Cited by 208School Leadership and Teacher PerformanceTeacher Education and Leadership StudiesEducational Assessment and Improvement

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 86 of the 86 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 3 of the 25 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Can Principals Promote Teacher Development as Evaluators? A Case Study of Principals’ Views and Experiences

Open access
Kraft, Matthew A., Gilmour, Allison F.·2016·Educational Administration Quarterly

Abstract

Purpose: New teacher evaluation systems have expanded the role of principals as instructional leaders, but little is known about principals’ ability to promote teacher development through the evaluation process. We conducted a case study of principals’ perspectives on evaluation and their experiences implementing observation and feedback cycles to better understand whether principals feel as though they are able to promote teacher development as evaluators. Research Method: We conducted interviews with a stratified random sample of 24 principals in an urban district that recently implemented major reforms to its teacher evaluation system. We analyzed these interviews by drafting thematic summaries, coding interview transcripts, creating data-analytic matrices, and writing analytic memos. Findings: We found that the evaluation reforms provided a common framework and language that helped facilitate principals’ feedback conversations with teachers. However, we also found that tasking principals with primary responsibility for conducting evaluations resulted in a variety of unintended consequences which undercut the quality of evaluation feedback they provided. We analyze five broad solutions to these challenges: strategically targeting evaluations, reducing operational responsibilities, providing principal training, hiring instructional coaches, and developing peer evaluation systems. Implications: The quality of feedback teachers receive through the evaluation process depends critically on the time and training evaluators have to provide individualized and actionable feedback. Districts that task principals with primary responsibility for conducting observation and feedback cycles must attend to the many implementation challenges associated with this approach in order for next-generation evaluation systems to successfully promote teacher development.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/0013161x16653445

Cites

86 of 86 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

66 Own result · 39 Own interpretation · 9 No full text of the sources · 7 Own method · 5 No basis given · 3 Sources not found · 2 Not checked yet · 1 Supported · 1 Supported so far · 1 Partly supported · accuracy not yet measured

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 35
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 22
49 of 49
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Principals' interview responses accurately reflect their actual views and experiences.

    “These interviews gave principals the opportunity to share their perspectives about teacher evaluation as well as their experiences implementing the districts’ former and current evaluation systems.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The first year of district-wide implementation is a sufficient period for principals to report stable views and experiences of the new evaluation system.

    “the summer after the first year the new evaluation system was implemented district-wide.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Principals' reports about teachers' attitudes and reactions accurately represent teachers' actual attitudes.

    “Principals perceived this change as beginning to increase teachers’ willingness to engage with them in the observation and feedback process.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The district's messaging accurately reflects the district's actual intent for the evaluation system.

    “This common viewpoint was aligned with the district’s messaging of the primary purpose of the new evaluation system.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The interviewed principals' self-reports accurately represent their views and experiences.

    “Our interviews also suggested that some principals may have avoided difficult conversations with teachers about their weaknesses and, instead, focused on reinforcing the things that were going well in the classroom.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Accurate evaluation ratings are critical for any evaluation system and are a necessary precursor for productive conversations with teachers about professional improvement.

    “Accurate evaluation ratings are critical for any evaluation system, but are also a necessary precursor for engaging in a productive conversation with teachers about professional improvement.”
6 of 6

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

1 of 1

Citations

Cites

Show all 85 references

Research works printed but not linked: 9

  1. Donaldson M. L., 2010, Supporting effective teaching through teacher evaluation: A study of teacher evaluation in five charter schools
  2. Kane T. J., 2012, Gathering feedback for teaching: Combining high-quality observations with student surveys and achievement gains
  3. Kraft M. A., Educational Policy
  4. Lacireno-Paquet N., 2014, How states use student learning objectives in teacher evaluation systems: A review of statewide websites
  5. Sartain L., 2011, Rethinking teacher evaluation: Lessons learned from observations, principal-teacher conferences, and district implementation
  6. Steinberg M. P., Education Finance and Policy
  7. Thomas E., 2010, Newsweek, 155, 24
  8. Turnball B. J., 2010, Achievement trends in schools with school administration managers (SAMs)
  9. Waters T., 2003, Balanced leadership: What 30 years of research tells us about the effect of leadership on student achievement

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Metadata

Authors
Kraft, M. A., & Gilmour, A. F.
Affiliations
  • Brown University (US)
  • Vanderbilt University (US)
Corresponding author
Kraft, Matthew A.
Venue
Educational Administration Quarterly
Published
2016-07-07
Volume
52
Issue
5
Pages
711-753
ISSN
  • 0013-161X (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-3519
OpenAlex
W2414507369
Cited by
208
References
85
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 1
FWCI
103.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Educational Administration Quarterly (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2CHD041020)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › School Leadership and Teacher Performance
  • Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
  • Social Sciences › Education › Educational Assessment and Improvement
Keywords
teacher evaluation, principals, instructional leadership, teacher professional development, assessment reform, principal training, instructional coaches, peer assessment, urban districts

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