Teacher Evaluation as a Data-Use Intervention: A Frame Analysis

This multi-site ethnographic study focuses on the utility of using student growth data generated from teacher evaluations as a data-use intervention. Findings suggest that teachers developed a common perspective about evaluation but organizational contexts shaped teacher responses at the three sites differently. At two of the schools, teachers were responsible for administering their own assessments, organizing results, and presenting these results to the principal. In both schools, the data-use process was similar. Teachers administered a variety of assessments, chose from among the results, constructed artifacts metrics, and presented these metrics to the principal. At the third school, student achievement was calculated using an externally developed assessment and student growth scores were calculated at the district level. At this school, teachers maintained a unified front that disestablished the link between their performance and their students’ assessment results. The teachers maintained this stance in their interactions with colleagues and with the principal.