Teacher Evaluations: Why Evaluate?

Evaluating Teachers
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Why Evaluate?

The need to evaluate teachers rests on a simple premise: no one is perfect. Certainly, no teacher is perfect nor is any lesson. This assures the need to evaluate teachers to determine how they can become better.

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Fink's (1999) diagram contains three curves. The gold line represents teaching potential. The green curve represents teaching ability for educators who evaluate their practice over time. Finally, the red curve represents teaching ability for educators who do not evaluate their practice.

Fink's diagram, which is an integral component in Seldin's (1995) Part III: Strategies for Teacher Improvement, allows us to visualize the benefits in teaching for those educators who seek improvement in their work on an ongoing basis via reflective teaching. The diagram focuses on self-evaluation, but Fink also notes two other needs: 1) external assessment from peers and an instructional specialist, and 2) personal psychological satisfaction.

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Fink, L. (1999) Evaluating Your Own Teaching. Retrieved on August 12th, 2007 at: http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/evaluate.htm

Seldin, P. (1995) Improving College Teaching. Anker Publising Company, Inc. ISBN 1-882982-08-8.