A good teacher has a positive impact on a student’s life. However, quantifying teacher effectiveness is tough. Student feedback and test scores are not sufficient. Teacher evaluation is a formal process that an organisation uses to review and rate performance and effectiveness in the classroom. The findings are used to provide feedback and guide professional development.
Teacher evaluation systems have traditionally relied on classroom observations conducted by fellow teachers or evaluators, sometimes with the assistance of rubrics or checklists that include amples of students' work, teacher records, lesson plans, and other relevant factors. However, in recent years, many evaluation systems have undergone significant transformations.
The Kirk Patrick Model, whose aim is to assess the effect of a training programme, can also be employed as a significant tool to evaluate teacher performance in K-12 education. Named after Sir Donald Kirkpatrick, the model is divided into four levels and offers an effective scale.
Level 1: Reaction: When a teacher attends a training programme, his/her immediate reaction to the session is recorded using a feedback form. Using a sliding scale, this form asks questions about content, methodology, trainer, learning environment, and other logistics. The rating scale signifies the reactiveness of a teacher, where one would mean least reactive and 5 would mean highly reactive. It also captures the teachers' answers verbatim on parameters such as: What they enjoyed about the programme; suggestions for improvement; programme takeaways, to name a few. This level provides a detailed report on whether the training was useful, acceptable, or well-received.
Level 2: Learning: This level assesses the comprehension of the knowledge and skills learned during the training, and is assessed by administering pre-training and post-training assessments to ensure that the delta improvements are being measured.
Level 3: Behaviour: It assesses whether the participants applied/demonstrated the newly learned skill during the training. Using skill-based assessments such as feedback from the immediate reporting manager, and internal quality rubrics/checklists, the learner's performance is evaluated on the job.
Level 4: Results: Ensures that the learning intervention has had an impact on the business metrics/goals. Measured using Net Promoter Score, Teacher Ratings, CSAT, CVR, and other operational business metrics, it is usually conducted both before and after training.
When planning such sessions to evaluate teacher performance, it is important to identify what goals and learning outcomes need to be achieved. Understanding how these outcomes will benefit the organisation can strengthen the training process and provide an accurate measurement of a teacher’s performance. Often educational institutions measure performance only upto the second level. Using all four will help enhance teacher performance and student learnability.
The writer is Deputy General Manager - Teacher Training and Development, Vedantu
