teacher evaluation process. See
Data,
Evidence,
High Inference,
Information,
Low Inference.
- Informal - the conducting of an assessment or
evaluation activity without a prescribed plan or structure, or with little or
no advance notice. See
Formal.
- Information - the knowledge about the
attributes and performance of a teacher, based on assessments, documentation,
and data sources used in the assessment and evaluation processes. See
Data,
Evidence,
Inference.
- Informed Consent - the agreement
between concerned parties about the data-gathering process and/or the
disclosure, reporting, and/or use of data, information, and/or results from a
teacher's assessment and evaluation. See
Confidentiality,
Consent,
Reporting.
- Input Variables - the activities,
materials, and teacher behaviors designed to improve student learning and
behavior. Examples include lesson plans, teacher knowledge of the topic being
taught, preparation of equipment, and teacher awareness of student
misconceptions. See
Outcome Variables,
Process Variable,
Variable.
- Instruction - the systematic provision of
information, opportunities, and resources to promote the development of a
repertoire of knowledge and skills. See
Training
- Instructional Goal - a statement of
what students are expected to learn in a given lesson, unit, course, program,
or across educational and training programs. See
Goal,
Objectives,
Performance Goal.
- Instrument - a device used to collect data,
information, and evidence. These devices can include tests, questionnaires,
application forms, interview schedules, checklists, rating scales, and
observation records. See
Measure(noun),
Test (noun).
- Interdisciplinary - the covering of
knowledge and skills from several academic subject areas and/or domains.
- Intern - a new teacher who receives support from a
mentor teacher as part of a professional development process. See
Mentor Teacher.
- Interview - a series of orally-delivered
questions designed to elicit responses concerning attitudes, information,
interests, knowledge, and opinions. Interviews may be conducted in person or
by telephone, and with one teacher or a group of teachers. The three major
types of interviews are: (1) structured, where all questions to be
asked by the interviewer are specified in advance; (2)
semi-structured, where the interviewer can asked other questions and
prompts in addition to the specified questions; and (3) unstructured,
where the interviewer has a list of topics, but no or few specified
questions. See
Conference,
Debriefing Interview,
Prompt,
Responses.
- Interviewer - the assessor who conducts the
interview, either in a face-to-face setting or by telephone, and makes a
record of the responses.
- Investigation - a systematic
examination, observation, or inquiry. Investigations can be: (1) a type of
assessment task or activity; or (2) a process conducted during or after the
administration of an assessment as part of a quality check (e.g., examining a
teacher's portfolio that has been assigned discrepant ratings by two raters,
comparing the observation summary record with the notes collected by the
observer).
- Irregularity (Procedural) - a variation form established rules,
standards, principles, or procedures in a manner that can lead to unjustifiable actions or
indefensible decisions. See
Procedures,
Standardized Conditions.
- Job Analysis - a technique for studying a
teaching job in terms of the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed
to perform the job in a minimally acceptable manner as well as the functions
and tasks that are performed as part of the job. This process may involve
observation of teachers while they are doing their jobs as well as interviews
with these teachers, and possibly their supervisors, and review of such
documents as job descriptions, school procedures, and teacher products.
- Job Assignment - the designated position
of a teacher, including the grade levels and the students to be taught, the
curricular areas to be covered, the work location, the duration of
employment, and non-instructional responsibilities.
- Job Description - a summary of the
qualifications, duties, responsibilities, physical and mental demands, and
working conditions associated with a specific job.
- Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation -
a group of professionals that developed 21 standards in the areas of
accuracy, feasibility, propriety, and utility for use in assessing personnel
evaluation systems (listed in the References ). See
Accuracy,
Feasibility,
Propriety,
Utility.
- Journal - a daily or weekly record of events which
teachers may be asked to keep as part of their teaching, self-assessment
activities, training, and/or professional development. See
Log (Teacher).
- Judge - the person who makes judgments for use in
evaluating the teacher. See
Assessor,
Evaluator,
Judgment.
- Judgment - an appraisal, decision, or opinion
about the performance level of a teacher with respect to the knowledge,
skill, ability, behavior, or attribute being assessed.
- Knowledge - the sum of the information and
experience the teacher has acquired or learned and is able to recall or use.
See
Competency,
Prerequisite Knowledge.
- KSAs - an abbreviation for knowledge, skills, and
abilities. See
Job Analysis.
- Learning Environment - the setting
in which student instruction occurs. See
Context (Teaching).
- Learning Outcomes - the products of
instruction or exposure to new knowledge or skills. Examples include the
mastery of a new skill or successful completion of a training program.
- Legally Defensible - an action,
conclusion, or statement that can be upheld under current legislation,
governmental mandates, and court decisions. See
Defensible.
- Leniency - a type of rater effect in which an
assessor or an evaluator tends to rate a teacher too high or to judge the
performance level as better than it actually is. See
Rater Effect,
Stringency.
- Lesson - the content that is to be taught or the
activity that is to be done during a specific period of instructional time.
See
Instruction.
- License - the approval by a governmental agency,
usually at the state level, for an individual to be a teacher in the
designated state, grade levels, subject areas, and specialties. Licensure
indicates that the candidate has met a minimum level of requirements,
designed to ensure the protection of student, public health, safety, and
welfare interests. See
Certification,
Credentialing.
- Log (Teacher) - a journal or diary,
maintained by the teacher, supervisor, assessor, or administrator, that
includes such topics as decisions, plans, activities, results, changes, and
reflections. The log can serve as a source of information for
self-assessment or an evaluation or can be included as part of a portfolio.
See
Journal,
Portfolio,
Reflection.
- Longevity Pay - the salary increases that
are based solely on accrued time of service. See
Bonus Pay,
Incentive Pay,
Merit Pay.
- Low Inference - the types of assessment
tasks, judgments, decisions, and conclusions that require a low degree of
subjectivity on the part of the judge or evaluator (e.g., teacher emphasizes
recall questions, based on a count of the types of questions asked of
students during a classroom observation and the questions on the teacher's
unit test). See
High Inference,
Inference,
Objective.
- 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:
- 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;
- Inter-Rater - the degree to which the measure yields
similar results for the same teacher at the same time with more than one assessor;
- Internal Consistency - the degree to which individual observations or items
consistently measure the same attribute; and
- 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
(RBTE) - 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.
- Sampling of Performance - the
selection of an array of teaching performances and settings to be evaluated
so that they are wide enough in range and large enough in numbers both to:
(1) cover the scope of the performances addressed by the evaluation system in
terms of representativeness and comprehensiveness, and (2) permit valid
inferences about performances to be made. See
Error of Measurement.
- Sanction - that which is given to encourage
improvement in less than satisfactory performance or service, or as a penalty
for poor performance. See
Reward.
- Scale (Rating) - a series of numerical or
descriptive ratings on a continuum used to assess or judge specific levels of
performance. See
Behaviorally-Anchored Rating Scale,
Rating.
- Schedule - the designated dates and times for
various activities related to the evaluation (e.g., when the classroom will
be observed, when the portfolio is to be submitted, when the teacher will be
interviewed). The schedule, which is part of the procedures, should also
indicate the location of such activities and the people who will be involved.
See
Frequency of Evaluation,
Timeline.
- Scope of Content - the extent of
coverage, by an instrument or process, of all knowledge, skills, abilities,
and behaviors to be measured, in terms of both breadth and depth of coverage.
- Score (noun) - the number of points earned
on a measure or the degree of success on an assessment of teacher attributes
or performance. Scores are usually expressed in numerical terms, but
sometimes in descriptive terms or graphically. See
Estimate,
Obtained Score.
- Scorer - an assessor who summarizes the results of
an assessment for use by an evaluator or decision maker. See
Assessor,
Evaluator,
Scoring.
- Scoring - the process of determining the value of a
performance on an indicator or criterion. See
Analytic Scoring,
Holistic Scoring,
Primary Trait Scoring,
Score,
Scorer.
- Scoring Dimension - an attribute or
facet of behavior or performance in a domain. Dimensions are usually
determined through logical or statistical analysis, and sometimes are
reported as part scores. See
Criterion-Domain.
- Scoring Rubric - a set of rules,
guidelines, or benchmarks at different levels of performance, or prescribed
descriptors for use in quantifying measures of teacher attributes and
performance. See
Analytic Scoring,
Holistic Scoring,
Primary Trait Scoring,
Protocol.
- Scripting - the writing of evidence and notes
throughout an assessment activity (e.g., interview, classroom observation)
about what is happening. Scripting does not include making judgments or
interpreting the evidence and notes. Scripting may be continuous throughout
the activity or intermittent at pre-specified time intervals (e.g., 3 minutes
on, 2 minutes off). See
Evidence,
Notes.
- Secondary 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 for
which it is desirable, but not crucial or important, that they be met or
addressed before the assessments are administered and the evaluation process
is implemented. See
Primary Standards,
Standards (Legal),
Standards (Professional),
Standards (Technical).
- Self-Assessment - the process of judging
one's own teaching performance for the purpose of self-improvement. A
teacher may use such techniques as self-viewing on a videotape, observing and
modeling exemplary teachers, filling out self-rating forms, completing
open-ended self-reports, keeping a log, compiling a portfolio, or using
self-study handbooks and materials. See
Reflection,
Self-Evaluation,
Self-Study Materials.
- Self-Evaluation - the process of
reviewing one's own behavior and student learning outcomes for the purpose of
monitoring and changing one's own teaching performance. See
Reflection,
Self-Assessment,
Student Learning Outcomes.
- Self-Report Measures - those
instruments in which teachers record their own recollections of events,
feelings, judgments, and attitudes. See
Self-Evaluation.
- Self-Study Materials - the programs
designed for use by a teacher in assessing his/her own teaching behaviors.
See
Self-Assessment.
- Sensitivity - the awareness and understanding
of other people's feelings, attitudes, social and cultural backgrounds,
ethnic traditions and customs, languages, interests, rights, and needs.
- Setting - the temporal and physical environment of
an event or activity. See
Context (Teaching),
Learning Environment.
- Similar-to-Me Effect - a type of
rater effect in which an assessor or an evaluator judges more favorably those
people seen as similar to himself/herself. See
Rater Effect.
- Simulation - an imitation of a typical job task
or situation to assess how well a teacher might implement such a task or
perform in an actual situation (e.g., asking a science teacher to prepare
slides for biology, having a music teacher listen to a tape and show how
he/she would conduct that piece of music using the musical score in front of
him/her, asking a fourth-grade teacher to develop and present a learning
activity on interpreting map symbols). See
Assessment Center,
Surrogate Task,
Task,
Work Simulation.
- Situational Specificity - the
extent to which it is appropriate to use an assessment conducted in one
setting or context for other settings or contexts. See
Context (Teaching),
Generalizability,
Transportability,
Validity.
- Skill - the ability to use knowledge in a practical
manner. See
Ability,
Capacity,
Competency,
Knowledge,
Talent.
- Specifications (Assessment)
- a delineation of the major attributes of an assessment to be developed,
including breadth and depth of content to be covered, level of difficulty,
format of the assessment materials, supplies and equipment needed, level of
complexity, administrative process (e.g., individual or group, location,
timing), scoring procedures, and numbers and types of items and tasks.
- Spontaneous Performance
Assessment - a measure based on observing, without prompting or
preannouncing, what a teacher does during non-assessment activities (e.g.,
the principal oversees one teacher helping another teacher prepare a plan for
working with a difficult student).
- Stakeholders<
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