Running head: EVALUATION INTERVIEW ANALYSIS

Evaluation Interview Analysis

Stephen Richard
University of New England

Dr. Thomas Kopetskie

Supervision and Evaluation of Instructional Personnel EDU 704
September 22, 2013

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Analysis

Based on the readings of Danielson, Marshal and personal responses from other students
I can concur that there are many strengths of the teacher evaluation process that Tim Reynolds
uses to help mold quality teachers. A great strength of Tims summative evaluation method is the
extensive length of written detail of the teachers entire lesson. The detail provides the teachers
with an incredible resource of reference, especially for the post conference and personal
evaluation of the lesson. The evaluation is essentially a play by play movie on paper, it leaves out
any guessing of how the teacher taught the lesson, if there was any re-teaching and even if
classroom management issues were dealt with or not. Constructive feedback and analysis is
easier when all the information is precisely provided (T. Reynolds, personal communication,
September 19, 2013).
According to Danielsons domain 1: planning and preparation, Tims evaluation still
works well. During the pre-conference steps and lesson planning, Tim should have a strong
understanding of what he will see during the lesson that will be evaluated. This pre-conference
helps the teacher to really narrow down the objective for the lesson and how they will achieve
that lesson objective. I agree with Danielson that this step is critical in the organization of
instruction (Danielson, 2007 p.43).
Tims professionalism goes further than just being accurate, thorough and having a
turnaround time of less than 24 hours of his evaluations; he actually cares about creating an
excellent teacher. The best part of Tims evaluations is the feedback. Danielson suggest that
using positive comments about a lesson are ideal, which is what Tim does. More important than
the positive comments are the remarks that are used to make a teacher more effective.
Constructive criticism in feedback is essential for growth of a teacher (Danielson, 2007).

Evaluation Interview Analysis

The accuracy and thoroughness of Tims evaluation process leaves little room for
improvement, yet in Tim Reynoldss own words, There is no perfect evaluation method (T.
Reynolds, personal communication, September 19, 2013). As Marshal reports, evaluators should
be able to see the typical teacher in action (Marshal, 2009, p.21). The typical teaching
environment doesnt have the assistant head master sitting in the corner watching the entire class
and writing feverishly every word/action that is taking place. The students will act differently
when I am in the room, I know that, and it makes it hard to see what the class is truly like when I
am not there (T. Reynolds, personal communication, September 19, 2013).
While discussing the topic of teacher evaluation with another classmate in EDU 704, the
issue of peer review or peer coaching came to my attention. Melissa Gasaway, cited an article
stating the importance of peer coaching and how a number of teachers/colleagues would be able
to collaborate and bring the best out of another teacher (M. Gasaway, personal communication,
September 14, 2013). The more teachers that are involved in a lesson the more ideas and more
suggestions a teacher is able to receive to improve their own teaching ability (Murphy, 1968, p.
51). One of the downfalls of Tims teacher evaluation process is the lack of other staff involved,
there is no peer coaching and only one persons advice is given. Tim is a great administrator and
has a fruitful process he uses for evaluating teachers, however, if more teachers were involved a
better evaluation may take place.
One minor issue that Tim himself mentioned is a downfall of the narrative style
evaluation is that its extremely time consuming. Each of his evaluations take approximately
seven to ten hours to complete which includes pre-conference, evaluation and post conference.
As the teacher, its a huge asset to their pedagogy and growth, though time consuming as an
administrator with many other responsibilities.

Evaluation Interview Analysis

This assignment of interviewing an administrator who completes teacher evaluations has

been a great asset to me as an aspiring principal. Luckily I was able to interview my past
teacher/mentor as it helped me understand and appreciate both sides of the evaluation process.
Knowing how and why Tim uses a comprehensive narrative style evaluation gives me an
appreciation for the effort he puts into assisting his fellow coworkers. What I found to be
enormously useful was the collaboration of the many sources. A combination of Tim Reynolds,
other classmates of EDU 704, both our books, Danielson and Marshal, were all valuable in
learning the maximal amount of information about teacher evaluations.
I learned from the interview with Tim that if you rush the teacher evaluation you are
doing a huge disservice to your employees and the students. If the teachers dont improve as
teachers it directly relates to students not learning to the potential they could be. From the
analysis of the teacher evaluation process I learned that all three steps of pre-observation,
observation then post-observation, all key elements of a successful evaluation. Upon reflecting
on this assignment of teacher evaluation, I realized that its not rocket science but it is crucial to
the improvement of a teacher and school as a whole.
Tim Reynolds was my mentor for two years as I was teaching a new course for
Washington Academy. I highly valued his input in my classes and respected him as a great and
fair administrator. I am not sure if he knows that it was his own questioning of me that has
helped lead me onto the path of administration. After my first year of teaching and him observing
me he asked, Have you ever considered administration? I thought that maybe he had asked me
because he believed I had the potential of being one. I am sure we will stay in contact with each
other as he is a great resource, and admirable person.

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References:

Danielson, C. (2007). Enhancing professional practice (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Marshall, K. (2009). Rethinking teacher supervision and evaluation how to work smart, build
collaboration, and close the achievement gap. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass A Wiley.
Murphy, Jerome T. (1968). The Unheroic Side of Leadership: Notes From The Swamp. Fullan,
M. Editor, The Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership (2nd. Ed.), (pp. 135-158).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.