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In the high-stakes world of teacher evaluation, we must remind ourselves that the most important aim of observation and evaluation is not rating teachers, but strengthening teaching and learning." - Laurie McCullough
What are the most effective teachers across the nation doing? I am talking about the top 1% of the top 1% of teachers in America! What motivates these teachers? What are they doing that no one else seems to be doing day-to-day when working with students, parents, colleagues, and the community? How can I start to make a difference in my teaching? Charlotte Danielson is a leading educational researcher in the United States. She developed a framework that is built from experimental and theoretical research that is known to improve student learning. The skills, or components, vividly describe what a teacher should know and be able to do in their job. One of the most powerful pieces she developed are rubrics that describe examples of proficiency. A teacher can self-score their skills on the rubric, set goals, and continue to improve their craft. The rubric language and examples for each performance level make the framework popular and used wide spread across the nation. In fact, Dr. Robert Marzano's and Danielson's models are the prevalent evaluation frameworks in the United States; a majority of schools use these to support their teacher's growth. Danielson divided her research into four domains. Two domains are "invisible" in the classroom, while the other two domains are visible when you walk into the classroom. While many of the components and skills can be observed in the school, there are many that are value-added measures of student learning that highly correlate to increased student achievement. The descriptions of the components helps teachers and their evaluators use a common language, provides for more confidence when evaluating, as well easier to set evidenced-based goals with the Danielson Framework. When Common Core State Standards were released, the Danielson Group modified the language in the framework to mirror the goal of creating students that are college and career ready. This has led to significant changes in the way schools plan, teach, and assess, as well as how we communicate with our colleagues, parents, and community members. Many educators like the focus on "engagement" in the Danielson Framework. The language in the framework supports teachers creating classroom environments that empowers and develops agency with students, as well as building a strong collaborative learning community.
The purpose of this guide is to support evaluating teachers through honesty, integrity, and evidence-based practices. Scoring can be done individually by the teacher, with support from an instructional coach, or with an administrator or evaluator. We at Teacher.org want to encourage teachers both seasoned and new to expand their vision and understanding of the teaching profession. A master's in education helps but you will always be learning, adapting, adopting, and understanding.
