The statistics unit of my college class spends quite a bit of time talking about valid studies. As an extra credit assignment, I asked my class to make up a survey that could evaluate their teachers. It is interesting that not one question in this study deals with test grades. Kids are a lot brighter than the people running the school system.
Survey 1:
This is a confidential assessment that will help evaluate your teacher’s performance.
Consider each of the following statements below. Then, rate them accordingly to your teacher’s performance.
Statement | 1 2 3 4 5 Never Rarely Sometimes Frequently Always |
1. Is available outside the classroom | |
2. Provides clear lessons | |
3. Provides lessons with an objective/aim | |
4. Actively involves students into the lesson | |
5. Seeks constructive feedback from students | |
6. Knows and addresses students by name | |
7. Gives students sufficient time to finish exams | |
8. Values what students have to say | |
9. Communicates with students respectfully | |
10. Explains homework efficiently |
Statement | 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Disagree Agree/ Agree Disagree |
11. Treats students equally | |
12. Assists students individually, if needed | |
13. Displays the enjoyment of teaching | |
14. Actively involves students into the lesson | |
15. Arrives to class late on regular basis | |
16. Promotes a great classroom environment | |
17. Teaches lessons at a reasonable pace | |
18. Informs students of grading policy | |
19. Speaks in an appropriate tone | |
20. Admits to mistakes and fixes immediately |
Comments:
Purpose of this assessment
The purpose of this assessment is to be reliable means of determining the quality of education a teacher gives. This assessment is designed to remove as many biases as possible. The confidentiality of the test ensures the participant is being as truthful as possible. And the comments section is used to identify any confounding variables. For an example, if a student mentions they have had teacher twice and failed both courses, we take this into account.
How to interpret this test
The Maximum points a teacher can receive on this assessment is 100 points,
The Minimum points a teacher can receive on this assessment is 20 points
Ranges
Excellent teacher = 90 – 100 points
Great teacher = 80- 89 points
Satisfactory teacher= 70-79 points
Teacher needing a vast amount of improvement = 60 – 69 points
Unsatisfactory teacher = 20-59 points
Survey 2:
1. From a scale of 1-5, how affective are Ms. Lopez’s learning methods?
1 2 3 4 5
2. From a scale of 1-5, how hard are Ms. Lopez’s tests?
1 2 3 4 5
3. From a scale of 1-5, how easy are Ms. Lopez’s projects?
1 2 3 4 5
4. From a scale of 1-5, how much can you rely on Ms. Lopez for extra help during class?
1 2 3 4 5
5. From a scale of 1-5, can you trust Ms. Lopez with things you don’t feel comfortable telling to other teachers?
1 2 3 4 5
6. From a scale of 1-5, do you understand Ms. Lopez’s way of teaching?
1 2 3 4 5
7. From a scale of 1-5, do you think Ms. Lopez is organized with her lesson plan?
1 2 3 4 5
8. From a scale of 1-5, how much homework does your teacher give you every night?
1 2 3 4 5
9. From a difficulty level of 1-5 (5 being the most difficult), how hard is Ms. Lopez’s homework?
1 2 3 4 5
10. How much does Ms. Lopez show that she respects you as students?
1 2 3 4 5
11. How much do you respect Ms. Lopez as a teacher?
1 2 3 4 5
12. Do you think Ms. Lopez cares about you enough to help you reach your goals, set your goals in life, etc.?
1 2 3 4 5
13. Does Ms. Lopez give you too much or too little discipline?
1 2 3 4 5
13. Do you think Mr. Lopez has fair control over the class?
Yes No
14. Ms. Lopez listens to our opinions and things we have to say.
Yes No
15. I want to keep contact with Ms. Lopez when I graduate High School.
Yes No
16. Ms. Lopez makes me feel welcomed in her classroom.
Yes No
17. Ms. Lopez takes the time to get to know each student in our class.
Yes No
18. Ms. Lopez lets our parents know how we are progressing in her class.
Yes No
19. Does Ms. Lopez take her time teaching you the topics so everyone in the class is able to understand?
Yes No
20. Ms. Lopez encourages us to challenge our selves so we can fully understand a topic
Yes No
4 comments:
I have an issue with item 15 on survey 1, which is negative. All the others appear positive. Won't that screw up the survey?
Still, I like this idea much better than the one Mayor Bloomberg has. I suppose that's not saying much.
A good survey would mix positive and negative comments and ask the same question multiple ways.
I like these questions in that they show what students really value. I also agree that there should be more of this sort of thing in K-12 teacher evaluations (OK--what I really think is that K-12 teacher evaluations should not be high stakes, and should have more context than just test scores or adjusted test scores.) On the other hand, I'm not really excited about this sort of an evaluation. I'm at a university, and we have a student survey system that has questions that sound a lot like these, and I think it would be nice to have a little bit more of the test-score type data. There is a faculty member in the department who gets great evaluations, but whose students are not always well prepared for the later classes; there is another faculty member in the department who gets pretty good (but not usually great) evaluations and whose students are really well prepared for their later classes. I'm pretty sure I know whose classes students are learning more in.
In response to Lsquared, there has to be balance. More often than not students at any level cannot learn from someone they cannot relate to. Many of the questions that pissed off's kids generated, show that they value being able to relate to someone and knowing that their teacher cares about them as both people and learners. Good teachers always know how to be good politicians when it comes to gaining student's confidence. You catch a great deal more bees with honey than you do with vinegar. The same is true for students. They will respond to the subject matter if you make it easier to swallow and if they know that you value their opinions and use their feedback. I wish my students were my rating officers, because their would be no fluffy jargon like rigor, it would be I learned this, and here's how I will use it. Much more practical as this would save the city millions in the wasted salaries of those who talk, talk, talk, and never seem to teach, did someone say administrator?
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