The Utility of a Standards-Based Teacher Evaluation as a Measure of Effectiveness

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between teachers’ evaluation ratings and their students’ attainment of projected growth scores in reading. The independent variables were the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching (FFT) component ratings assigned to teachers of third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students in a western Maryland school district during the 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 school years. The dependent variable was the percentage of each evaluated teachers’ students attaining projected growth scores in reading, measured by the MAP reading assessment. A multiple correlation analysis determined teachers’ performance ratings on all 22 FFT component ratings, explaining 11.5% (R2 = .115) of the variance in the percentage of teachers’ students attaining projected growth scores. The adjusted R2 was .5% (adj. R2 = .005) and was not statistically significant (p > .05). The unstandardized coefficient for one component, 3d: Using Assessment in Instruction, was 8.139 and was statistically significant (p < .05), meaning teachers rated Distinguished had an 8.139% higher mean percentage of their students attaining projected growth scores in reading than teachers rated Basic or Proficient. Teachers’ ratings on 10 other FFT components had positive correlations to students’ attainment of growth projections in reading; however, the correlations were not statistically significant (p > .05).