Teacher evaluation has become a common occurrence in schools. Although the primary role of teacher evaluation is to provide feedback to teachers for improving instruction (formative evaluation), evaluation has often been used for personnel decisions (summative evaluation) and accountability purposes as well.
Different models of teacher evaluation exist which relate to the criteria to be applied, the instruments and sources of information to be used, the participants in the evaluation, and the procedures (Darling-Hammond, Amrein-Beardsley, Hairtel, & Rothstein, 2001; Flores & Derrington, 2018). Models may vary in accordance with the aims they are intended to serve. For example, if evaluation is done to aid administrative decisions, Approach A may be adopted, whereas if the purpose is the professional development of the teaching staff, Approach B may be more suitable.
Similarly, models may be characterized on a spectrum ranging from a constructivist approach, which is tailor-fit to the particular teacher and school context, to a standardized assessment system in the spirit of a more positivist educational approach, in which all teachers are evaluated in the same way.
The intent of the present study was to examine how teachers think evaluation should be conducted when its goal is improving the effectiveness of instruction and teachers' professional development (i.e., formative assessment).
Recent years have witnessed growing recognition of the importance of assessment and its decisive impact on the instruction and learning processes. Many scholars have emphasized assessment’s immense formative power and influence over the “how, what, and why” of instruction and learning (Levin, 2009; Wiliam, 2011). Assessment reflects the aims and goals of the educational process and in this way influences its content and the use of instructional modes, the times at which and the duration for which specific subject matter is taught, and the reasons for covering some contents and not others (Nevo, 2009; Birenbaum, 1996). Assessment has an immense impact on the culture of learning and instruction, the development of students as learners, and the professional image of the teacher.
Moreover, over the past two decades, the conceptual framework of constructivism has driven the dominant approaches to instructional design, resulting in numerous examples of practical implementation regarding teaching, learning, and also assessment (Libman, 2013). Therefore it was assumed that the teachers' views regarding their desired formative assessment will reflect constructivist perceptions.
The emerging teachers' model of ideal evaluation procedures as perceived by teachers will be assessed as to the extent that it reflects a constructivist perspective under the assumption that an evaluation model rich in information collected over a prolonged period of time from multiple sources reflects a constructivist perception approach., which Such a model has the potential of increasing the utility of teacher evaluation for instructional improvement.
The research questions focused on the following aspects:
- What are the criteria that respondents believe should be emphasized in a model that is desirable for the formative evaluation of teachers?
- What tools should be used to collect information for formative teacher evaluation?
- Who are the participants that should be involved in teachers' formative evaluation?
- What is the position of the teachers in relation to the desired length of the evaluation process, its frequency and what follows?
The research questions were examined for possible differences between groups of teachers according to their personal characteristics, including seniority, rank, academic degree, and role at school. We also looked at two school characteristics: school level (elementary or middle school) and organizational culture with respect to learning and evaluation.