An Enhanced Tool for Better Evaluations

When Charlotte Danielson first created the Framework for Teaching in 1996 to assess teaching practice for licensing purposes, educators quickly recognized the Framework as a comprehensive description of good teaching, regardless of experience level.

Now, the enhanced Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument builds on the strength and stability of the original Framework to create a practical tool for administrators to use in evaluating teaching practice.

Adapting to Changing Needs

The Evaluation Instrument maintains the same research-based architecture while incorporating years of research and feedback from practitioners in the field. With more precise language and examples of teaching at all performance levels, the Evaluation Instrument helps schools and districts promote richer professional conversations, more reflective practice, and improved teaching effectiveness.

The Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument was first released in 2011 and has now been even further enhanced for 2013. It includes:

• Tighter rubric language now written at the component level: Deeper descriptions for fewer indicators help increase accuracy while easing the administrative burden
• Critical attributes that show what aspects of teaching are central to each component: Observers can provide more precise feedback to teachers
• Specific examples that demonstrate what teaching and learning might look like at each level of performance: Observers can better differentiate scoring

New 2013 Edition: Integrating the Common Core

The Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument, 2013 Edition, provides even more detailed descriptions of effective teaching, contributes to even greater accuracy, and helps districts incorporate the new Common Core State Standards into assessments of teaching.

While the Framework for Teaching has always been grounded in student learning and included the big ideas of the Common Core, the 2013 Edition of the Evaluation Instrument now includes:

• Even more specific rubric language about curriculum and assessment in Domain 1
• Rubric language and critical attributes addressing the instructional implications of the Common Core in Domains 2 and 3

Updated with even clearer language. Further language refinement helps observers make tighter distinctions between performance levels for even better scoring accuracy.