Feedback From 360 Degrees

School Administrator, March, 1997 by Richard P. Manatt

* "It costs too much!"

Up-to-date, client-driven feedback with sophisticated assessments in meaningful reporting to all stakeholders doesn't cost. Rather, it pays off in better performance among staff and students. What's truly costly are students continuing to do poorly, angry parents, and lack of accountability on the part of anyone with no idea of how to better satisfy clients, what to teach better, what to teach again, or never teach at all. That is expensive!

360-Degree Feedback Sources

These sources of feedback data for evaluating teachers and principals are included in the School Improvement Model developed by Iowa State University.

Teachers:

* supervisor evaluation

* self-evaluation

* student achievement

* peer feedback

* student feedback

* parent feedback

Principals:

* supervisor evaluation

* self-evaluation

* student achievement

* student feedback

* student attendance

* holding power (dropouts)

* teacher performance data

* teacher feedback

* parent feedback

* school climate

Where to Learn More

For additional information about moving from clinical supervision to a client-driven evaluation system, readers may want to consult the following:

* Educational Leadership, March 1996. This was a theme issue on "Improving Professional Performance."

* "The Changing Paradigm of Outcomes and Assessments," by Richard R Manatt, International Journal of Educational Reform, January 1993.

* "Removing Barriers to Professional Growth," by Daniel Duke, Phi Delta Kappan, May 1993.

For sample instruments, norm group data, and assistance in data processing, contact School Improvement Model Projects Office, Attn: 360-degree consultant, College of Education, N225 Lagomarcino Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011-3195, or call 515-294-5521.

Using Multi-Raters in Superintendent Evaluation

RICHARD P. SANTEUSANIO

In my school district, school board members evaluate me yearly. Because they value the opinions of other stakeholders, such as teachers, administrators, and parents, the board endorses the use of 360-degree feedback process as a component of my evaluation.

The 360-degree process usually involves from three to seven rater groups. In my case, I receive feedback from my school board, teachers, administrators, parents, and support staff. I also complete a self-evaluation.

Typically, one's self-evaluation closely agrees with the feedback submitted by stakeholder groups. In fact, according to Mark R. Edwards, a professor of agribusiness and resource management at Arizona State University and a leader in 360-degree feedback, high agreement exists in 95 percent of the cases. Thus the feedback has credibility to both superintendents and their school boards.

How It Works

My 360-degree evaluation has five basic steps.

* Step 1: Identify and define the competencies related to the job. One source I used was AASA's "Professional Standards for the Superintendency." Once the competencies were selected, they were formatted into a survey.

* Step 2: Select the evaluation team.

I selected the evaluation team. Of course, this will lead to snickering by those unfamiliar with 360-degree feedback that the individual being evaluated is apt to "pick his friends." While this could and does happen, research shows that friendship does not bias evaluations. And even if such bias should occur, safeguards designed into the process, such as Olympic scoring and anonymity, minimize the impact of all types of bias, including friendship biases.