Flipping the Dog and Pony Show on it's Head

This is my 10th year as a classroom teacher. In those years I have had a variety of experiences when it came to teacher evaluation. While I seek to gain insights from the feedback in my observations, all too often it feels like I am in a dog and pony show. I have a pre-evaluation meeting in which I am told what my goals are for this year. I plan my lesson, the administrator shows up, I do my thing and with the vice principal in the room for the first time in the year, the students are on their best behavior. The administrator spends much of his time typing on the computer. They leave, I breath and invite the normal students back into the class, because the ones who were there during the class visit were not my normal students. I go to the debrief meeting, hear the feedback, but in reality, I am waiting to see if I "passed"; do I "meet or exceed district expectations."

Don't get me wrong. I have gotten good insights in some of my meetings. But in the end, my only real hope is that I don't do anything that will cause me to have to go into improvement. I just want to pass. The process is just a hoop to jump through. Now let me get back to work.

What if things were different?

What if the teacher evaluations process was teacher-centered?

What if it looked like this?

The year begins and it is my year for evaluation. I meet with my administrator and they ask me what I want to work on to grow as a teacher this year. They give me the CSTP's to consider, but really it is about how I want to improve, or what have I been thinking about trying in my class but never actually did. Together we talk and I land on an essential question that will be my action research project for the year. Instead of being my evaluator, my administrator becomes my action research advisor. When they come into the room, which will be frequent, they are in there to gather data for me. Because they are a regular part of the class environment, students act normal around them and they can gather authentic data for me that helps guide my practice. Through the year we work together to reflect, refine, and my administrator keeps me accountable for continuing to press into the question I set out to explore. The year finishes with a Presentation of Learning at a staff meeting where all the teachers who are in the evaluation cycle share their learnings with the staff.

Imagine how this type of work would shape a school into a learning environment, where teachers are learners as well as the students. I, as a teacher, grow tremendously in my evaluation year. The administrator became a coach rather than an adversary who holds the keys to my "passing grade".  

If I end up in an administration position next year, it will be my vision to put this into practice with some of the teachers I oversee. If I have another year in the classroom before I make my move, next year is my evaluation year so it will be my challenge to enroll my administrator in rethinking the tired old district evaluation process; turning it on its head.