Perceptions and practices of Yeshiva principals in evaluating teachers

Abstract

This study is an exploration of teacher evaluation as practiced by elementary yeshiva principals. The population for the study was the membership of the Yeshiva Elementary Principals' Council of Metropolitan New York.;The data for the study were gathered through a questionnaire that was mailed to the principals. The questions were adapted from Calamusa's study (1985) of Nassau County public school principals and Pajak's ASCD study (1989) of public school principals. Both the demographic and content items were constructed to reflect the unique context of the Jewish educational setting.;Analysis of the responses was directed to the determination of the theoretical educational concepts that guide the principal in choosing evaluation techniques and the different criteria used for assessing classroom performance.;Among researchers' conjectures were the following: (1) Most principals will utilize some form of a human resources-developmental model of teacher evaluation. (2) The human resources-developmental model is perceived as the progressive model of working with teachers.;An important outcome of the study is the development of a set of scale items which can be used to identify the respondent, based on self reported data, as preferring the human resources, rather than another, model of teacher evaluation. The study appears to support the researcher's conjectures.;The findings suggest that there is a relationship between a graduate education and a master's or doctoral degree and the principal's preference for the human resources model of teacher evaluation. 71% of the respondents appear to favor the human resources model of teacher evaluation. The outcomes of several analytic procedures used on the data seem to indicate the human resources as the preferred model of the 55 respondents. The responding principals compare favorably with regard to education, attitudes, and skills with the principals of the Calamusa, and Pajak studies.;The findings do not reveal an association between choice of an evaluation model and the number of classes or number of teachers in the school. Similarly, neither years of teaching nor years of supervisory experience appear to significantly affect preference for principals' evaluation model.