Administrators and teachers should be assessed differently because they do different jobs. Teachers teach, and they should be assessed on their ability to do so. Most of the assessment should be based on just that - how effectively they teach, how well they communicate with their students, how well their students learn and how well they do on tests, whether students interact with the teachers, and how well they do so, whether the teacher is able to hold the students' interest in what they are teaching. These are the things which will determine whether the teacher is competent at their job. The teacher needs to bd prepared for ldssons, to keep up to date with grading assignments, to attend staff meetings, to interact with parents, to have good working relationships with other staff members, but the most important part of their job is their ability to teach and this should be the major focus of their assessment.
Evaluators of teachers should place their emphasis on the learning taking place in their classrooms rather than on the
teaching, because this is what is most important according to one principal, Jim Thompson (Hopkins, 2005). He suggests evaluating teachers by asking three questions: 1) what do we want students to learn; 2) how do we know students are learning; and 3) what do we do when we find out students are not learning. Thompson also believes teacher assessment should include a look at the quality of work on which a teacher engages their students. He believes that the more teachers are engaged as learners, the better their classroom practices will become.
Another principal looks at whether the teacher has created a classroom environment conducive to learning (Hopkins, 2005). The evaluator needs to look at if there is a logic to the lesson material being taught, and if the material is connected to a previous lesson. Is there an introduction, middle and conclusion to the lesson? Does the teacher engage...