This week my Teaching as a Profession class has focused heavily on the TEAM model of evaluation/assessment. TEAM stands for Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model and is a observatory tool used to evaluate teachers and their instructional planning. This tool rates teachers from a 1-5 based on the quality of their instruction and content. The incentive attached with getting good scores is that the higher the number, the higher the salary. Utilizing grant money, Tennessee pays teachers a significantly higher amount per year if they score a 3-5. There are three parts to this model: Planning, Environment, and Instruction. After interviewing assistant principals at CHS, I learned that the easiest to complete and succeed at is environment with planning as a close second. Those two aspects are only one page long whereas the instructional portion is three pages front and back. Each observer is different, but typically, observation is 50%, student growth is 35%, and student achievement is 15%. During the interview, I learned several different things about the rubrics and challenges that teachers face when tasked with this model. First, most teachers under-plan their lesson when being evaluated which leads to a lower score because it seems like they are unprepared. Another thing that was stressed to our TAP class was that this is a tool for both administrators and teachers to learn and grow from. It provides constructive criticism and areas for professional development/improvement.
After reviewing the rubric in depth, the most challenging part is definitely the instruction portion. I believe that lesson pacing, academic feedback, questioning, and problem-solving are the hardest categories to score high in. All of those things seem difficult to accomplish in the short amount of time given to present a lesson.
Overall, I believe the TEAM rubric is beneficial to those who are willing to improve and grow in their classroom. I can see where it would be challenging to complete and frustrating if the teacher doesn’t get the score they desire, but it provides crucial feedback that is necessary in order to become better. I think it is fairly created but there are definitely are ways that it could be more inclusive and specific.
Positively Primary 