Examining the relationships between student achievement and teacher monitoring and evaluation in lower secondary and secondary schools: A multinational study
Open Access
- Author:
- Khan, Gulab
- Graduate Program:
- Educational Theory and Policy
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- October 02, 2013
- Committee Members:
- Mindy L Kornhaber And Liang Zhang, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Mindy L Kornhaber And Liang Zhang, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Soo Yong Byun, Committee Member
Hoi Kin Suen, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Teacher evaluation
Teacher appraisal
Accountability - Abstract:
- Teacher quality is a significant determinant of student achievement in schools. One way through which schools endeavor to improve the quality of their teachers, and hence student achievement, is by evaluating them, identifying their professional needs, and making them accountable for the quality of their practice. While there is a general agreement that teachers should be monitored and evaluated, there is variation in the approaches and purposes of the process across schools and educational contexts. This dissertation responds to the research question, “How do teacher monitoring and evaluation practices and purposes associate with student achievement in mathematics, science, and reading in lower secondary and secondary schools.” The study employs Ordinary Least Squares as it analytical approach and uses data and information in 21 countries from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). Findings show that the developmental approaches to teacher evaluation in the form of evaluative focus in principals’ pedagogical role that include classroom observations, suggesting teachers for improvement, and informing teachers about possibilities for updating their knowledge and skills do not associate significantly with student achievement in all three subjects. Schools’ use of student data for instructional improvement also does not associate significantly with student achievement in all three subjects. Monitoring of teachers using student achievement and principal and staff observations relate positively to student achievement in reading. The study finds mixed results for high-stakes approaches to teacher evaluation. Public accountability establishes a positive relationship with student achievement in all three subjects. However, the use of student assessments for teacher evaluation and judging teacher effectiveness do not relate significantly to student achievement in mathematics. In reading and science, such uses of student assessments associate negatively with student achievement. The tracking of student assessments by an administrative authority develops a negative but insignificant relationship with student achievement in mathematics and reading, and an insignificant positive relationship in science. The evidence in this study only confirms the complexity of teacher monitoring and evaluation practices and purposes while exploring their potential in raising student achievement in schools. The study suggests that the use of student assessments as an evidence of teacher performance should be avoided especially in high-stakes approaches to teacher evaluation. The study further suggests that the right mix of developmental and high-stakes approaches and purposes to monitoring and evaluating teachers should be driven by evidence obtained through rigorous research in indigenous settings.