Teacher Evaluation in Small Private International Schools Part 1

I’ve been teaching in Small Private International Schools (SPIS) for all of my teaching career and have had little useful evaluation of my effectiveness as a teacher. The driving force for evaluation has often been pending accreditation visits, getting evidence for dismissal, or appeasing influential parents who complain. Occasionally, there was concern for improving teacher practice to improve student retention, but the evaluators were spread too thin, making that the process erratic and infrequent. Teacher assessment in a SPIS can be described the same way as in the The New Teachers Project (TNTP) report: infrequent, unfocused, undifferentiated, unhelpful, and inconsequential (The New Teachers Project, 2010). In proposing a solution, the TNTP report has six Design Standards that schools should follow when creating teacher evaluation systems and the National Education Association (NEA) has six Key Principles. 

I will analyze my school’s teacher evaluation protocol using these two standards. Our teacher evaluation is focuses on development. The teacher sets personal goals with the principal and a peer, and self-evaluates during the middle and end of the year (Beijing International Bilingual Academy, 2015). The assessment is formative and can vary considerably based on the needs of the teacher. Teachers requiring extra support will get more mentoring and supervision to help them meet their goals. The Principal or a designated peer (not necessarily the peer goals are set with) observes the teacher one time, while the goal-setting peer observes a separate time. Teachers self-asses on:

  1. Performance in learning, teaching and assessment (including through lesson observation);
  2. Performance in departmental/division duties;
  3. Performance in school duties;
  4. Performance in additional or leadership responsibilities
  5. Performance in liaison and relationship with parents
  6. Achievements in professional development
(Beijing International Bilingual Acedemy, 2015)

Other assessment areas are possible depending upon the goals set by/for the teacher.

Classroom observations are based on divisional protocols. In MS/HS it is the International Middle Years Curriculum (IMYC) Looking for Learning Protocol. It is a matrix with cognitive domains of Knowledge, Skills, and Understandings going down and the student states of:  New, Consolidating, Treading Water, and Drowning to describe student domain acquisition (Beijing International Bilingual Academy, 2016). Students are interviewed during and after the lesson. The teacher should not be present post lesson. The process exists because the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation documents require it. Prior to the school seeking WASC Accreditation, there was no consistent evaluation process in place.

Comparing the school policy to the Key Principles of NEA and the Design Standards of TNTP shows that it is consistent in the following areas: not relying on a sole measure of success in evaluating teachers, it is focused on student learning, it refers to standards, it aims to develop student learning through developing the teacher. Where it is inconsistent is: there is no clear accountability (but the administration determines when it is needed), teachers were not involved in creating the process, there is no explicit integration between HR and principals, there is no clear statement of what factors into HR decisions, and teacher associations were not involved. (Teacher associations don’t exist for most SPIS).
As a system, it is not that bad, but it proved too difficult to implement and has been shelved by our current principal. Admin and peers were unable to meet the demands of the process for reasons beyond the scope of this assignment, so I will put them in Part 2 of this blog.
For a SPIS, I think the areas for teacher evaluation should be few enough for rapid assessment by multiple people. These areas are:

1)   Respect for students
2)   Development of higher order thinking skills
3)   Development of critical thinking skills
4)   Instilling student responsibility for learning
5)   Covering the material/standards required for the year
6)   Adequate subject knowledge for the levels of students one teaches
7)   Effectiveness and timeliness of feedback for formative and summative assessments
8)   Frequency and usefulness of communication with parents
9)   External exam results if applicable

The first four points can be assessed through reading student reflective work and can be done by administrators, counselors, or teachers. The usual end of year activities cover the fifth point, while subject knowledge can be determined by an HOD, or by an outside subject specialist, if the HOD lacks the requisite knowledge. The seventh and eighth points are assessed through the School Management software the school uses. The final point will occur through the regular reporting of external exam results. The weighting of these areas is something that I think should be determined by consensus among the school faculty. There should be discussion with HR about how the evaluation weighs into salary and contracts, but the hierarchical nature of Chinese companies, doing so leads to your dismissal unless you hold an equal position in the hierarchy.  

 Part 2

Bibliography

Beijing International Bilingual Academy. (2016). Looking for Learning Protocol. Beijing: Beijing International Bilingual Academy.
Beijing International Bilingual Academy. (2015). Teacher Review System 16-17. Beijing: Beijing International Bilingual Academy.
International Baccalaureate Organization. (2017). International Baccalaureate Organization Grade Descriptors: For Use From December 2017. Cardiff: International Baccalaureate Organization.
National Education Association. (2011). Teacher Evaluation: A Resource Guide for National Education Association Leaders and Staff. Washington DC: National Education Association.
The New Teachers Project. (2010). Teacher Evaluation 2.0. New York City: The New Teachers Project.
The Teaching Channel. (2011). New Teacher Survival Guide: The Formal Observation. Retrieved July 30, 2018, from Teaching Channel: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/preparing-for-formal-observations


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