Announcing the Final Examination of Tara Butler for the degree of Doctor of Education.
Date of defense: Thursday, February 16, 2017
Time and room: 2:00 pm in ED306
Dissertation Title: AN INVESTIGATION OF LOW PERFORMING CENTRAL FLORIDA TEACHER EVALUATION FEEDBACK AND IMPROVEMENT PLANS AS RELATED TO VALUE-ADDED MODEL SCORES AND INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE SCORES
The purpose of this study was to determine if low performing Central Florida teachers, according to Florida VAM scores, had related instructional practice evaluations that were being used to determine placement on improvement plans in the 2013-14 school year. Additionally, the feedback held within the instructional practice evaluations was analyzed to discover the levels of feedback most frequently rendered by administrative evaluators to the lowest performing teachers. Deidentified data from a population of 528 Central Florida teacher evaluations and improvement plans within the lowest 10% of VAM scores for the 2013-14 school year were gathered from a Florida Department of Education database and public record requests. Data were analyzed to determine if any significant relationship existed between VAM scores and instructional practice scores. No significant relationship existed between these two variables. Tenured teachers were rated significantly more favorably on summative instructional practice evaluations than nontenured teachers. Within the population, less than 1% of low-performing teachers (two total) were prescribed an improvement plan, regardless of tenure or nontenure status. Finally, evaluation feedback was largely low-level without reference to student growth or achievement.
Evidence of administrative barriers within the three dimensions of individual conflict avoidance, bureaucratic procedural interferences, and administrative procedural faults were inferred from the literature and subsequent findings. To improve upon the current evaluation system, administrators must be aware of, and well-prepared for the demands of evaluating, remediating, and providing feedback to teaching professionals relative to student achievement and growth in a manner that is simultaneously respectful, candid, fair, timely, and actionable.
Committee in charge:
Dr. Barbara A. Murray, Committee Chair
Dr. Gordon Lee Baldwin
Dr. Walter John Doherty
Dr. Cynthia J. Hutchinson
Dr. Kenneth T. Murray
Outline of Studies:
Major: Educational Leadership
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