Administrative Function: Performance Evaluation

Administrative Function: Performance Evaluation

Anna Weaver

Western New Mexico University

Administrative Function: Performance Evaluation

Introduction

One of the human resources concerns is the hiring, retaining, and providing tenure to teachers.

The process can be detrimental to our students and costly for a district if the administration fails

to place teachers in the right spot, retain teachers, and make the right decision before providing

tenure to a teacher. One way this process can benefit a district, students, and administrators is

through effective teacher performance evaluations by administrators. Teacher quality is a direct

link with student learning. This is the main reason behind teacher evaluations. There has yet to

be a nationwide definition of "teacher quality." However, teachers have been considered

adequate if they teach the curriculum, have effective classroom management, and maintain the

physical premises of both the school and the classroom. States started reevaluating their teacher

evaluation systems when federal laws influenced evaluations to increase teacher quality. In 2009,

15 states began to require objective measurements of student growth, and by 2015, 43 states

included student growth. (Education Study. 2020).

In 2011, Governor Martinez of New Mexico created a task force to identify, recruit, reward, and

retain high-performing teachers (Education Study. 2020). The executive order required the

evaluation system to include student achievement weighing in with 50 percent, 25 percent based

on observations, and 25 percent based on multiple measures. To make the system permanent, a

bill was put before legislation in 2012 but was never passed. Teacher unions started to fight back

through lawsuits claiming NMPED overstepped their authority, but courts felt differently. The

following years brought changes to our evaluation system, one being that teacher attendance

would now be scored. During these years, a Brown University study found that New Mexico

rated nearly 20 percent of teachers in the bottom two categories below effective (Education

Study. 2020). Most states placed fewer than 4 percent in these categories. Again, NMPED took
Administrative Function: Performance Evaluation

to the drawing board to modify the evaluation process. In 2019, under Governor Grisham,

NMPED excluded student achievement growth and teacher attendance. In 2020, teacher

evaluations were canceled due to COVID-19. Since the cancelation, New Mexico has rebuilt

teacher evaluations with a new task force and requirements or suggestions.

The question now lies in what effective teaching is, what an effective evaluation system looks

like, and how our administrators can use evaluations when hiring or placing a teacher in a

position. A new task force in New Mexico created recommendations for an evaluation system.

Recommendation one states that the purpose of the system is to improve student and teacher

learning, growth, and well-being. It is recommended to support meaningful, actionable feedback

and professional self-reflection and strengthen a learning culture through communication,

collaboration, continuous improvement, and shared ownership (NMPED. 2022). The task force's

second recommendation is focused on system design. There should be four integrated and

coherent designs: observation and feedback (weighing 50% of the evaluation), professional

development plans (weighing 50%), student survey/performance data, and mentorship.

Recommendation three recommends an ongoing support system that should be meaningful rather

than compliance. This system should include communication, training, resources, and time for

the educator to learn the new system. The task force recommended that observations,

recommendation 4, be based on the Danielson Framework that includes social and emotional

learning, cultural sustainability, and individualized education plan language. The observation

should provide meaningful feedback that focuses on teaching and learning. Recommendation 5

focused on professional development plans, 50 percent of teachers' evaluations. These plans

should be connected to the elements of the evaluation system, support ownership, promote a

culture of collaboration, and provide a rubric. The last two recommendations by the task were
Administrative Function: Performance Evaluation

surveys and mentorships. Surveys should be provided as a self-reflection tool that informs

educator practice but not scored. In addition, mentorship should be an option focused on

supporting the PDP process.

School Leader Knowledge Base

The knowledge an administrator has of our evaluation system starts at NMPED. NMPED

provides rubrics and updated information on evaluations, such as deadlines and the online

scoring components. Danielson's evaluation framework is organized into four domains: planning

and preparation, the classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities

(Halverson et al., pg.3). There are several instructional practices an administrator should practice

when evaluating teachers. Administrators should use this framework to provide reflective

feedback on teaching practices after an observation. Teachers can utilize the feedback and

change aspects of their instruction. In addition to the initial feedback, administrators should

encourage teachers to provide other evidence of instructional practices. These artifacts can help

provide instructional evidence from a teacher. Finally, an administrator should help coach

teachers who must score more effectively. Coaching a teacher provides an opportunity for a

teacher to reflect on their teaching practices and, in turn, improve student learning.

In addition to understanding and knowing all components of the current evaluation system,

administrators should be trained to provide an evaluation. This process was a yearly task until

recently. According to our district faculty, administrators have not received any training on

evaluations or updated expectations in the last two years. This leads to inconsistency between

administrators and districts.

Channels of Communication
Administrative Function: Performance Evaluation

Communication is the key to explaining what to expect during this process. Before evaluations

begin, collaborating on schedules and expectations provides a clear understanding with teachers.

This allows the administrator to have positive conversations when providing feedback based on

the domains. An administrator should be an active listener. Observations allow teachers the

opportunity to provide artifacts of their daily instructional teachings. Administrators should look

at all aspects before scoring a teacher.

School Leaders Role

The administrator's role is to use the teacher evaluations to help provide teachers with how they

are reaching their goals. Successful models of teacher evaluations are those that lead to

improvement in instructional practice, improvement in measures of student learning and

achievement, and improvement in the retention of effective teachers and improvement of

lower-performing teachers (Robinson. S. pg. 11). Administrators can use teacher evaluations to

promote academic success and the of learning. The first step is understanding the purpose of

teacher evaluations and that these observations are focused on reaching, teaching, and supporting

students for continuous improvement. An administrator then should collaborate with teachers.

Soliciting their input and establishing a trusting relationship helps build a productive relationship

and a love of learning. The collaboration also provides an opportunity to agree on languages and

measures of data that should focus on increasing students' academic success. Due to the

collaboration between teachers and administration, expectations have yet to become apparent,

and everyone involved understands the common goal.

Teacher evaluations are extremely important for an administrator with a faculty member new to

either the career or district. The evaluations can guide an administrator in placing a teacher in a

more prosperous position or if they should receive tenure. As one of my administrators stated,
Administrative Function: Performance Evaluation

"Recruitment will be everyone's biggest challenge...However, my opinion, which has not

changed since I did my admin classes (97-98), is that an educational leader's most important

decision is retention on the tenure year...because the wrong decision becomes a 20-year

mistake!" Knowing that evaluation systems can aid administrators in retention, there needs to be

more of a focus on how an administrator provides an evaluation and how they can use the results.

Interpersonal Skills

Administrators need to have several interpersonal and technical skills in order to convey the

importance of teacher evaluations. These interpersonal or technical skills include knowledge,

communication, and active listening. First and foremost, administrators should have an in-depth

knowledge of the teacher evaluation framework. New Mexico's teacher evaluation framework

includes four domains: Planning and Preparation, Creating an Environment of Learning,

Teaching for Learning, and Professionalism. This knowledge helps the administrator evaluate,

score, and coach teachers based on a statewide rubric.

Data Collection and Assessment

The New Mexico Dash and 90-Day plan is a plan that focuses on actions that need to be taken in

order to improve student growth. This plan is built and reflected on by a core team of school

leaders, including the administration. As one of these core team members, I must dissect data

from previous assessments and identify areas for improvement. As a leader, our school's mission

is to take these identified areas and build a schoolwide vision. The 90-day plan interacts with our

teacher evaluation and how teachers address improvement areas. For example, our current data

shows a decline with two subgroups. Our vision as a school is focused on improving those two

subgroups while maintaining the entire student body. If teacher evaluations are based on a

teacher's effectiveness, they should focus on improving the current data.

Administrative Function: Performance Evaluation

During an evaluation, the administrator scores a teacher based on the domain rubrics and keeping

in mind the 90-day plan data. They are to provide quick comments on what they see in the

classroom aligned with the score they provided in each area. Once the evaluation is complete, the

administrator is to provide the scores to the teacher and have a meeting to discuss the scores

within a specific time frame. This allows the teacher to either agree or rebruit the scoring. After

this meeting, the scores and all comments and artifacts are uploaded to the NMPED database via

Canvas.

Plan and Initiate Change

Any administrator planning or changing any methods of performance evaluations starts with

communication. They must communicate what is being changed or initiated and why they have

made it. When teachers understand the goal and why this method is essential, the administrator

has achieved a schoolwide buy-in with the plans.

Indicators

Several success indicators show that an administrator is successful with performance evaluations.

The two major indicators are a stable staff with a low turnaround rate and student scores showing

growth. Administrators who see the importance of evaluations often communicate about the

expectations and rubrics. They collaborate with the teachers and build a positive environment.

They provide feedback and support for teachers in order for the teacher to succeed.

On a personal note, successful administrators have evaluation scores aligned with student scores.

An administrator who scores all faculty with high scores but students with low scores is not

using the evaluation system to benefit the building or the students.

Personal Preparation
Administrative Function: Performance Evaluation

Teacher evaluations are not going away anytime soon. They are a vital part of how an

administrator can support a teacher and how a teacher is placed or retained. When I spoke to an

administrator in my district, they stated, "If I cannot use evaluation results from other districts to

aid me in hiring new faculty, then what is the point," I have to say I agree with the statement. In

the past three years, I have been on the hiring committee for the same position four times. That is

four times our human resource department had to post the position and advertise. We have

invested in a teacher who failed to meet our expectations four times. That is, we could have

avoided hiring the candidate four times if we had access to how previous administrators scored

them.

As an administrator, I will use evaluations to support my staff and guide me on retention and

tenure. By providing a practical performance evaluation, I will fully support all staff and be

effective in the placement of each faculty member. This ultimately will decrease the financial

burden of reposting a position and going through the process repeatedly. This will also prevent

faculty members from receiving tenure when they may not fit our district perfectly. Performance

evaluations are the critical component of an effective administrator and student success.
Administrative Function: Performance Evaluation

References

Elevate nm domains 1-4. New Mexico Public Education Department. (2021, December 27).

Retrieved September 20, 2022, from

https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/bureaus/educator-growth-development/elevatenm/elevate-nm-do

mains-1-4/

Chingos, M. (n.d.). Home. Ending Teacher Tenure Would Have Little Impact on its Own. Retrieved

October 27, 2022, from https://www.shankerinstitute.org/

Halverson, R., Kelley, C., & Kimball, S. (n.d.). Implementing Teacher Evaluation Systems: How

Principals Make Sense of Complex Artifacts to Shape Local Instructional Practice. CiteSeerX.

Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/

Meador, D. (2019, March 1). Pros and cons of teacher tenure. ThoughtCo. Retrieved October 27, 2022,

from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-teacher-tenure-3194690

New Mexico Educator Evaluation System - New Mexico public education ... (n.d.). Retrieved

September 20, 2022, from

https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/20-21_NewMexicoEducatorEvaluat

ionSystem_FINALTaskForceRecommendations7.20.2020.pdf

Robinson, S. (2022, April 22). Teacher evaluations - why teacher performance matters. Frontline

Education. Retrieved September 20, 2022, from

https://www.frontlineeducation.com/teacher-evaluation/#:~:text=Teacher%20evaluation%20is%2

0a%20necessary,the%20teacher%20workforce%20and%20improve
Administrative Function: Performance Evaluation

Today is Tuesday, September 20, 2022. Home - New Mexico Legislature. (n.d.). Retrieved

September 20, 2022, from https://nmlegis.gov/