Who Should Get “Ineffective”? A Principal’s Ethical Dilemmas on Teacher Evaluation

Authors

Taeyeon Kim, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Charles Lowery, Ohio UniversityFollow

ORCID IDs

Taeyeon Kim https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2020-9851

Charles Lowery https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6291-7533

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

12-2020

Citation

Published in Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 2020

DOI: 10.1177/1555458920976718

Comments

Copyright © 2020 The University Council for Educational Administration; published by SAGE Publications. Used by permission.

Abstract

School principals play a critical role in evaluating teachers and providing feedback, but high-stakes evaluation policies at the local and state levels can create ethical dilemmas for principals. In this case, an underresourced rural school principal has to report a certain number of “ineffective” teachers to meet a requirement from the district teacher evaluation, even though the principal does not think any teacher in his school deserves to receive an “ineffective” rating. This study can be used to help students unpack issues of dilemmas coming from consequential accountability policies that overlook the relational ethos of educators and leaders in school practice.