Teacher supervision and evaluation: A case study of administrators' and teachers' perceptions of mini observation

This case study will investigate teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the relationship between mini observations and teacher performance to understand what effect, if any, a system of mini observations has on teacher performance, and if mini observations influences a teacher's pedagogical practice differently than a traditional evaluation model. Evaluating public school teachers has been studied for over one hundred years, yet little evidence exists as to the efficacy of mini observations on teacher performance. This study, including ten administrators and thirty seven teachers, will provide a small sample of data to help public schools evaluate and potentially implement this new method.;Four questions will guide this research: (1) What is the experience of teachers and administrators who have been exposed to mini observations? (2) How does the mini observation model impact teacher's instructional practices as perceived by both teachers and administrators? (3) What are teachers' perceptions about the reflective feedback and its ability to lead them to modify their practice? (4) Do teachers and administrators perceive any change in their relationship as a result of participating in mini observations? This qualitative study will gather data from six to ten participants from across one elementary school and one middle school through semi-structured interviews, observations of the teachers' and administrators' reflective conversations, and responses to a written survey. Findings, implications for practice, and limitations of the study will be discussed at length in the conclusion.