A Comparison of Principal Practices and Music Educator Perceptions Regarding Teacher Evaluation

Abstract

Abstract Although teacher evaluation systems have become increasingly tied to school accountability through legislative mandates, music educators are concerned that they are not being evaluated in ways that are authentic to their content or practice. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of music teacher evaluation from 2 perspectives: principal and music teacher. Survey results indicated that, while principals and music teachers agreed that evaluative criteria measuring general traits of effective teaching were important, music teachers desired evaluative criteria focused on music-specific content and pedagogy. Both music teachers and principals shared ideas to improve music teacher evaluation, including the need for evaluators with music-content expertise. Music teachers also voiced logistical and practical concerns about measuring student growth in their settings. Recommendations include encouraging music teacher involvement in designing new evaluation procedures.