Superintendent's impact on the principal's role as teacher evaluator.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

With the drive for excellence in our public schools, superintendents must ensure teachers perform to expected standards in the classroom. Although the responsibility for teacher evaluation is assigned to site principals, it is the superintendent who creates the culture to instill meaning in the teacher evaluation process and how it impacts student learning. This study examines the superintendent's role in influencing principal priorities in teacher evaluation.
The focus of the study is 4 top-rated, public school superintendents selected by the Delphi Technique who work with principals to place a high priority on teacher evaluation. The design was a qualitative, descriptive approach in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with these superintendents and their 11 high school principals. Interview data were analyzed to determine (1) the expectations of the superintendent about teacher evaluation, (2) the strategies used by superintendents to support an environment in which principals demonstrate a commitment to teaching and learning through teacher evaluation, and (3) the impact of the superintendent's actions on the principal as teacher evaluator. This analysis was accomplished using the Critical Incidents Technique (Flanagan, 1954) with frequency distribution tables and direct quotations reported to illustrate related concepts.
The findings of the study indicated that superintendents play a critical role in establishing expectations for principal performance in instructional improvement and clearly influence the principal's views and reactions to teacher evaluation. This influence is exerted primarily through the superintendent's vision, expectations, support, and priorities that give credence to the importance of teacher evaluation. The results of the study extend research by describing how the superintendents created a culture that impacted principal priorities and providing examples of how the superintendent communicated expectations and demonstrated practices supporting the importance of instructional improvement. The implication for superintendents is the need to recognize and act on their ability to influence their principals by elevating the importance of teacher evaluation as a tool to improve instruction.