The Evaluation Process, Administrator Feedback, and Teacher Self-Efficacy

Abstract

The teacher evaluation process provides opportunity for instructional feedback and teacher improvement, but also may influence the beliefs teachers have about the quality of their own work and their confidence levels as a teacher. Self-efficacy plays a vital role in determining teacher effectiveness and the students‘ academic experience, but little is known about the impact the teacher evaluation process has on teacher self-efficacy. Interview data from 28 high school teachers indicated that the pre-observation meeting has potential to significantly benefit teachers. In addition, feedback from administrators that included both strengths and weaknesses during the post-observation phase seemed to have the most influence on teachers’ self-confidence. Implications of this study's findings were provided and may be useful for administrators to conduct teacher evaluations in a manner that serves to enhance teacher self-efficacy.