Evaluating Literacy Instruction Principles and Promising Practices

This must-read book for all literacy educators illuminates the intersection of research on literacy instruction and teacher evaluation. Since 2009, 46 states have changed or revised policies related to evaluating teachers and school leaders. In order for these new policies to be used to support and develop effective literacy instruction, resources are needed that connect the best of what is known about teaching literacy with current evaluation policies and support practices. A major contribution to meeting this need, the volume brings together a range of perspectives on tools, systems, and policies for the evaluation of teaching, organized into two sections: • Crafting Systems and Policies for Evaluating Literacy Instruction • Examples of Alternative Systems/Approaches for Evaluating Literacy Instruction Across the text, expert scholars in the field emphasize the need for literacy professionals to do more than merely apply generic observation instruments for teacher evaluation, but also to consider how these tools reflect professional values, how elements of effective literacy instruction can be unearthed or included within them, and how teacher evaluation systems and policies can be used to increase students’ opportunities to develop literacy.

Preface 1. Introduction Rachael E. Gabriel and Richard L. Allington Section I: Crafting Systems and Policies for Evaluating Literacy Instruction 2. Evaluating the Structure and Content of Observation Instruments Rachael E. Gabriel and Sarah Woulfin 3. How the Tests Used in Evaluating Reading Misrepresent Student Development and Teacher Effectiveness Peter Afflerbach 4. Considerations for Evaluating Instruction for English Language Learners Sultan Turkan 5. The Practice and Evaluation of Culturally Responsive Literacy for English Language Learners in the 21st Century Alyson Lavigne and Tammy Oberg De La Gaza 6. The Development of a Classroom Observation System for First-Grade Writing Instruction David Coker, Elizabeth Farley-Ripple, Huijing Wen, and Allison Jackson Section II. Examples of Alternative Systems/Approaches for Evaluating Literacy Instruction 7. Using the School Change Observation Scheme to Support Effective Literacy Instruction Debra S. Peterson 8. Assessing Literacy Teaching: Using the Text Environment as a Window into the Examination of Literacy Practices Misty Sailors and James Hoffman 9. The Use of Formative Assessment to Improve Instruction of English Learners and Evaluation of Teachers Francesca López, Patrick Proctor, and Martin Scanlon 10. What Does Effective Teaching Really Look Like? The Observations of Effective Teaching in Reading (OET-Reading) Systems Carol Connor, Sarah Ingebrand, and Nicole Sparapani 11. When Leadership Skills Are Not Enough: The Role of Principals in High-Stakes Observations Steven T. McAbee Contributors Index

Rachael E. Gabriel is Assistant Professor of Reading Education, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut, USA. Richard L. Allington is Professor of Education, Literacy Studies Program, University of Tennessee, USA.