Oklahoma Teachers' Perceptions of the Qualitative Portion of the Teacher Evaluation System

Abstract

This quantitative study explores teacher evaluation from a teachers’ perspective through an organizational lens. Political reforms such as Race to the Top has ignited state reforms within the teacher evaluation framework. Since 2012 Oklahoma has gone from the initiation phase to the incorporation phase of implementing the qualitative portion of the new Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness (TLE) System. The study is a non-experimental quantitative analysis that uses questionnaires to collect data. There are two purposes for the study: 1) to quantify Oklahoma teachers’ perceptions to determine levels of favorableness towards the new teacher evaluation frameworks, which is the qualitative portion of the Oklahoma TLE; and 2) to quantify Oklahoma teachers’ perceptions to determine levels of favorableness towards district teacher training for its implementation. With these questions, the study found that teachers were mostly unfavorable or neutral. Five multiple regression were run and all showed statistical significance except for the removal of ineffective teachers. The study identified the variance among teachers’ perceptions across frameworks, teacher experiences, locations, and school levels. From the results, various stakeholders will be able to utilize the data as a communication tool to improve as the Oklahoma TLE system continues towards full implementation.