1ces ty (CDS) Interlibrary Serv Ivers! Cc ~ oO ~ © om) Nn ° on vu a Cc © ”n CDS ILLiad TN#: 658300 NIALL Request Date: Borrower: RAPID:MSU ILL Number: -13581345 Call #: LB2805 .J68 Location: 5th Floor Periodicals Journal Title: Journal of schoo! leadership Volume: 28 Issue: 4 Month/Year: , 2018 Pages: 539-560 Article Author: Brown and Bista Article Title: Perceptions of elementary principals on Compass evaluation system: A case of Louisiana schools. Notes: Maxcost: Odyssey Address: 206.107.43.159 Library: NEW: Richardson Library Please email re-send requests to itl@mail.sdsu.edu Notice: This material may be protected by Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).EBONI BROWN KRISHNA BISTA Perceptions of Elementary Principals on Compass Evaluation System A Case of Louisiana Schools ABSTRACT: This study explores the perceptions of elementary school princi- pals on the Compass teacher evaluation system in a Southern Louisiana school district in the United States. There were seven themes that emerged from the qualitative data analysis: compliance, subjectivity, accountability, expectation, confinement, inconsistency, and helpfulness. Data analysis led to the following major findings: (a) all principals comply with the functions of Compass; (b) princi- pals experience subjectivity when using the Compass teacher evaluation system; (c) principals believe that Compass holds teachers accountable for their perfor- mances; (d) principals would like Compass to be consistent, unambiguous, and not place limitations on teacher practices; and (e) principals experience a lack of involvement and support from the central office. KEY WORDS: Elementary Principals, Compass, Teacher Evaluation, Account- ability, Professional Development, Central Office INTRODUCTION Compass is a Louisiana educator assistance and evaluation system cre- ated to give all educators consistent information about their professional performance (Louisiana Department of Education, 2016). With this evalu- ation system, all educators and educational leaders in all Louisiana public schools are evaluated each year using a four-tiered rating: (a) highly effec- tive, (b) effective proficient, (c) effective emerging, and (d) ineffective. The Address correspondence to Krishna Bista, School of Education and Urban Studies, Morgan State University, 17 £. Cold Spring Ln, Baltimore, MD 21251, E-mail: Krishna.bista@gmail.com. Journal of School Leadership Volume 28—July 2018 ~ 539540 EBONI BROWN AND KRISHNA BISTA evaluation score is divided into two parts; half of the evaluation is the edu- cator’s achievement of learning targets, and the other half is observation scores from the Compass rubric by the school supervisor. Compass results are used to inform educator workforce decisions at the school and district levels including hiring and placement, compensation, certification, reten- tion, promotion, and tenure (Louisiana Department of Education, 2016). In the 2012-13 academic year, Compass evaluation system was imple- mented in all schools across the state of Louisiana. There was much con- cern about federal accountability requirements—the dichotomy between schools that are successful and thriving, and those that develop a sense of hopelessness in Louisiana. Although Louisiana schools had exceptional aca- demic growth over the last decade, one-third of Louisiana schools were not grade-level proficient and only 7 out of 10 students graduated high school on time (Louisiana Department of Education, 2011). Therefore, conducting teacher evaluations became an integral responsibility of school principals because assessments provide ongoing data regarding teacher proficiency and teacher feedback for improvement. Principals, as instructional leaders, are called to evaluate teacher effectiveness. Kersten and Israel (2005) found that school administrators perceived the evaluation process as lacking effec- tiveness due to procedural restrictions which include (a) invalid teacher evaluation system, (b) no rigorous evaluation system which leads to ineffec- tive evaluations, (c) undefined and vague measurements for the evaluation tool, and (d) poor feedback for teachers. They also believe that a compre- hensive teacher evaluation has potential to improve teaching and learning. Effective school administrators are the visionary leaders who can change the school culture through increased communication opportunities, data- driven decision making, coaching, mentoring, study clubs, and co-teaching. Principals have a vital role as the ultimate instructional leader responsible for the evaluation of teacher performance in any school (Ganon-Shilon & Schechter, 2017; Fletcher & Nicholas, 2016; Ovando & Ramiez, 2007). Today, U.S. public schools employ various evaluation models and compo- nents as state-mandated requirements to assess teachers. Compass is one of the assessment tools that defines expectations for students and moni- toring progress available to districts and charter schools. District leaders, principals, and teachers each play an important role in the implementation of Compass assessment. The Compass teacher evaluation system includes both qualitative data (from principal observations using a standards-based rubric) and quantitative data (from value-added scores or Student Learning Target achievement). In this article, we examined the perceptions of elementary school princi- pals regarding the early effects of the Compass teacher evaluation system on instructional leadership within one particular Louisiana school district.