Brief: Reinvigorating the Principal Evaluation Process in MassachusettsThis brief offers three recommendations for Massachusetts superintendents to reinvigorate principal evaluation. The recommendations are based on the work of Massachusetts superintendent and principal teams to develop ways to make principal evaluation more fair, practical, and useful for both principals and superintendents. The brief includes concrete examples for districts and previews six field-tested tools.
An effective school visit allows a superintendent to:
Monitor implementation of district and school priorities to assess progress, celebrate successes, and identify obstacles;
Observe the principal in action to guide and support their work and gather evidence to assess their performance; and
Demonstrate commitment to teaching and learning by modeling that a leader can and must make time in their schedule to see students and teachers at work.
The following resources, each aligned to one Standard of Effective Administrative Leadership Practice , provide superintendents or principal supervisors with a 10-step process for conducting meaningful and effective school visits.
School Visit Framework
School Visit Protocol: Observations and Feedback (Standard I)
School Visit Protocol: School Culture (Standard II)
School Visit Protocol: Family Engagement (Standard III)
School Visit Protocol: Professional Culture (Standard IV)
School Visit Protocol: Cultural Responsiveness (Standard IV) — coming soon
Last Updated: September 4, 2019