While outstanding teachers are any school system's most important investment, assessing the quality of instructional practice has proven to be an ongoing challenge for the profession. Despite assertions that effective teachers are the single most important school-related factor responsible for increased learning, no teacher's employment is…

Statistics and forms presented in this circular represent responses to a question asked in an ERS survey of selected school practices. Responses from 468 systems are presented in tabular form by evaluation category (students evaluate teachers; teachers evaluate principals, etc.) and by enrollment level, and indicate that student evaluation of…

The Pupil Observations Survey Report (POSR), a 38-item rating scale, was administered to pupils of 26 female student teachers in secondary schools. Social class origin of the teachers was assessed using the short form of the McGuire-White Index of Social Status. Pupil social class was operationally defined in terms of the social class of the…

This paper presents eleven questions which must be raised concerning the use of student evaluations of community college teachers. Ten questions deal with the political, sociological, and psychological implications of the student evaluations currently in use. The last question concerns a legal matter--the use of unvalidated tests. (Author/DC)

In contrast to Professor Irene R. Kiernan's negative impression of the validity of student ratings of faculty (Community and Junior College Journal, April, 1975), the author, by examining recent research findings, concludes that the majority of studies point to a positive relationship between student ratings and student learning. (Author/NHM)

On the basis of previous research with the 38-item Pupil Observation Survey (POSR), used for evaluation of student teachers by their pupils, two central items for each of the five POSR factors were selected and reworded slightly for a new instrument. Named the Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET), the instrument was simulated for old POSR item…

Described here are the planning and development stages of the Teacher Performance Evaluation (TPE) system and the Administrator Performance Evaluation (APE) system that are components of the School Improvement Model project undertaken by schools in Iowa and Minnesota. One goal is an evaluation system tailored to fit the needs of the school…

Participant observation of an innovative art teacher's classroom technique suggested that, despite his popularity with students, this teacher did not fully engage his students' attention. His attempt at using cognitive dissonance to bring about attitudinal change in the classroom left many students baffled despite the effort expended to involve…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the on-site evaluation phase of the three-phase system for statewide evaluation of occupational education programs in Illinois. The specific problem was to explore the nature of selected changes in the occupational education programs of comprehensive secondary schools over five years and the extent to…