Principal perceptions of standards-based teacher evaluation in West Virginia

Standards-based teacher evaluations have become the norm in many states due to an increased focus on student achievement and teacher effectiveness. These evaluations have become integral to the improvement of classroom instruction efforts and the planning of specific professional development for teachers. West Virginia deployed a new standards-based teacher evaluation system in 2014, using the West Virginia Professional Teaching Standards as a basis for measuring teacher performance and growth in certain areas. The new evaluation system also included teacher self-reflection and goal-setting portions. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of school principals as to the effectiveness of the new standards-based West Virginia teacher evaluation system and its self-reflection and goal-setting portions. A researcher-created survey was administered electronically through Survey Monkey to 695 West Virginia principals. The survey was completed by 281 principals for a response rate of 40%. The study's findings suggested that while principals have an overall positive perception of the new system, they did not tend to regard it as extremely effective in enabling them to assess teacher performance. Ancillary findings suggested an ambivalence from principals regarding the degree to which the evaluation process and the evaluation instrument allowed them to effectively evaluate teachers. It is suggested that this study be replicated with the population expanded to include West Virginia teachers who have participated in the new evaluation system.