The Value of Supervision

I’ll never forgot the first time I looked at a formal evaluation sheet that was to be used to judge my ability as an educator. I really thought it was a joke to see this checklist that offered little in terms of helping me grow as an educator, grow as a learner, and grow as a professional. It simply judged me like something coming off an assembly line: get all the checks in this column and the product is worthy of keeping in the field.

The concept of supervising and evaluating to develop an educator NOT JUDGE an educator just didn’t exist.

Sadly, this isn’t different in many schools I’ve had an opportunity to visit or teachers that I’ve had an opportunity to speak with regarding how supervision works in their district. Heck, do a quick search of Teacher Evaluation Forms and see what I mean.

With the research showing a teacher effectiveness being one of the most important factors in student achievement, it is time to shift the focus from evaluation of the product to supervision and development of the product.

In my opinion, the following ten beliefs must be a part of any teacher growth program.

Supervision and Evaluation should…

1. foster innovation (creativity and risk-taking)
2. encourage research-based, best practices
3. be productive NOT punitive
4. focus heavily upon formative evaluations and multi-faceted summative evaluation
5. encourage reflection, goal-setting, action research, and professional growth plans
6. provide consistent and timely feedback
7. provide ongoing and diverse professional development and learning opportunities
8. communicate the vision, mission, values, and goals within the context of performance enhancements for both teaching and learning
9. provide leadership opportunities
10. foster a collaborative culture of professionals

As seen in the list above, some of my thinking about supervision and evaluation stems from the Danielson framework, which I find to be quite strong.

Sadly though, I’ve heard from too many educators where there district is “beginning to bring the Danielson program into their school” instead of looking at it as a model to begin discussing the best way to supervise and evaluate educators such as what seems to be happening in Georgia and Idaho (something to definitely follow).

The whole point of supervision and evaluation should be about creating excellent educators that will add to the professional landscape. It should not be about a canned program to implement. It should not be about weeding out the good from the bad — all that does is push the bad onto another school.

Oh, I guess number 11 could be get rid of the meaningless checklist, eh?

[Tags] supervision, evaluation, danielsonmodel [/Tags]

Related posts:

1. The Point of Supervision
2. National Educational Standards for Administrators Refresh
3. A Reflective Look at Online Professional Development Session Notes
4. Sometimes I Cringe

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