The purpose of this exploratory descriptive research was to examine what Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) certified Montessori teachers (MTs) for students ages 3-6 years in the United States reported regarding scientific observation (SO) as a disposition and as a disposition in action (DIA) to better understand MTs' application of…

The purpose of this heuristic narrative study was to use teacher voice to gain a stronger understanding of what teachers need for the meaningful use of the evaluation process for improving teaching and learning. Data collected and analyzed from eight co-researchers, who represented eight different suburban districts, consisted of an evaluation…

The notion that teacher quality impacts student achievement is widely accepted. How to best define, measure, and improve teacher quality continues to be debated by teacher unions and state legislators. Teacher evaluation studies have focused on isolated elements of the system. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the current…

This study considers how administrators work to provide excellent educational experiences for all students through supporting teacher practice within teacher observation for evaluation (TOFE) systems. Qualitative methodology was used for this research, specifically interviews of participants. The study took place during the Fall of 2017 at three…

Over the past five years, policymakers have shown a renewed interest in using teacher evaluation as a lever for increasing the quality of the teacher labor market. As such, states have been spurred by federal policies such as Race to the Top and influential foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to use a more reliable, more…

Roles of Hybrid Teacher Leadership (HTL), positions which involve classroom teaching for part of the day and academic coaching, curriculum planning, department chair, or professional development responsibilities for the remainder of the day, are becoming more prevalent due to budgetary concerns and teacher shortages. This autoethnography analyzes…

A study was conducted to investigate the perceived relevance of using a teacher evaluation rubric with performance indicators specific to special education services in place of the standard rubric for teachers used in the State of Arkansas Teacher Excellence Support System (TESS). Through a multi-method approach, the perceptions of special…

Military education is held to high standards for our servicemen and women. The purpose of this quantitative, comparative study was to determine if significant differences existed in learning styles relative to military experience as determined by learning in a serious game environment. Study results are expected to advance the state of research in…

Observation is the preferred method of assessing small children in school and play settings. Despite being taught this, based on statements during the interviews of this study, it appears little instruction is dedicated to the performance of this type of authentic assessment. The professional literature surveyed for this study finds that due to…

Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year the North Carolina State Board of Education (SBE) mandated the use of the North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process (Evaluation Process) for use in all public school systems in the state to conduct teacher observations and evaluations. The Evaluation Process replaced the Teacher Performance Appraisal…

The present study aimed to represent the innovative assessments that support students' learning in STEM education through using the integrative framework for Cognitive Diagnostic Modeling (CDM). This framework is based on three components, cognition, observation, and interpretation (National Research Council, 2001). Specifically, this dissertation…

Many states are in the process of adopting rigorous, standards-based teacher evaluation systems in order to address and increase teacher accountability for student achievement. In the newly adopted Educator Effectiveness evaluation system, Pennsylvania classroom teachers were evaluated through one of two evaluation protocols, both aligned to…

Traditional teacher evaluation systems have little to no impact on changing teacher behavior or improving student achievement. Subsequently, studies and reports show the lack of and need for multidimensional teacher evaluation system. This deficiency and need is especially evident in Michigan due to the state's recent legislative mandate that…

The use of formative assessment can increase student achievement (Black & Wiliam, 1998a). However, some of the challenges of incorporating formative assessment into instruction include the length of time needed to collect, assess and provide feedback to all students and dealing with students misunderstandings and incorrect answers that are…

In an educational landscape where teacher evaluation methods are increasingly discussed and scrutinized in research offices, legislatures, and school buildings, the differences in policy and instrumentation among states and school districts can paint a confusing picture of these varying methods and their impacts. To help assess the picture in…