Evaluations for Student Success

When analyzing the procedures for supporting students and district’s missions, the hiring process is the first step, however the primary focus of students’ success is through an intensive evaluation process for all classified and certificated employees. We can assume two essential questions when discussing teacher evaluations. One, how does holding teachers accountable for their skills in the classroom affect students’ success? And two, what is the best way possible to complete this evaluation process? Currently, there is great research and discussion around the best way to evaluate teachers, however, there is no perfect way to truly evaluate students’ success because education and teaching approaches are constantly changing.

The purpose of a teacher evaluation is solely to ensure student success (Evaluations of Certificated Employees, Concordia University Irvine, 2022). According to Principal Parks at Fred C. Beyer High School, “if evaluations impact teachers and you’re trying to improve the teaching, it should improve student achievement and learning.” Moreover, with a valuable teacher evaluation process, the results will intrinsically create positive reactions within the classroom for students.

There is also a great amount of research behind the evaluation model and how to implement evaluation tools. Specifically, when creating culture on campus, administrators are feeling more inclined to develop a relationship-mentorship-respect approach for teachers' evaluations and success. This approach creates improvement and motivation for all staff, while serving students’ success. Within Denair Unified Schools, there is a large press for staff accountability through evaluations and constant check-ins. In the evaluation process at Denair High School, aside from the evaluation tool, new staff are required to have 15-20 minute check-ins once a week with the site principal. Principal Aguiar states, “through these meetings I am able to have solution building conversations and invest time in teachers’ growth and success.” She concludes the statement with addressing concerns in teacher retention, so by offering these weekly check-ins, she is able to encompass a deeper relationship in hopes to improve teacher retention, which also aids in supporting students' success and the district mission.

Conclusively, how do we answer the essential questions? What is the best way to measure student success? In a book by Kim Marshall, Reading Teachers Supervision and Evaluation, the idea is that administrators and supervisors offer many check-ins with teachers and do these check-ins often. Through 10 minute interactions and observations, supervisors can see a wider range of teacher strategies and offer a more personable approach in creating successful feedback, which essential creates student success within the classroom.