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Parent Surveys for Teacher Evaluation

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Abstract

Parent or guardian perceptions play a specialized role in the evaluation of school teachers. Parents are important stakeholders in teacher success, they are in some instances partners in the teachers' work, parents have unique personal information about student learning, and they can report on the teacher duties to inform parents about the classroom and child progress. This study analyzed the responses of parents to 12 survey items concerning teacher performance in 201 classrooms. The surveys were used as part of an innovative teacher evaluation program in which teachers elected to include parent feedback as one objective data source for annual review. In this study three factors emerged as important concerns for parents: humane treatment of students, support for pupil learning, and effective communication and collaboration with parents. Recommendations for use of specific survey items can be based on the empirical results of this sampling. The data gathered by parent surveys define one dimension of quality which may vary in importance from one teacher to another.

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Correspondence to Kenneth D. Peterson.

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Peterson, K.D., Wahlquist, C., Brown, J.E. et al. Parent Surveys for Teacher Evaluation. J Pers Eval Educ 17, 317–330 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-006-5740-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-006-5740-9

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