Examining the validity of ratings from a classroom observation instrument for use in a district’s teacher evaluation system May 2016

This validation study examined principals’ evaluation ratings of teachers made on an instrument adapted from the Danielson Framework for Teaching and used in the Washoe County School District in Reno, Nevada in 2012/13. Principals used a four-point rating scale to rate teachers on 22 teaching components. The teaching components were expected to measure four different dimensions of teaching. The analysis showed that principals discriminated among teachers they thought to be effective and highly effective, the two highest points on the rating scale; they rarely identified teachers as minimally effective or ineffective (approximately 10 percent of ratings were in the lowest two categories). Additionally, individual component ratings did not appear to measure distinct aspects of teaching. Instead, the analyses support using an average rating taken over all components. This average rating shows a moderate relationship with student learning, providing some evidence that it may be interpreted as an indicator of teacher effectiveness in promoting learning.