Evaluating Teaching And Learning

Every semester, colleges and universities ask students to complete innumerable course and teaching evaluation questionnaires to evaluate the learning and teaching in courses they have taken. For many universities it is a requirement that all courses be evaluated every semester. The laudable rationale is that the feedback provided will enable instructors to improve their teaching and the curriculum, thus enhancing the quality of student learning. In spite of this there is little evidence that it does improve the quality of teaching and learning. Ratings only improve if the instruments and the presentation of results are sufficiently diagnostic to identify potential improvements and there is effective counselling. Evaluating Teaching and Learning explains how evaluation can be more effective in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning and introduces broader and more diverse forms of evaluation. This guide explains how to develop questionnaires and protocols which are valid, reliabile and diagnostic. It also contains proven instruments that have undergone appropriate testing procedures, together with a substantial item bank. The book looks at the specific national frameworks for the evaluation of teaching in use in the USA, UK and Australia. It caters for diverse methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative and offers solutions that allow evaluation at a wide range of levels: from classrooms to programmes to departments and entire institutions. With detail on all aspects of the main evaluation techniques and instruments, the authors show how effective evaluation can make use of a variety of approaches and combine them into an effective project. With a companion website which has listings of the questionnaires and item bank, this book will be of interest to those concerned with organising and conducting evaluation in a college, university, faculty or department. It will also appeal to those engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Effective science teaching requires creativity, imagination, and innovation. In light of concerns about American science literacy, scientists and educators have struggled to teach this discipline more effectively. Science Teaching Reconsidered provides undergraduate science educators with a path to understanding students, accommodating their individual differences, and helping them grasp the methodsâ€"and the wonderâ€"of science. What impact does teaching style have? How do I plan a course curriculum? How do I make lectures, classes, and laboratories more effective? How can I tell what students are thinking? Why don't they understand? This handbook provides productive approaches to these and other questions. Written by scientists who are also educators, the handbook offers suggestions for having a greater impact in the classroom and provides resources for further research.

What's wrong with today's teacher-evaluation systems-and how to improve them Unsound teacher evaluation practices lead to misinformed decisions regarding strategies for student learning, resulting in negative effects to students. Education measurement and evaluation expert W. James Popham critiques what is wrong with many existing teacher-evaluation systems and offers an alternate system that respects the professionalism and dignity of teachers. Popham argues that, because teaching is a very situation- specific profession, the use of any paint-by-numbers, one- size-fits-all teacher evaluation system is patently absurd. Rather, the only defensible approach to teacher evaluation is to base it on collegial judgment, that is, on the evaluative conclusions of experienced teachers who have been specifically trained and formally certified to carry out this function. This book discusses: Key strengths and weaknesses of prominent teacher-evaluation evidence How to improve a flawed teacher-evaluation program The merits of a teacher evaluation program based on "evidence-governed collegial judgment

Create a more effective system for evaluating online faculty Evaluating Online Teaching is the first comprehensivebook to outline strategies for effectively measuring the quality ofonline teaching, providing the tools and guidance that facultymembers and administrators need. The authors address challengesthat colleges and universities face in creating effective onlineteacher evaluations, including organizational structure,institutional governance, faculty and administrator attitudes, andpossible budget constraints. Through the integration of casestudies and theory, the text provides practical solutions geared toaddress challenges and foster effective, efficient evaluations ofonline teaching. Readers gain access to rubrics, forms, andworksheets that they can customize to fit the needs of their uniqueinstitutions. Evaluation methods designed for face-to-face classrooms, fromstudent surveys to administrative observations, are often appliedto the online teaching environment, leaving reviewers andinstructors with an ill-fitted and incomplete analysis.Evaluating Online Teaching shows how strategies forevaluating online teaching differ from those used in traditionalclassrooms and vary as a function of the nature, purpose, and focusof the evaluation. This book guides faculty members andadministrators in crafting an evaluation process specificallysuited to online teaching and learning, for more accurate feedbackand better results. Readers will: Learn how to evaluate online teaching performance Examine best practices for student ratings of onlineteaching Discover methods and tools for gathering informal feedback Understand the online teaching evaluation life cycle The book concludes with an examination of strategies forfostering change across campus, as well as structures for creatinga climate of assessment that includes online teaching as acomponent. Evaluating Online Teaching helps institutionsrethink the evaluation process for online teaching, with the endgoal of improving teaching and learning, student success, andinstitutional results.

This must-read book for all literacy educators illuminates the intersection of research on literacy instruction and teacher evaluation. Since 2009, 46 states have changed or revised policies related to evaluating teachers and school leaders. In order for these new policies to be used to support and develop effective literacy instruction, resources are needed that connect the best of what is known about teaching literacy with current evaluation policies and support practices. A major contribution to meeting this need, the volume brings together a range of perspectives on tools, systems, and policies for the evaluation of teaching, organized into two sections: • Crafting Systems and Policies for Evaluating Literacy Instruction • Examples of Alternative Systems/Approaches for Evaluating Literacy Instruction Across the text, expert scholars in the field emphasize the need for literacy professionals to do more than merely apply generic observation instruments for teacher evaluation, but also to consider how these tools reflect professional values, how elements of effective literacy instruction can be unearthed or included within them, and how teacher evaluation systems and policies can be used to increase students’ opportunities to develop literacy.

Create a more effective system for evaluating online faculty Evaluating Online Teaching is the first comprehensive book to outline strategies for effectively measuring the quality of online teaching, providing the tools and guidance that faculty members and administrators need. The authors address challenges that colleges and universities face in creating effective online teacher evaluations, including organizational structure, institutional governance, faculty and administrator attitudes, and possible budget constraints. Through the integration of case studies and theory, the text provides practical solutions geared to address challenges and foster effective, efficient evaluations of online teaching. Readers gain access to rubrics, forms, and worksheets that they can customize to fit the needs of their unique institutions. Evaluation methods designed for face-to-face classrooms, from student surveys to administrative observations, are often applied to the online teaching environment, leaving reviewers and instructors with an ill-fitted and incomplete analysis. Evaluating Online Teaching shows how strategies for evaluating online teaching differ from those used in traditional classrooms and vary as a function of the nature, purpose, and focus of the evaluation. This book guides faculty members and administrators in crafting an evaluation process specifically suited to online teaching and learning, for more accurate feedback and better results. Readers will: Learn how to evaluate online teaching performance Examine best practices for student ratings of online teaching Discover methods and tools for gathering informal feedback Understand the online teaching evaluation life cycle The book concludes with an examination of strategies for fostering change across campus, as well as structures for creating a climate of assessment that includes online teaching as a component. Evaluating Online Teaching helps institutions rethink the evaluation process for online teaching, with the end goal of improving teaching and learning, student success, and institutional results.

This invaluable resource demonstrates how to foster the development of highly qualified teachers through designing and implementing a solid teacher evaluation system.

This guide presents current research and thinking about teacher evaluation and combines that research with practice. Chapters contain illustrations and examples to make a research-practice connection and present a comprehensive approach to designing, implementing, and monitoring quality teacher-evaluation systems. Chapters include: (1) "Improving Schools through Teacher Education" (James H. Stronge); (2) "Building the Foundation: Teacher Roles and Responsibilities" (Patricia H. Wheeler and Michael Scriven); (3) "Legal Considerations in Designing Teacher Evaluation Systems" (Pamela D. Tucker and Kay P. Kindred); (4) "Applying the Personnel Evaluation Standards to Teacher Evaluation" (James R. Sanders); (5) "Classroom-Based Assessments of Teaching and Learning" (Chad D. Ellett); (6) "Client Surveys in Teacher Evaluation" (James H. Stronge and Laura P. Ostrander); (7) "Indicators of Student Learning in Teacher Evaluation" (Andrew A. McConney, Mark D. Schalock, and H. Del Schalock); (8) "Portfolios in Teacher Evaluation" (Kenneth Wolf, Gary Lichtenstein, and Cynthia Stevenson); (9) "Teacher Self-Evaluation" (Peter W. Airasian and Arlen Gullickson); (10) "Conducting a Successful Evaluation Conference" (Virginia M. Helm); (11) "Dealing Positively with the Nonproductive Teacher" (Mary Jo McGrath); and (12) "Linking Teacher Evaluation and Professional Development" (Joyce Annunziata). Chapters contain references. (JLS)