Teacher evaluation as a policy target for improved student learning: A fifty-state review of statute and regulatory action since NCLB.

Authors

  • Helen M. Hazi West Virginia University
  • Daisy Arredondo Rucinski University of Alabama

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v17n5.2009

Keywords:

teacher evaluation, educational policy, elementary secondary education, supervision

Abstract

This paper reports on the analysis of state statutes and department of education regulations in fifty states for changes in teacher evaluation in use since the passage of No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. We asked what the policy activity for teacher evaluation is in state statutes and department of education regulations, how these changes in statutes and regulations might affect the practice of teacher evaluation, and what were the implications for instructional supervision from these policy actions. Teacher evaluation statutes and department of education regulations provided the data for this study, using archival records from each state's legislature and education departments that were placed into a comparison matrix based on criteria developed from the National Governors Association (NGA) goals for school reform (Goldrick, 2002). Data were analyzed deductively in terms of these criteria for underlying theories of action (Malen, 2005), trends, and likely effects on teacher evaluation and implications for supervision. The majority of states adopted many of the NGA strategies, asserted oversight and involvement in local teacher evaluation practices, decreased the frequency of veteran teacher evaluation, and increased the types of data used in evaluation. Whether or not the changes in teacher evaluation will improve student learning in the long run remains to be seen.

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Author Biographies

Helen M. Hazi, West Virginia University

Helen M. Hazi, Ph.D., is Professor of Educational Leadership Studies at West Virginia University where she teaches supervision and school law. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh where her thesis was an analysis of collective bargaining agreements in Pennsylvania. She has been an English teacher, curriculum specialist, research assistant at the Learning Research and Development Center, and a practicing Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction K-12. She has also been an expert witness and serves as a consultant on personnel policy and practices. She writes about legal issues that have consequence for instructional supervision in such journals as Educational Leadership, Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, and the Kappan.

Daisy Arredondo Rucinski, University of Alabama

Daisy Arredondo Rucinski, Ph.D., is Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, where she teaches and conducts research on Instructional Supervision, Teacher Evaluation Policy, and School Reform. She earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Washington, Seattle. Prior to her work in higher education, she was an educational consultant, biology teacher, assistant principal, and assistant or associate superintendent in school districts in Washington and Nebraska. Recent articles and book chapter are available in the Journal of Educational Administration, International Journal of Leadership Education, ERS Spectrum, and in Standards of Instructional Supervision: Enhancing Teaching and Learning (2005).

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Published

2009-03-10

How to Cite

Hazi, H. M. ., & Arredondo Rucinski, D. (2009). Teacher evaluation as a policy target for improved student learning: A fifty-state review of statute and regulatory action since NCLB. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 17, 5. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v17n5.2009

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Section

Articles