Abstract
This survey study was conducted in order to gain knowledge of the teacher belief system regarding twelve common teacher evaluation practices. The survey was distributed to a population of all teachers of the twenty-nine large suburban school districts of California. The twelve practices surveyed were: self evaluation, personal characteristics, student achievement data, student reports, competency list, peer review of material, paper and pencil tests, contracted performance objectives; classroom visits by the principal, other administrator, mentor or peer. Teachers were asked to respond to seventy-two questions regarding the belief associated with the validity of the practice, the agreement about having the information gathered from use of the practice being placed in or restricted from the personnel file, and the satisfaction/dissatisfaction tied to each of the practices. The survey results illustrate the comparative differences between the belief and satisfaction/dissatisfaction among those who have had experience with the practice in question, and those who had not had experience. The results show teacher satisfaction is directly related to their belief regarding the validity of the practice. Teachers who had experienced the practice accepted the practice as having greater validity and were more satisfied with the practice than those who had no experience. Teachers agree most, and are satisfied most, with information generated by a principal's visit. The actions suggested include an increase in experimentation with varied evaluation practices. The constructs of formative and summative evaluation need to be clarified for all educators. There was no evidence of a distinction in the minds of teachers between the two evaluation purposes. Research was suggested for additional teacher populations.