Professional Reading Reflection EPPSP Phase I

Date: January 29, 2020

Student Name: Carolyn Gassmann
Title of article, book, or podcast: The Two Purposes of Teacher
Author(s): Robert J. Marzano
Publication Name and Date (articles only), link if using podcast: Educational Leadership;
November 2012
Summary:
In this article, author Robert J. Marzano reflects on the purposes and effectiveness of teacher
evaluation systems. He begins by stating the belief that evaluation systems do not accurately
measure teacher quality because they have difficulty differentiating between effective and
effective teachers. He supports this claim by adding that the reason for such failure is due to the
fact that most evaluation systems do not emphasize developing teachers, but rather solely
measuring them.
After reviewing the results of a survey done on a group of over 3,000 educators, most teachers
(76%) believed that a teacher evaluation system should focus on both educator development and
measurement, but with a stronger emphasis on development. Because of these results, Marzano
continues to delineate the characteristics of a successful evaluation system that focus on skill
development. The three primary characteristics, he claims, are that the system is comprehensive
and specific, it includes a developmental scale, and it acknowledges and rewards growth. Further
details of these elements are provided below,
Marzano believes that for an evaluation to be comprehensive and specific, it “must include all of
the elements that research has identified as associated with student achievement.” For it to be
specific, it must identify classroom strategies and behaviors at a granular level.” The extensive
categorization for comprehensive measurement breaks down the elements of student
achievement into three major headings with 41 subheadings for effective measurement. The five
main classifications are routine strategies, content strategies, strategies enacted on the spot. The
key difference in evaluating teacher effectiveness using this system rather than a traditional
system that most educators are familiar with is that it allows teachers to see and manage “their
own areas of strength and weakness and then systematically begin improving on those areas of
weakness.” Marzano believes that this sort of evaluation system allows for greater educator
growth as it sees education, as well as educators, holistically in order to measure their continued
growth towards proficiency in areas that affect the students and classroom in their entirety.
The second key characteristic, including a developmental scale for evaluation, seeks to change
traditional “highly effective, effective, and needs improvement” ratings to ones that reflect the
continued implementation of strategies—not using, beginning, developing, applying, and
innovating. In shifting the focus to a developmental scale, Marzano states, allows for teacher
autonomy in development. Additionally, it allows for instructional coaches and administrators to
provide more guidance on how teachers can improve.
According to Marzano, the final component of a successfully balanced evaluation system is that
it acknowledges and rewards growth. In an ideal system, teachers would be able to select areas
from a detailed rubric upon which they wish to improve. They, along with their evaluating
administration, would work towards achieving and tracking their continued quest for proficiency
by measuring with the growth continuum above--not using, beginning, developing, applying,
and innovating. At the end of the year, “teachers would have two scores: an overall status score
and an overall growth score. Both of these scores would be considered when assigning teachers
to a summative category [of proficiency] at the end of the year.”
Marzano concludes his article by restating the fact that both measurement and development are
crucial to evaluating teachers’ effectiveness. He reiterates the point that the three aforementioned
categories for a system that focuses on development must be included in an evaluation system
that truly seeks to evaluate the success of an educator and his or her classroom holistically.
Reflection:
As an educator still in the early phases of my career, emphasizing teacher growth and
development during evaluations feels very applicable. Am I the same teacher I was a year ago?
Absolutely not. I have learned exponentially more strategies for student engagement, techniques
for classroom management, and ideas for lesson delivery. I have had time to learn, attempt, fail,
retry, and grow. Every day I am still learning something new about how to better help students
achieve success, and every day I am working towards becoming the best educator I can be for
my students.

Am I growing and developing my skills solely because I am a second-year educator? Absolutely

not. Visiting other classrooms and watching other teachers has reaffirmed this point. No matter if
an educator is in their second or twenty-second year teaching, they are constantly working to
improve their teaching, classroom management, and student engagement. I have yet to find a
teacher who says something along the lines of, “yeah, I’ve been doing this for a while, so I’m
basically an expert in everything.” The world is constantly changing. Education is constantly
changing. Our students are constantly changing. Teachers are constantly changing. Across the
board, educators are givers. We want to give each of our students the absolute best chance at
success we can. We want to help them reach as much of their untapped potential as possible
given seven hours each day for 180 days. They are constantly developing and so are we, right
alongside them.

Looking at this article through the eyes of a hopeful future school administrator has given me the
opportunity to already begin thinking about how I can help my future staff develop to their full,
untapped potential. So many times, in large districts, administrators’ hands are tied as to what
sort of evaluation system they are required to use to assess their staff members. However, that
does not mean that they cannot still implement ideas from this article, such as teacher goal
setting, to help their teachers develop new skill sets. The idea of collaborating with staff to
achieve personally set, education-related goals really strikes a chord with me, because in my
opinion, when a teacher has some autonomy over their own growth and success, they will take
more autonomy over the growth and success of their students and the school as a whole.
As with everything we have discussed thus far, education always comes down to people. We all
serve people each and every day. When we invest in the success of the people, big or small,
experienced or brand new, we invest in the success of our classrooms, our school, and our future.