Accountability in the evaluation of teacher effectiveness: views of teachers and administrators

Student learning outcomes have been used to measure a teacher’s accountability for student learning in the evaluation of teacher effectiveness. This study employed a survey research design and investigated the views of teachers and administrators regarding using student learning objectives (SLOs) and classroom observations in the evaluation of teacher effectiveness in one southeastern state in the USA. The results revealed that administrators had significantly more positive views than teachers regarding the impact of SLOs and the classroom observations. Educators had less positive views of the impact of SLOs and the classroom observations after the full implementation of the evaluation system. Educators reported various concerns regarding the issues of using students’ assessment results, assessment methods, subjectivity in goal setting, and lack of feedback. The findings can inform policy making, development and implementation of teacher evaluation system, and teachers’ professional learning and development.