Reflecting on Evidence: Leaders Use Action Research to Improve Their Teacher Performance Reviews

Abstract

The paper reports on an action research (AR) project with six public high school leaders (reviewers) who volunteered to engage in an 18 month project to overcome their own defensiveness in addressing concerns with teachers (reviewees) whose performance they were evaluating. In the paper I outline how I acted as a coach in a long-term development approach where participant ownership of focus, data collection, analysis and interpretation was given highest priority. An exploration of the AR approach adopted, and the theory and strategies for addressing concerns is provided. The strategies may likely be a new, unique, contribution for many reviewers. A transcript of one reviewer-reviewee discussion sets the scene for an outline of reviewer tracking of their implementation strategies for improvement and subsequent evaluation. The final part of the paper covers a meta-level discussion of outcomes associated with the overall evaluation findings. Positive outcomes were shown for four of the six leaders for enhanced employment of strategies.