Principals can then offer tips or resources to teachers who need help with specific problems. When they diagnose a weakness, they lay out plans to remedy the problem. For example, a principal could find a training program for a teacher having trouble dealing with hyperactive children or assign a peer coach to a teacher weak at helping mainstreamed students participate in science labs. A principal might discover that a 5th grade teacher isn't in sync with the school code to treat children with respect or that a 9th grade English teacher doesn't have a clue about pacing a lesson. In cases like these, principals can intervene to help get teachers on track.
Some principals are skillful at promoting a win-win feeling about teacher evaluation.
They don't allow observations to become threatening for their teachers, they communicate regularly, and they show genuine regard for teachers' feelings. In some cases, principals will go the extra mile, demonstrating how to group students within a heterogeneous classroom or providing strategies for a teacher who needs help getting a class started promptly. Even conscientious principals must sometimes work to keep teacher evaluations from becoming tasks to check off, file, and forget. Spillover effects, some principals report, include better working conditions and higher staff morale. Lessons from New York Having nearly finished with my two-year review of the Elmira City School District's pilot evaluation model, I can say that the most gratifying outcome has been seeing administrators and teachers talk about teaching and learning .