Darling-Hammond & Schlan Notes Policy and Supervision

Darling-Hammond, L., & Schlan, E. (1992). Policy and supervision. In C. Glickman (Ed.), Supervision in transition: 1992 yearbook of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (pp. 7-29). ASCD.

Professionalism and the Press for Teacher Policy

·      "Rather, evaluation is an ongoing set of experiences in which teachers examine their own and each others' work, determine its effectiveness, and explore alternative strategies (p. 8)."

Policies Influencing Teacher Supervision

·      "Obviously, formal evaluation policies for beginning and veteran teachers are frequently accompanied by supervisory structures and requirements (p. 9)."

·      State Policy Trends

o   Some states are more prescriptive than others regarding the procedures for teacher evaluation, but all or almost all require it.

·      Veteran Teacher Supervision and Evaluation

o   Policy contributes to the nature of supervision. (MY THOUGHTS - Mandated observations contributes to the feelings of inspection and evaluation.)

·      Beginning Teacher Supervision and Evaluation

·      Local Policy Trends

o   This lawsuit begs the question of knowledge. What is the knowledge base of supervisors? Who has it? How is it developed? Regarding peers as supervisors: "When the teachers' union and school board in Rochester, New York, negotiated a similar mentoring program, the district was sued by its Council of Supervisors and Administrators, the chief principals' union, on the grounds that only certified administrative staff should be allowed to supervise teachers (p. 14)."

Policy Effects on Teaching and Teacher Learning

·      "Neo-progressives are concerned with developing deliberative classrooms that support both teachers and students in constructing meaning from their interactions with each other and with the world they study. Neo-traditionalists are concerned with specifying and producing teacher behaviors thought to increase those student behaviors thought to be associated with learning (p. 15)."

·      Behavioralist supervision - simplifying supervision to observing concrete behaviors not necessarily in relation to their context. A behavioral supervisor would use checklists to mark the presence of specific behaviors.