Teachers are observed in the classroom for several purposes. Student-teachers are those in the final phase of their college education. Often they are paired with an existing teacher, who performs regular evaluations of their classroom performance. A teacher educator from their college also routinely attends sessions taught by the student-teacher to observe them and monitor their progress.Both
. experienced and new teachers receive feedback from peers and superiors through observation. The purpose of the observation is not only to monitor performance, but to suggest areas where improvement is needed and how well the educator employs the rubric, or teaching objectives, for a given subject area. While most schools and school districts use their own standardized observation forms to assess teachers' performance, the criteria to determine the quality of classroom performance is mostly generalized across the profession.The most common scales used to measure teachers' effectiveness in the classroom are:
Development of learning objectivesSelection and use of instructional materialsEducational climate for learningVariety of instructional activitiesPreparation for class sessionInstructional methods usedOpportunity for student participationIndividualization of instructionResponsiveness to student feedbackIndividual student learning difficultiesAn observation form usually includes sections and sub-sections related to the above topics, and requires the observer to provide information in each category to describe the teacher's techniques.The Internet has several valuable sites containing tools and information to assist an observer.http://www.rbs.org/Special-Topics/Classroom-Observation-Resources/235/Research for Better Schools at rbs.org provides several different guides to classroom observations that are based on varied institutions' observation protocols. Several forms to use when observing a classroom are also available for download and printing.http://www.chicagoteacherexcellence.org/index.php?tray=topic&tid=gptop1&cid=1cps3The Excellence in Teaching Project for Chicago public schools maintains a list of forms to use on their website. Forms are available for pre-observation, administrator notes, post-observation, and classroom visitation as well as for describing the framework by which the assessment will be performed. More reference links: http://www.rbs.org/Special-Topics/Classroom-Observation-Resources/235/ http://www.chicagoteacherexcellence.org/index.php?tray=topic&tid=gptop1&cid=1cps3 