Tips for Effective Evaluation of Teacher Credential Candidates
To improve teaching skills and create behavioral changes in a teacher credential candidate’s performance, the Cooperating Teacher:
- Maintains open communication and trust with all involved in the teacher credential candidate’s experience.
- Builds confidence. Cooperating Teachers begins all oral and written communication in a positive manner by focusing on those aspects of the candidate’s performance that went well.
- Provides constructive feedback and specific suggestions on what could be improved. Written and specific comments provide teacher credential candidates with an immediate and usable reference from which to learn.
- Reviews and provides feedback on lesson plans prior to implementation. Such feedback allows the teacher credential candidates to be clear on the purpose of their lesson.
- Debriefs lessons with the teacher credential candidate. Immediate feedback eliminates a “guessing game” for the candidate. If an immediate debriefing session is not possible, a small note or kind word will be enough to encourage and support a candidate until such time that a discussion can be held.
- Allows the candidate to engage in self-reflection. Cooperating Teachers ask candidates how they felt their lesson went.
- Identifies and communicates potential problems early. Early identification of problems is paramount for a teacher credential candidate’s success. While there may be more than one area of improvement, Cooperating Teachers prioritize and identify the key needs that must be addressed. Cooperating Teachers understand that the learning process for a teacher credential candidate is developmental and not punitive.