Perceptions of New York State School Superintendents Leading the Implementation of Mandated Teacher Evaluations

Sparked by Race to the Top, more than 20 states passed legislation to change teacher evaluations to include student achievement data. As a cornerstone of the "Regents Reform Agenda", the New York State Education Department adopted regulations governing the evaluation of teachers shifting accountability from the school district directly to individual teachers. Despite this significant change, policymakers did not elicit input from district school leaders even though superintendent leadership is an essential factor in determining the success or failure of reform initiatives. Successful leadership ultimately depended on how skillful schools leaders adapted their practices to the current circumstances, understood causes of problems, and responded effectively to those problems. The purpose of this qualitative multi-case study was to explore how school superintendents perceived the new teacher evaluation regulations and how their perceptions, and chosen leadership style, either facilitated or hindered implementation of the new regulations. Purposeful sampling was used to select six superintendents for the study that met certain demographic criteria until data saturation was achieved. Interviews were used to gather data from school superintendents, across the various regions of New York State, relevant to fulfilling the purpose of this study. All responses were recorded and analyzed qualitatively, using content analysis and coding, to determine any applicable themes with results presented in a descriptive format. Research findings indicated the importance of school superintendents creating a shared vision for a change initiative even when an initiative occurred through a top-down decision-making government process. Findings also indicated school superintendents could overcome barriers to implementation by altering the paradigm of the change initiative from that of compliance to a meaningful instructional focus related to the school district's educational mission via collaboration. This study should be useful for school leaders and policymakers attempting school reforms. It is recommended that future research include an analysis between teacher performance ratings under the new teacher evaluations as compared to evaluations for the same teachers prior to the new regulations to improve accuracy and to ultimately create better evaluation tools.