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Administrators' role in supporting teachers through feedback
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Administrators' role in supporting teachers through feedback
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Content
Running head: SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 1
ADMINISTRATORS’ ROLE IN SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK
by
Kristi Dueñas
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
December 2019
Copyright 2019 Kristi Dueñas
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 2
Table of Contents
1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………..4
2. Organizational Context and Mission………………………………………………….4
3. Importance of Addressing the Problem ………………………………………………5
4. Organizational Performance Goal ……………………………………………………6
5. Stakeholder Group of Focus and Stakeholder Goal ………………………………….7
6. Purpose of the Project and Questions…………………………………………………8
7. Methodological Approach ……………………………………………………………9
8. Review of the Literature ………………………………………………………….…..9
9. Influences on the Problem of Practice ………………………………………………10
10. Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge, Motivation
and the Organizational Context………………………………………………...……30
11. Participating Stakeholders: Sampling and Recruitment …………………...……….32
12. Data Collection and Instrumentation…...……………………………………………34
13. Data Analysis……………………...…………………………………………………35
14. Findings ……………………………………………………………………………..35
15. Discussion ………………………………………………………………………...…58
16. Recommendations for Practice……………...……………………………………….58
17. Future Research ……………………………………………………………………..64
18. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...……64
19. References……………………………………………………………………………66
20. Appendix A: Interview Protocol…………………………………………………….78
21. Appendix B: Credibility and Trustworthiness ..…………………………………….81
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 3
22. Appendix C: Ethics ...……………………………………………………………….82
23. Appendix D: Limitations and Delimitations ...………………………………….…..83
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 4
Introduction
In recent years, much attention has been given to the shortage of qualified teachers to fill
teaching vacancies. The evidence highlights that improving teacher retention is even more
important in high-need areas where turnover is the greatest (Lasagna, 2009; Simon & Johnson,
2015). This problem is important to address because one of the most important factors
contributing to inadequate school performance is the inability to staff classrooms with qualified
teachers (Ingersoll, 2001). When schools fail to retain teachers, students are exposed to new
teachers year after year. Teachers are the most impactful in-school predictor of student
outcomes (Darling-Hammond, 2015). If a solution is not found, children in disadvantaged areas
will not have the skills they need to be successful and inequality will continue to grow since the
poorest students experience the greatest teacher turnover (Murnane & Steele, 2007). It is for this
reason that it is critically important for all schools to retain qualified teachers, particularly those
schools with the highest needs.
Organizational Context and Mission
Empowerment in Action, a pseudonym to protect the identity of the site, is a charter
management organization that oversees ten schools. Empowerment in Action states that the
mission of the organization is to empower all students to reach their dreams by providing an
individualized school environment (Organization’s website, 2017). There are ten schools that
are located in five states across the United States. Students’ challenges stem primarily from
poverty and linguistic diversity, as many students arrive with low literacy skills. The teachers
are between the ages of 25-42, of various ethnic backgrounds, including Hispanic/Latino,
African American, White and Asian. As in most charter organizations, the teachers are relatively
inexperienced and new to the profession, with 0-5 years in the teaching field. Similarly, the
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 5
administrators have between 0-4 years of experience in administration. The organization’s focus
for this year was to create an educational culture of growth and achievement. This focus was
created to provide a school and working culture that will allow the organization’s mission to be
achieved. Over the past several years, Empowerment in Action has struggled with both
recruitment and retention of effective teachers. Each year, many educators leave for various
reasons including dissatisfaction with the field, retirement, and to teach in more favorable
schools. As a result of this and school growth it has become more and more challenging to
ensure that students are taught by high quality teachers. All students should have access to high
quality teachers, but for students at Empowerment in Action, who are already facing the many
barriers that occur with a socioeconomically challenged background, it is even more vital to their
future success.
Importance of Addressing the Problem
The problem of teacher retention in high poverty schools is important to address for a
variety of reasons. The teacher shortage is expected to continue for the foreseeable future and the
schools in this organization will continue to need more certificated staff as they add additional
students. Student enrollment is not at capacity in this organization, and the schools struggle to
enroll enough students at all sites. Last year there were 29 open positions with a majority of
teaching requisitions staying open for over 90 days. Empowerment in Action has the additional
challenge of competing with larger districts and charter management organizations that can offer
enticing recruitment bonuses and better retirement plans to attract candidates. With such a
limited pool of potential candidates and more than the large number of positions to fill, retention
of the currently certificated staff will become more and more important in reaching high levels of
achievement for Empowerment in Action.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 6
In addition to the desire to maintain high levels of achievement for the students’ sake,
Empowerment in Action also needs to meet achievement targets for its own viability. Each
school is closely monitored by the authorizer of the district/state in which it is housed to ensure
that student achievement data increases each year. If student achievement dips for consecutive
years, each school may be shut down as stated in the charter regulations, decreasing the
opportunity that these students have to attend a small school that individualizes instruction to
meet their needs. The high quality teachers that do stay at Empowerment in Action provide
individualized instruction that is tailored to the specific needs of students at their schools.
Teachers engage with families on a deep level and get a holistic view of how to help each child
grow. If Empowerment in Action was able to gain stability by not turning over a percentage of
their staff each year, all students at these schools would benefit from this level of attention and
instruction. Although there are many roles that administrators take on to create successful
outcomes for students and retain teachers, my focus will be on how administrators at
Empowerment in Action can support teachers through feedback.
Organizational Performance Goal
Empowerment in Action’s goal was to have a 100% retention rate of teachers that exhibit
“high quality” teaching by June of 2019. Although this was an aspirational goal, there were
several things that needed to be in place for the organization to reach this goal. The organization
had not yet defined what high quality teaching looks like and had not yet implemented effective
feedback structures to support teachers in achieving high quality teaching. In the past two years,
the retention rate of all teachers has been approximately 65% and 75%. High turnover hindered
the organization’s ability to provide stability to students and families, as well as improve
academic outcomes over time. The administrative team established the aspirational goal of
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 7
retaining 100% of teachers who exhibit high quality teaching during a planning session that
focused on areas of growth for the organization. Although their goal was to retain 100% of these
teachers who exhibited qualities of high quality teaching, all teachers should have benefited from
the work the administrative team did to reach this goal. This was one component of the
administrative team’s vision of creating an inspiring, collaborative culture that fosters optimal
performance in all stakeholders as an intermediate goal. The achievement of Empowerment in
Action’s goals were measured by administrator’s responses about their understanding and beliefs
about high quality instruction and feedback.
Stakeholder Group of Focus and Stakeholder Goal
There were three stakeholder groups at Empowerment in Action that have roles that were
influenced by and influence teacher retention; the administrative team, teachers and board
members. Although the organization’s performance goal was focused on improving retention of
high quality teachers, ultimately the desired outcome was to better meet the needs of students.
Although student needs and challenges can influence retention, most student factors are not
variables the organization could necessarily control. The administrative team of Empowerment
in Action, on the other hand, played a critical role in creating an environment that is conducive to
retention of high quality teachers. The administrative team was composed of the principals of
each school site.
Although a complete analysis would involve all stakeholder groups, for practical
purposes the focus in this evaluation was on the administrative team at Empowerment in Action.
This group was chosen because the administrative team sets the priorities for their schools,
determines next steps for organizational and school improvement and has control over the many
factors that influence teacher retention. In order to determine their stakeholder goal, the
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 8
administrative team held planning meetings to discuss what was the most important next step
that should be focused on to help support growth and achievement. The goal for the
administrative team was to provide 100% of all teachers with feedback on their performance
through classroom observations by June of 2019.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this project was to conduct a gap analysis to examine the knowledge,
motivation and organizational factors that influence the ability of the administrative team to
provide feedback to teachers. The analysis began by generating a list of possible or assumed
interfering influences that were systematically examined to focus on actual or validated
interfering influences. The focus of this study was on the administrative team, because they have
the ability to impact the amount of support that teachers receive in order to influence the
retention of highly qualified teachers.
1. What is the Empowerment in Action’s Administrative team’s knowledge of high
quality teaching, knowledge of how to provide feedback that improves performance, knowledge
of how to reflect on their own effectiveness, and motivation to provide effective feedback related
to retaining high quality teachers?
2. What is the interaction between the Empowerment in Action’s culture of learning
and Administration’s freedom to focus on instruction and their knowledge and motivation related
to feedback?
3. What are the recommended knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational
solutions?
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 9
Methodological Approach
This study used a qualitative methodological approach in order to answer the research
questions. This approach was chosen to do a meaningful analysis of context and process at
Empowerment in Action. There was a smaller sample of administrators at Empowerment in
Action so a purposeful selection of the sample for interviews helped to provide better insight,
and was a more appropriate sampling approach for qualitative studies. This study utilized semi
structured individual interviews with members of the administrative team. Interviews provided
administrators at Empowerment in Action with the best opportunity to share their thoughts about
high quality teaching, observation feedback and the culture that exists at Empowerment in
Action in a non-threatening and open-ended manner. This approach helped to facilitate a
conversational dynamic in order to provide the most meaningful data.
Review of the Literature
This literature review will examine the factors that influence teacher retention. In all
schools, teacher retention impacts student achievement and therefore, a school’s success in
multiple ways. Other than a student’s family background, the quality of a school’s teachers is
the most important factor contributing to success (Warner, 2004). Students need to have access
to high quality teachers in order to achieve their academic potential. In this section, I will first
review what the literature states about high quality teaching, improving teacher quality, elements
of effective feedback and what administrators need to support improved instruction. Finally, I
will address the literature on administrators’ knowledge, motivation and organizational
influences and complete the section by presenting the conceptual framework.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 10
Influences on the Problem of Practice
High Quality Teaching
High quality teaching occurs when teachers have a diverse range of instructional
strategies and build strong relationships with students in classrooms that are learner-centered,
knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and instruction-centered. In their analysis of
behaviors and practices of teachers who achieved higher versus lower than predicted gains in
student learning, Stronge, Ward, Tucker and Hindman (2007) deemed teachers effective if they
facilitated higher than expected learning gains for students. This empirical study examined what
constitutes effective teaching by analyzing increases in student learning of 1936 third graders in
85 classrooms through the lens of instructional behaviors and practices. The researchers found
that effective teachers scored higher across all four domains: instruction, student assessment,
classroom management and personal qualities.
In the area of instructional strategies, effective teachers emphasized meaning over
memorization, provided more complex instruction, asked higher level questions, utilized a
broader range of instructional strategies, materials and media, and provided more differentiation
to students in assignments (Stronge et al., 2007). Teachers must ensure knowledge-centered
classrooms through awareness and communication of key learning targets, designing engaging
and relevant curriculum (Tomlinson, 2015). Teachers who exhibit attributes of high quality
teaching also use formative assessments to understand each learner is in a learning trajectory,
providing specific feedback that scaffolds and supports students to success in an assessment-
centered classroom (Tomlinson, 2015). High quality teachers create an instruction-centered
classroom by using information from formative assessments to plan future instruction, providing
opportunities for students to work in small groups and alone, engaging in meaningful learning
activities slightly beyond their current level of understanding that require students to reason and
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 11
apply their learning (Tomlinson, 2015). Strong pedagogical and content knowledge are also
attributes of high quality teachers. Teachers described strong pedagogical and content
knowledge as passion to excite students and commitment to communicate your content area to
students (Balossi & Hernandez, 2016). High quality teaching requires teachers to utilize a
variety of instructional strategies in order to engage and assess students at various levels in order
to support their growth as learners.
In the area of building relationships, Balossi and Hernandez (2016) found in their study
on independent school stakeholder perceptions of high quality teachers that a key characteristic
of high-quality teachers includes the ability to build strong relations with students. Children
have a fundamental need to be cared for and educators must address this need in order to learn
(Noddings, 1992). Teachers defined strong relationships as the ability to build trust, show
students you care and connect with students beyond content and both teachers and administrators
indicated strong relationships with students as the most necessary characteristic of high quality
teachers (Balossi & Hernandez, 2016). In the diverse classrooms that teachers face today,
teachers need to ensure their classrooms are learner-centered by communicating belief in them
and support, bridging home and school, and validating individual differences in background and
experiences (Tomlinson, 2015). In Valenzula’s (1999), ethnographic study of academic
achievement and attitudes among immigrant Mexican and US born Mexican students, she asserts
that authentic caring relationships that affirm and embrace student’s culture and community
results in improved motivation for students. High quality teaching requires teachers to connect
with students, demonstrate their care and trust, in order to leverage these relationships to spur
student growth.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 12
As far as personal qualities, effective teachers demonstrated more respect for and fairness
toward students (Stronge et al., 2007). Another key attribute of high quality teachers was a
growth mindset. Balossi and Hernandez (2016, define this as teachers’ interest in continuous
growth and learning. In the learning environment, effective teachers were found to be more
organized, had efficient routines, procedures, and higher expectations for students (Stronge et al.,
2007). Teachers who provide high quality instruction are often characterized by their ability to
demonstrate respect and growth mindset, as well as the ability to organize their classrooms to
maximize efficiency.
In terms of what teachers need to know in order to provide high quality instruction,
teachers need to have knowledge of their subject matter as well as teaching pedagogy. In Hill,
Rowan, and Lowenberg’s (2005) study on the effects of mathematical knowledge on student
achievement, they found that teacher’s content knowledge was a significant predictor of student
achievement. In addition to this, teachers need to have pedagogical content knowledge, the
unique blending of subject matter content and teaching pedagogy into professional understanding
of how to present topics for instruction (Shulman, 1987). Key to this idea of pedagogical content
knowledge, according to Shulman (1987), is knowledge of how to represent and adapt specific
content, and the understanding of what makes learning content easier or harder for students. In
order to facilitate high quality teaching, teachers need to know their content, know effective
teaching pedagogy and understand how to put these together in such a way that supports student
learning.
What Teachers Need
Professional Development. In order for teachers to create learner-centered, knowledge-
centered, assessment-centered and instruction-centered classrooms, administrators need to
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 13
provide them with robust professional development, time to collaborate and effective feedback
on their teaching practice. Teachers need robust and sustained professional development that
allows them to build on and share their experiences to grow their knowledge, skills and
dispositions. In Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman and Yoon’s (2001) study on professional
development, teachers reported that sustained and intensive professional development that
focuses on content, provides opportunities for active learning, and is part of a larger plan of
growth is most likely to result in increased knowledge and skills for use in the classroom. In this
study, the researchers measured teacher reported growth in knowledge and skills in the areas of
curriculum, instructional methods, approaches to assessment, use of technology in instruction,
strategies for teaching diverse student populations and deepening knowledge of content.
Teachers need professional development that focuses on content, how students learn,
engages teachers as learners through active learning strategies and allows for collective
participation through professional learning communities (Borko, 2004). In his mixed methods
study of teacher and administrative perceptions of feedback following teacher observations,
Winslow (2016) demonstrated that teachers need robust professional development that identifies
high quality teaching in order to improve teaching strategies. Development should be focused on
acquiring critical knowledge, skills and dispositions as demonstrated in professional teaching
standards (Darling-Hammond, 2017). This professional development is key for teachers to be
able to provide high quality instruction. Professional development should focus on the everyday
challenges that teachers experience in their classroom environments and must be an ongoing,
cumulative endeavor that allows teachers to experiment, reflect, and build upon prior learning
(Darling-Hammond, Wei, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009). Teachers who reported enhanced
knowledge and skills as a result of professional development also reported positive changes in
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 14
their teaching practice (Garet et al., 2001). In Penuel, Fishman, Yamaguchi and Gallagher’s
(2007), study of the effects of different characteristics of professional development on teachers
knowledge and capacity, they found that “reform” oriented professional development was more
effective than traditional workshop professional development. Reform orientred professional
develop includes working with other teachers through mentoring, coaching or participating in a
study group or committee (Garet et al., 2001). High quality learning opportunities for teachers
allow them to share their experiences, and this type of professional development fosters learning,
growth and engagement (Darling-Hammond, 2017).
Collaboration. In addition to formal professional development opportunities, teachers
need time to collaboratively work together, plan and problem solve informally. In his review of
the literature on teacher supervision and evaluation, Marshall (2005) states that school staff can
work together to create a professional learning culture at the school to improve learning.
Meaningful collaboration requires time, resources, and classroom data, but when you invest in
collaboration, achievement is higher in schools that allow teachers to plan and learn together in
teams (Darling-Hammond, 2015). Teachers who work in teams can provide support to each other
and generate more successful plans (Marshall, 2005). Teachers who analyze student data to
glean implications about instruction and student learning increase their capacity to teach
(Feeney, 2007). The most effective way of ensuring students learn best the first time they are
taught is to have teachers co plan units and assessments (Marshall, 2005). Teaching is a practice
where fine tuning and problem solving best happens in sustained, intensive collaborations with
colleagues (Sparks, 1997). Groups whose members train together are more likely to recall
different aspects of the tasks, coordinate with each other and trust one another’s judgement,
resulting in increased performance by the group (Liang, Moreland, & Argote, 1995). The
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 15
achievement gap cannot be closed until the teaching gap is first addressed to increase the
capacity of teachers to provide high quality instruction (Darling-Hammond, 2015). When
teachers have time to plan, problem solve and learn together they grow their capacity to teach
and impact student achievement. One way that schools set up time for teachers to collaborate is
through professional learning communities. Professional learning communities occur when
educators collaborate and engage in collective inquiry to improve results for the students they
serve (DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, 2009). In order to effectively support teacher growth,
professional learning communities must facilitate collaboration among teachers, mediate
conversations about the daily work, and develop community among the teachers in solving
problems about teaching and learning (Caskey & Carpenter, 2012).
Effective Feedback. In addition to professional development and collaboration time,
teachers also need meaningful feedback through assessment of classroom practices aligned to
characteristics of effective teaching. Feedback is communication between two individuals that
conveys information about the receiver’s performance on work tasks (Baker, Perreault, Reid, &
Blanchard, 2013). Researchers found that ongoing feedback on their performance is critical for
teacher growth (Greenberg, Pomerance, & Walsh, 2010).
Quality feedback provided to teachers improves performance, motivation and satisfaction
with their profession (Feeney, 2007). In Taylor & Tyler’s (2011) empirical study of student
achievement data and teacher’s participation in a rubric based observation and evaluation system
in Cincinnati Public Schools from 2003-2010, they found that teachers who receive specific and
meaningful feedback based on a rubric that is research based improved their teaching practice.
Performance rubrics on characteristics of effective teaching support evaluators in constructing
focused feedback (Feeney, 2007). Good evaluation should include rigorous assessment of
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 16
teacher’s instructional practices based on professional standards, this type of feedback helps all
teachers improve and allows evaluators to identify poor teachers who need more intensive
support (Darling-Hammond & Haertel, 2012). Meaningful feedback on teacher observations
should be an important part of teacher evaluation and professional development (Greenberg,
Pomerance, & Walsh, 2010). Teachers who receive meaningful feedback based on a teaching
rubric improved their practice in the year of participation and for several years afterwards as well
(Taylor & Tyler, 2011). Feedback should provide descriptive evidence as to what teachers and
students do in the lesson and supported by student outcomes (Feeney, 2007). Teachers can use
feedback to celebrate their success over time, build capacity and promote professional growth.
Administrators as Instructional Leaders
Time Focused on Instructional Activities. Administrators need time to focus on
instructional activities that support teacher growth, in addition to training on how to observe
classrooms in order to be instructional leaders that provide teachers with robust professional
development, structures for collaboration and effective feedback on classroom practice.
In Supovitz, Sirinides, & May’s (2010) quantitative study, they examined the effects of
principal leadership and peer influence on teachers’ instructional practices and student learning
outcomes, then they identified three ways that principal’s best support teaching and learning;
focusing on the mission and goals of the organization, encouraging collaboration and trust, and
actively support instructional improvement. Administrators are often interrupted by issues
relating to student discipline or physical management, even when they do manage to set aside
time for observations and feedback (Winslow, 2016). Administrators should serve as
instructional leaders by providing training on quality teaching indicators that will be used in
classroom observation tools (Pritchett, Sparks & Taylor-Johnson, 2010). However, principals
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 17
need preparation and support in order to improve their skills in the areas of observation,
providing feedback and assessing student learning (Marshall, 2005). Conventional processes are
not effective in improving teaching and learning because principals are rarely in classrooms and
when they are in classrooms they observe atypical, isolated lessons that provide an incomplete
picture of instruction (Marshall, 2005). Principals need to be in classrooms often and on a
regular basis to get an accurate sense of quality teaching. Administrators need extensive training
on how to observe teachers and provide effective feedback in order to develop their leadership
capacity to become instructional leaders who support teacher growth.
Freedom and Flexibility. Administrators need freedom from traditional conceptions
of their jobs to become instructional leaders. Schools will improve if principals are able to
create a shared purpose that includes student learning goals, fostering continuous school
improvement through planning with stakeholders, monitoring student learning outcomes,
providing development activities for staff, and visibly modeling aspects of the school’s desired
culture (Hallinger, 2005). In Doyle and Rice’s (2002) review of the literature on instructional
leadership, they found that although the research stresses the importance of the role of
administrators as instructional leaders, most spend a majority of their time on managerial issues.
In Grissom, Loeb, & Master’s (2013) study, they found that principals spend an average of
12.7% of their time on instruction related activities, this includes 5.4% of time on classroom
walk throughs, 1.8% of time formally evaluating teachers, 0.5% of time informally coaching
teachers, and 2.1% of time developing and evaluating the curriculum.
Principals can drive improvement, but in order to do so, they need the ability to let go of
current conceptions of a principal’s job duties in order to focus on powerful teaching and
learning (Marshall, 2005). In order to be effective instructional leaders, administrators must
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 18
redefine the role of an administrator by redefining relationships and releasing themselves from
the confines of traditional bureaucratic structures (Doyle & Rice, 2002). Time spent directly
coaching teachers is positively associated with achievement gains and school improvement
(Grissom, Loeb, & Master, 2013). Principals should be cultural leaders that motivate their
teachers to work beyond their classrooms and transform the school from a work place to a
learning place (Hallinger, 2005). In order for an administrator to truly be an instructional leader,
a shift in mindset is necessary. Allowing principals the freedom and flexibility they need to
focus on improvement will support schools in increasing student achievement.
Knowledge Influences
Given that the previous section highlighted the importance of high quality teaching, the
need for effective, collaborative professional development and provision of feedback on the part
of the administrator, we need to make sure that administrators know what they are looking for.
As stated above, high quality teaching occurs when teachers have a diverse range of instructional
strategies and build strong relationships with students in classrooms that are learner-centered,
knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and instruction-centered. This section begins with a
summary of educational psychology theories that explain what kinds of knowledge are needed to
reach a performance goal.
There are four types of knowledge that impact the successful attainment of a goal:
factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive (Krathwohl, 2002). It is important to
understand what these different types of knowledge are because they are all necessary to
achieving performance outcomes (Clark & Estes, 2008).
The first type of knowledge is factual knowledge, which is composed of the specific
major facts and terminology of a subject (Krathwohl, 2002). For the EIA administrative team,
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 19
factual knowledge will help support their goal by directing them towards the factual
understanding of what “high quality” teaching looks like. Next is procedural knowledge, which
is knowing the process of how to do something (Krathwol, 2002). For the EIA administrative
team, procedural knowledge of how to provide effective feedback will help support their goal.
The other type of knowledge relation to the EIA administrative team is metacognitive, an
individual’s knowledge of themselves. This type of knowledge is helpful in the learning process
to continue to improve outcomes in achievement of their goal (Krathwol, 2002). For the EIA
administrative team, metacognitive knowledge of their own effectiveness in providing feedback
will help support them in achieving their goal.
Defining “High Quality” Teaching. The stakeholder goal for the administrative team is
to provide 100% of teachers with feedback on their teaching through classroom observations. In
order for the administrative team to provide teachers with this feedback, they need to have a
solid understanding of what “high quality” teaching looks like.
Feeny (2007) demonstrates the value of identifying the characteristics of effective
teachers in that identification of these characteristics helps to support effective feedback that
improves student outcomes. Administrators can build coaching and evaluation systems that
incorporate identification, clarification and evaluation of “highly qualified” performance. Well-
structured systems can sort between high and low performing teachers, but even more
significantly, can improve educational outcomes through increased teacher mastery of skills
(Taylor & Tyler, 2012). When educational outcomes are improving and leadership has
established a clear vision for the future, employees will want to stay with the organization. This
knowledge influence is factual, because the administrative team needs to have a common
working definition of high quality performance in order to establish clear goals, communicate
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 20
direction and reward high levels of performance. Marshall (2005), identifies several important
ways for administrators to improve, including determining the elements of good teaching. In
order for administrators to communicate with teachers about what is happening in the classroom,
they need to be able to utilize a common language about the basics of effective teaching.
Feedback on Teaching. In order for the administrative team to reach the stakeholder
goal of providing 100% of teachers with feedback on their teaching through classroom
observations, the administrative team needs to understand how to provide feedback that
improves practice. In Winslow’s (2016) study of teacher and administrator perceptions regarding
an evaluation system with a high requirement of feedback on classroom observations,
administrators felt a need for more training, including being able to discuss and collaborate best
practices with other administrators. Winslow advocates for more professional development for
administrators to receive training to increase inter-rater reliability for observers and the author
further states that professional development in this area is vital to ensuring that teachers receive
effective feedback. Many principals felt that providing effective feedback on instruction that
helps teacher’s grow and learn is one of the hardest aspects of being a school leader (Backor &
Gordon, 2015). Since the strength of the feedback is the mechanism by which teachers will
improve their practice, it is vital to provide administrators with robust training to give them the
necessary skills.
In Backor and Gordon’s (2015) study of university scholars, principal and teacher leader
perceptions of preparation for principals to be effective instructional leaders, they found that
participants believed a key function of instructional leadership is commitment to continuously
growing teachers through observation, evaluation and non-evaluative conferences on
instructional improvement. As part of the observation and conferencing, participants suggested
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 21
that aspiring instructional leaders need to be taught how to use a variety of observation tools and
how to translate observation data into meaningful feedback. The structure for observation
feedback should mirror a traditional clinical cycle of preobservation conference, classroom
observation where administrators collect observational data on what teachers and students are
doing and post observation conference where administrators should engage teachers in a
dialogue about teaching, posing questions to support teachers in developing a plan to improve his
or her teaching practice (Backor & Gordon, 2015). In Chandler’s (2018) quantitative study of
206 Missouri schools and 3187 teachers on frequency, type and content of feedback provided,
she found that giving specific, actionable and frequent feedback to teachers resulted in positive
effects on instructional quality. Her study supports the idea that feedback should be focused on
concrete details that promote learning instead of the person, in order to decrease the resistance.
She suggests that administrators do this by providing relevant and useful details from the
observations, so the feedback is not seen as vague advice.
A positive learning environment for teachers must be established in order for teachers to
improve, this means feedback should be framed as formative, to guide improvement.
Administrators should provide feedback based on identified teacher strengths and utilizing a
strengths based approach during coaching, while also using corrective feedback to drive
improvement (Chandler, 2018). A leader’s communication skills of being able to describe,
discuss, ask questions and paraphrase are vital to providing instructional leadership to teachers in
the process. The instructional leader should act as a sounding board to facilitate and encourage
the teacher, focus the conversation on instructional practices and ask questions about the impact
instructional practices are having on students (Backor & Gordon, 2015). It is important for the
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 22
administrator to be able to recognize patterns in the data to be able to provide support in
identified areas of strength and areas of growth.
This knowledge influence of providing feedback on teaching is procedural, in that the
administrative team needs to know how to provide feedback that improves performance and
retention of employees.
Self-Reflection on Effectiveness. The last knowledge influence that shapes the
administrative team’s ability to reach its goal is the need for self-reflection in order to drive
improvement and effectiveness. In any learning organization, reflection is a key part of
continuous growth and improvement. Research shows a strong and positive relationship
between reflective practice and effective practice (Saylor, 2014). In Ridley’s (1991) study on
reflective self-awareness, his model demonstrated that reflective awareness played an important
role in the development of intentional control of one’s behaviors. Using metacognitive strategies
such as self-monitoring and self-assessment facilitates learning and improvement (Baker, 2006).
Administrators must be self-reflective throughout the process of evaluating teachers to ensure
that best practices are occurring in the classroom (Winslow, 2016). Backor and Gordon’s (2015)
findings suggest that administrators should engage in online journaling, personal reflection and
dialoging with mentors as part of the reflective process. Reflection on self-identity, values and
beliefs, interaction with the school community will help administratorsknow where they need to
grow. This knowledge influence is metacognitive as it demonstrates the impact of the
administrative team’s ability to self-reflect on its continued effectiveness in providing feedback
to teachers.
Table 1 shows the three knowledge influences identified in this literature review as it
relates to administrators’ ability to provide feedback to teachers.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 23
Table 1
Knowledge Influence and Knowledge Types
Knowledge Influence Knowledge Type (i.e., declarative (factual or
conceptual), procedural, or metacognitive)
Administrative team members need to know
how to define “high quality” teaching.
Declarative- factual
Administrative team members need to know
how to provide feedback that increases
performance.
Declarative-procedural
Administrative team members need to know
how to reflect on their own effectiveness in
providing feedback to teachers.
Metacognitive
Motivation Influences
The administrative team’s ability to achieve its goal is also largely dependent on their
motivation to do so. It is important to review the motivational influences of the stakeholder
group because understanding motivation provides a powerful tool to help diagnose and solve
performance problems (Rueda, 2011). Motivation is composed of three aspects, active choice-
taking action towards a goal, persistence- perseverance in the face of impediments, and mental
effort-confidence to do what is necessary to succeed (Clark & Estes, 2008). This section will
examine these influences through the expectancy value theory and self-efficacy theory.
Specifically, how EIA administrative team members need to view the value of identifying “high
quality” teaching performance and how they view their ability to provide effective feedback to
teachers.
This section will examine these motivation influences through the expectancy value
theory and self-efficacy theory. Specifically, this section will build the argument that EIA
administrative team members need to view the value of identifying “high quality” teaching
performance and must take into account their ability to provide effective feedback to teachers.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 24
Expectancy Value Theory. The expectancy value theory examines two fundamental
questions that address an individual’s motivation to do a task, “Can I do the task?” and “Do I
want to do the task” (Eccles, 2006). This section will focus on the second question, which is
composed of intrinsic interest- enjoyment from engaging in the task, attainment value- task
completions consistency with one’s identity, utility value- extent to which task will support
achievement of goals or rewards, and cost- how much one believes the task will cost (Eccles,
2006).
In order for the EIA administrative team to accomplish their goal, it is necessary that they
see the value in providing feedback to teachers. More specifically, how much the administrative
team recognizes the utility value of providing effective feedback to teachers will influence their
ability to achieve their goal of providing 100% of teachers with feedback on their performance
through classroom observations.
Administrative Team and Utility Value. Since EIA administrative team members care
about student achievement outcomes, this work should intrinsically have a high utility value to
them. As a response to Eccles’ (2006) second question, “Do I want to do the task?”, the answer
for the EIA administrative team should be yes, they should be motivated to provide feedback to
teachers on classroom observations because there is a high utility value to doing so. Coaching
has shown to improve an individual’s ability to develop processes that lead to positive change,
including cycles of feedback on performance (Peterson, 2015). In Winslow’s (2016) study on
teacher and administrator perceptions on administrative feedback, principals had some concerns
around the time required for feedback cycles, but overall reported a positive view and utility of
conducting classroom observations with feedback in the evaluation model used in this study.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 25
The higher the utility value to the administrative team, the more useful the action will be in
helping to reach their goals.
While not much research has been conducted on administrator utility value for providing
feedback, motivational theories support this as a key influence. Additionally, there has been
research conducted on practices that support employee engagement. Research on the human
resource practices that promote higher levels of employee engagement demonstrates that
training, development and an organizational culture that rewards and keeps people accountable
leads to higher rates of engagement and retention (Haider, Rasli, Akhtar, Md Yusoff, Malik and
Aamir, 2015). Wen, Xu, Zhong, Zhong and Shen (2011), demonstrated that faster feedback and
higher quality comments both improved performance as well as the perception of opportunity to
improve. Employees who receive feedback are more engaged and therefore, more effective.
The outcome of more effective employees increases the utility value of providing feedback. The
EIA Administrative team will need to feel that there is a high utility value to providing feedback
in order to reach their goals.
Self-Efficacy Theory. Social cognitive theory explains self-efficacy as the beliefs that
individuals hold about their personal capabilities (Pajares, 2006). According to Pajares (2006),
self-efficacy is the basis of motivation, well-being and accomplishment. People need to believe
that their personal actions can strongly influence their desired outcomes. In order for the EIA
administrative team to reach their goal, it is important for them to feel confident in their ability to
provide feedback to teachers that improves performance. Another key component of self-efficacy
is that what people believe and think determines their own self-regulatory practices as they
change and adjust over time (Pajares, 2006). Individuals who have higher self-efficacy, through
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 26
belief in their own competence are more motivated to engage, persist and work hard at a task
(Rueda, 2011).
There are many factors that can contribute to a person’s sense of self-efficacy. Self-
efficacy can be influenced by mastery experience-how a person interprets his or her own
performance, vicarious experience- observing other’s experience of success and failures, social
persuasions-the messages that individuals receive from others, and physiological reactions-
mood and emotional states (Pajares, 2006). Competence beliefs are influenced by amount of
prior knowledge related to the task, the type and amount of feedback and past successes and
failures (Rueda, 2011). Typically, individuals who have higher self-efficacy utilize strategies for
self-regulation more effectively which enhance persistence and memory performance (Pajares,
2006).
Administrative Team and Self-Efficacy. In order for the EIA administrative team
members to reach their goal, it is important for them to feel confident in their ability to provide
feedback to teachers that improves performance. In Tschannen-Moran and Gareis’ (2004)
review of the literature on the self-efficacy of principals, the authors identified measurement of
principal self-efficacy a challenge, however in the course of their review they found that
principal’s efficacy beliefs influence their effort in daily work and resiliency in the face of
challenges. Principals need preparation and support in order to feel confident in their abilities
and thus to improve skills in the areas of observation, providing feedback and assessing student
learning (Marshall, 2005). In the increasingly high-stakes nature of the job and focus on high-
stakes achievement measures and academic achievement, a principal’s sense of self efficacy is
critical in meeting the demands of the position (Tschannen-Moran & Gareis, 2004).
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 27
While little research exists on administrator self-efficacy in providing meaningful
feedback to teachers, motivational theories suggest this is an important influence. The EIA
administrative team will need to be confident in their ability to provide feedback to teachers in
order to achieve their goal.
Table 2 shows the two motivational influences identified in this literature review.
Table 2
Motivational Influences
Organizational Influences
The administrative team’s ability to achieve their goal is also largely dependent on their
organizational related influences. When knowledge and motivational barriers are not the cause
of an organization’s failure to meet their goals, it is usually an organizational issue (Clark &
Estes, 2008). It is important to analyze the organizational influences of the stakeholder group
because a focus on the climate of an organization can help set the conditions for organizational
change and achieving desired results (Schneider, Brief & Guzzo, 1996). Organizational features
that are relevant to this discussion are organizational culture, structures, policies and practices
(Rueda, 2011). Schein (2016), posits that culture includes accumulated shared learning
composed of the beliefs, values and norms within a particular group. This aspect of
organizational culture can also be referred to as cultural models. Organizational structures,
practices and policies, also known as cultural settings, are the visible settings where the work
takes place (Rueda, 2011). This section will examine the organizational influences on the EIA
Assumed Motivation Influences
Expectancy Value Theory
Administration team members need to see the utility value of providing feedback to teachers.
Self-Efficacy Theory
Administration team members need to feel confident in their ability to provide effective feedback
to teachers.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 28
administrative team members that shape whether and how they meet their goal of providing
100% of teachers with feedback on their teaching performance through classroom observations.
Culture of Learning. In order for the administrative team to meet this goal, there needs
to be a culture of learning established within the organization. Creating a professional learning
culture is necessary to all staff members, including teachers and administrators growing and
improving their skills (Marshall 2005). In Senge’s (1990) article on how to build learning
organizations, he focuses on what leaders need to do to establish a culture of learning. He asserts
that in a culture of learning leaders need to be clear about the vision for the organization and tell
the truth about the gap between the vision and where the organization currently is. Structures
and routines that allow organizational members to collect, analyze, store and transfer learning
must be in place for organizational learning to occur (Argote, 2005). Administrators can model
this behavior by structuring collaboration, study groups, peer observations and videotaping with
non-defensive analysis of the current status of learning (Marshall, 2005). When administrators
utilize a framework for providing feedback about teaching, evaluation is perceived as a growth
opportunity that utilizes transparent discussions about areas of strength and areas of growth in
teaching practice as demonstrated by evidence from observations (Winslow, 2016).
Administrators should use structured conversations that encourage reflective inquiry in order to
support teachers in making adjustments that will improve their teaching (Feeney, 2007).
Garvin, Edmondson and Gino’s (2008) article on learning organizations articulates the
three building blocks of learning organizations: a supportive learning environment that provides
psychological safety, openness, reflection; concrete learning processes and practices that include
those for experimentation, data collection, analysis and training; and leadership that reinforces
learning. Hirsh, Psencik and Brown’s (2014) book on how to become a learning system, they
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 29
define a learning system as one where all members of an organization are involved in the
continuous learning process and where working and learning are inexorably intertwined. To
foster collective leadership, it is key for organizations to shift towards proactive problem solving
through reflection on how their mental models impact employees and confronting the current
status in order to inspire new solutions (Senge, Hamilton, & Kania, 2019). School systems that
focus on learning value adult learning as much as student learning, align practice to outcomes,
commit to a process of continuous improvement and innovation, provide conditions for effective
teaching and leading, thrive on feedback and celebrate success (Hirsh, Psencik and Brown’s
2014). In a learning organization, people feel a shared ownership and commitment to the
organization’s mission, vision and core values.
Autonomy to Focus on Instruction. As introduced in the literature section above, in
order for the administrative team to meet their goal they must have the autonomy to focus on
instructional activities, including prioritizing their own training in becoming stronger
instructional leaders. In weak organizations, management structure requires that all operational
as well as strategic decisions must be pushed to the top for a decision (Schneider, Brief & Guzzo,
1999). This is not only inefficient but also does not allow for those doing the work to have the
independence they need to be effective. Leaders need to be able to see the big picture in order to
understand complex problems and derive new approaches (Senge, Hamilton, & Kania, 2019).
Administrators need to be able to prioritize classroom observations instead of spending time
mired in discipline and operational issues (Marshall, 2005). Administrators need extensive
training on how to observe teachers and provide effective feedback (Winslow, 2016). In their
review of the literature on instructional leadership, Doyle and Rice (2002) contend that to be
effective instructional leaders, administrators must redefine the role of an administrator, free
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 30
themselves of bureaucratic structures, reinvent relationships and develop a strategic time
horizon. Administrators need to have the autonomy to focus on improvement in teaching and
learning in order to reach their goals.
Table 3 shows the organizational influences identified in this literature review.
Table 3
Organizational Influences
Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge, Motivation
and the Organizational Context
The purpose of a concept map is to provide a visual representation of a theory that
demonstrates connections, implications and relevance (Maxwell, 2013). While each of the
influences mentioned are presented independently, they do not operate in isolation. Instead,
these influences interact in context with each other to produce the desired outcome of increasing
teacher retention.
Assumed Organizational Influences
The organization needs to establish a culture of learning
The organization needs to provide administrators with the autonomy to focus on instruction.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 31
Figure 1. Conceptual Framework
As the Empowerment in Action administrative team is a stakeholder group that clearly
resides within the wider organization, the administrative team’s necessary knowledge and
motivation influences were placed within the organization in the above concept map. The
administrative team at Empowerment in Action needs to know how to define “high quality”
teaching, how to provide feedback on classroom observations that increases performance as well
as how to self-reflect on their own effectiveness. Additionally, the team must recognize the
utility value of providing this feedback and be confident in their own self-efficacy in order to
provide this feedback. However, if a culture of learning and a freedom to focus on instruction
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 32
does not exist in the wider organization, these knowledge and motivation influences alone are
not enough to reach the administrative team’s goal. Administrators must create a culture that is
open and respectful as well as one that prioritizes instruction over other administrative tasks.
When these knowledge, motivation and organizational influences are in alignment, they will lead
to accomplishment of the administrative team’s goal of providing 100% of teachers with
feedback on their performance. When a culture of learning exists and administrators have the
ability to focus on instruction, they can provide teachers with feedback on classroom
observations, the more they are able to do this will increase administrators’ self-efficacy in
providing this feedback, teacher performance and ultimately, teacher retention.
Participating Stakeholders: Sampling and Recruitment
The stakeholder population of focus for this study was the administrative team at
Empowerment in Action Schools. There are only five principals in the administrative team at
Empowerment in Action Schools, which creates a small number of potential participants for this
study. As a result, all five members of the administrative team were recruited for this qualitative
interview study.
Table 4
Participant’s Information
Name Gender Years as Principal
Green M 3
Jones M 1
Nester M 4
Tee M 2
Sanders F 2
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 33
Interview Sampling Criteria and Rationale
The only criterion used for sample selection was to be an employee of Empowerment in
Action that currently is a principal at a school site. As the total population is a small number,
this study can include all members of the stakeholder group without sacrificing practical or
logistical considerations. The small number allows for in depth interactions to provide
purposeful and meaningful data. Additionally, the administrative team has a large role on the
factors that influence teaching, such as providing feedback on teaching practice.
Interview Strategy and Rationale
The study utilized a qualitative approach, by incorporating interviews with a small
purposeful sample in order to understand the administrators’ knowledge and motivation and the
organization’s context for the administrative team at Empowerment in Action. Interviews help
provide insight as to the thoughts, beliefs, understanding, knowledge and motivation of subjects
(Johnson & Christensen, 2015). This study utilized exploratory, face-to-face interactions with
interpretation of narrative data, for which a small sample is appropriate. The principals at
Empowerment in Action set the school’s direction, goals and programs for all staff, teachers,
parents and students each year. They determine what the standard is for good teaching, how
teachers will be supported and kept accountable and can speak to their own motivation and self-
efficacy in providing feedback to teachers. I reached out to each participant through telephone
calls in order to inform them about my study, solicited their interest for participation, and set up
an appropriate time for the interview if they agreed to participate. I sent out a confirmation
reminder a few days before the scheduled interview and thanked them for their participation.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 34
Data Collection and Instrumentation
For this study, I used interviews to collect data to address my research questions. I have
chosen to use interviews as the data collection method because interviews provide understanding
into another person’s perspective and they are the major source of qualitative data to
understanding phenomenon (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). As the research questions focused on
the knowledge and motivation of administrators at Empowerment in Action, as well as the
interaction between these influences and the beliefs of administrators about their organizational
context, interviews provided the best insight as to the thoughts and beliefs of EIA administrators.
I had considered supplementing my interviews with observations and document analysis, but
ultimately determined that this additional level of inquiry would cause my respondents to feel as
though their competency was being examined and would therefore decrease the quality of
authentic responses. Additionally, this added level of involvement in their practice – which
would have required shadowing them and watching them watch and provide feedback to teachers
might have made them more defensive and less likely to participate in the study at all. As a
small organization, the administrators receive a lot of direct feedback from many stakeholder
groups and need to be proactive with which types of feedback they decide to act upon. As such,
the administrators would likely have been extremely cautious opening up to outsiders and if they
felt anxious about the potential consequences, might have decided not to participate.
Interviews
For this study, I conducted two interviews with each principal at each of the five
Empowerment in Action schools, but left the door open for follow-up interviews, if they were
necessary. The interviews were one-on-one and lasted for approximately one hour each,
resulting in a total of ten hours. I used semi-structured interviews to allow for more authentic
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 35
discussion and generate the best responses. Asking good questions is the best way to generate
meaningful data (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), so I used pre-determined open-ended questions. I
began with neutral descriptive questions to establish a relaxed, open response and then expanded
to experience questions, then knowledge questions and feeling questions. I utilized an audio
recorder, notepad and pen to take notes.
Data Analysis
I began data analysis during data collection while I was interviewing. During each
interview and afterwards I took detailed notes. My notes included my observations, perceptions,
understandings and initial conclusions about the data as it relates to my conceptual framework
and research questions. Upon conclusion of the interviews I transcribed and coded the interview
data, first utilizing in vivo coding and then a priori coding. During data analysis I identified
patterns and themes that related to my conceptual framework and research questions. After all of
the interviews concluded, I listened to the recordings in order to create transcripts from what the
respondents stated during the interviews to use for data analysis. As I read through the
transcripts I began to code the data, first using in vivo codes to inductively see what emerged
from the transcripts. Next, I went through again using a priori codes to deductively use my
conceptual framework to code the transcripts. As I continued to review the transcripts, I took
notice of the frequency of particular codes, in order to identify patterns and themes that emerged.
Findings
In this section, the objective is to discuss the results of the gap analysis examining the
knowledge, motivation and organizational factors that influence the ability of the administrative
team to provide feedback to their teachers. The themes presented were drawn from the
interviews provided by the administrative team at Empowerment in Action. To address the
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 36
research questions below, this section will demonstrate that the EIA Administrative team can
articulate key attributes of high quality teaching, the EIA Administrative team has the knowledge
to provide feedback to teachers, the EIA Administrative team has the motivation to provide
feedback but can be better supported by the organization, and the EIA organizational culture and
training needs to support deeper reflection. As a reminder, the research questions that guided this
study were:
1. What is the Empowerment in Action’s Administrative team’s knowledge of high
quality teaching, knowledge of how to provide feedback that improves performance,
knowledge of how to reflect on their own effectiveness, and motivation to provide
effective feedback related to retaining high quality teachers?
2. What is the interaction between the Empowerment in Action’s culture of learning and
Administration’s freedom to focus on instruction and their knowledge and motivation
related to feedback?
3. What are the recommended knowledge and skills, motivation, and organizational
solutions?
EIA Admin Team can articulate key attributes of High Quality Teaching
EIA’s Admin team understood that high quality teaching occurs when teachers build
strong relationships with students. Strong relationships with students are built when teachers are
able to show students you care about them and connect with them beyond the content (Balossi &
Hernandez, 2016). Effective teachers are able to communicate their respect for students (Stronge
et al., 2007). Five out of the five administrators articulated relationships with students as a
characteristic of high quality teaching. For example, as one principal, Mr. Green said, “I’ve seen
a teacher who just comes in and says, ‘look I have no idea where you’re from but I want to know
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 37
because I care, I think we all have something to learn from each other.’” This example of what
this principal heard from his teacher demonstrates his knowledge that teachers who can
communicate to students that they care about them and want to know more about them are those
who are good teachers. This shows that he values the ability to build strong relationships with
students and knows that this is necessary to effective teaching.
Similarly, Mr. Jones said,
Teachers who build strong relationships with their students have students who want to
come to school, they’re not missing classes. The students are engaged, they don’t want to
disappoint that teacher. Teachers are the heart because when success is happening, it is
because of the relationships that is there. These teachers are able to leverage those
relationships into student success.
Mr. Jones, like Mr. Green, also believed that relationships are a cornerstone to high quality
teaching because teachers who can communicate that they care for and respect their students are
able to facilitate increased student success. This is supported in Balossi and Hernandez’s (2016)
research, which demonstrated that teachers and administrators both identified the ability to build
strong relationships with students as the most necessary aspect of high quality teaching.
In addition to strong relationships with students, EIA’s Admin team also saw teachers’
use of active learning strategies as a key characteristic of high quality teaching. Four of the
participants noted this as a key characteristic. The administrators felt that they looked for
teachers to facilitate student’s mastery of content and provide students with the opportunity to
take ownership of their own learning through questioning, collaboration, and making real life
connections. As one administrator, Mr. Green said,
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 38
I like to see teachers making the connection to life and for kids to have a chance to take
what they’re learning inside a classroom and for the teacher to scaffold that to how that is
going to affect them in real life. I would like to see more teachers ask why, dig deeper,
what does that mean, and try to translate that to the bigger picture. I love it when teachers
use questions in order to deepen understanding, where there’s no right or wrong answer.
I like to see collaboration, kids getting together and finding a resolution to the problem,
whether it’s something in the classroom or on a bigger scale.
This example shows how Mr.Green believed that he looked for teachers who can create learner
centered classrooms that make students active participants in their own learning by designing
lessons that are relevant, engaging and ask students to reason and apply what they have learned.
This is supported by the literature as a characteristic of high quality teaching. As Tomlinson
(2015) states, teachers need to design engaging and relevant curriculum, provide opportunities
for students to work in small groups and alone, and engage in meaningful learning activities that
require students to reason and apply their learning. In the above example, the principal wanted
his teachers to ask questions and facilitate classroom experiences that allow students to be active
participants in their own learning because he knew that this facilitates student learning.
Similarly, Mr. Tee said,
I am looking for interaction and collaboration between students and teachers. There
should be talking, students should be out of their seats, there should be active learning
and not just lecture. For me, high quality instruction is really getting the kids to know the
material and not just memorize it. I’d like to see that interaction, a back and forth, and
opportunities for students to have a voice in the classroom.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 39
Mr. Tee, like Mr. Green, both felt that active learning strategies were key attributes they looked
for in high quality teaching.
EIA’s Admin team also believed that teachers should help students master content
through checking for understanding through formative assessments. Out of the five admin in this
study, four identified using formative assessments to check for understanding as a characteristic
of high quality teaching, thus demonstrating their knowledge of high quality teaching. Ms.
Sanders stated that a key component of high quality instruction is “definitely checking for
understanding, pre-quizzing, post-quizzing and feedback”. This example demonstrates how the
EIA team valued formative assessments in developing student proficiency. Tomlinson (2015),
described how formative assessments are necessary to assess and they provide feedback,
scaffolding and supports to students as an important aspect of strong teacher practice. Mr. Nester
had this to say about formative assessment, “It’s checking for understanding, and if they are not
where they need to be, what are we doing to make sure we’re bridging the gaps from where
they’re at.” This principal believed that his teachers needed to use formative assessments to
determine what students need to scaffold instruction.
In addition to formative assessments, EIA’s Admin team believed that differentiating
instruction was another key piece to high quality instruction. Four of the administrators
interviewed for this study included this as a part of high quality instruction. Effective teachers
demonstrate their ability to differentiate instruction by adapting lessons and materials to student
needs identified through formative assessments (Stronge et al., 2007). As Mr. Jones said, “I’m
looking for teachers to quiz and question students, pre-assessing their knowledge, develop
creative personalized strategies for helping to ensure that students are mastering the content
standards they are working on.” This example demonstrates this principal’s expectation that his
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 40
teachers differentiate instructional strategies to individual student needs as a result of their
performance on assessments. Teachers need to use information from assessments to plan future
instruction, provide opportunities to engage in meaningful learning activities slightly beyond
their current level of understanding on their own learning trajectory (Tomlinson, 2015).
In Tomlinson’s (2015) study, she conceptualizes the areas necessary for teaching
excellence into four key areas; she states that teachers must create classrooms that are learner-
centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered and instruction-centered. While there are
other aspects of high quality teaching not mentioned here, this study has used the key areas
identified by Tomlinson as the basis for high quality teaching. The Administrative team at
Empowerment in Action discussed key aspects of a learner-centered environment through their
desire to have teachers build strong relationships with students that validate their individual
differences and backgrounds. Four out of five members of the admin team mentioned active
learning strategies as part of designing engaging and relevant curriculum, which align to
Tomlinson’s conception of a knowledge-centered classroom. Four out of the five admin team
members also affirmed the assertion that an assessment-centered classroom is necessary, through
the idea of formative assessments to check for understanding and provide feedback to students.
Finally, the Admin team addressed an instruction-centered classroom with four of the five
respondents advocating for differentiation through creating personalized strategies that help
students fill gaps and master content standards.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 41
Table 5
Participant’s Identification of Attributes of High Quality Teaching
Attributes of High Quality Teaching Green Jones Nester Tee Sanders
Ability to build strong relationships with students
X X X X X
Use of active learning strategies
X X X X
Use of formative assessments
X X X X
Ability to differentiate instruction to students’
needs
X X X X
EIA Administrative Team has knowledge of how to provide effective feedback
EIA’s Admin team knew that feedback should be based on objective observations or data.
Feedback should provide evidence that describes what teachers and students are doing in the
lesson and be supported by student outcomes (Feeny, 2007). Five out of the five administrators
interviewed in this study stated that feedback needs to be based on objective observations and
data in order to help teachers grow and develop. Mr. Tee stated,
My role is to help them see what they can’t see. It’s hard when you’re in it, to see exactly
what you’re doing right or wrong to see how effective you are. My job is to help teachers
see that, through observations and data. I have conversations with them about what they
feel are their strengths and weaknesses and what I can do to help cultivate or provide
resources to address their needs.
This example shows how Mr. Tee believed that he utilizes observations to help teachers see what
they might not be able to in order to help them grow. Similarly, Mr. Jones explained,
The kind of feedback that helps teachers needs to be centered on some kind of rubric, and
then what was witnessed or observed when you conducted the teacher observations. I try
only to speak of what I observed and I think that’s good practice to not say I didn’t see
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 42
you do this, but I know you do this. Whenever I am giving feedback to teachers I try to
avoid the word you, because it comes across accusatory and can put a teacher on the
defensive, I’d like them to be open to the feedback I am providing them. This is strictly
based on the evidence gathered within a finite time period. You don’t want to sugar coat
the stuff that needs to be improved, you want to use it as, this is what I observed and then
open up with questioning.
These examples show how the admin team believed that they used observations and data as the
basis for feedback to teachers to help them grow. This is supported by the research on
instructional observations, that identifies another important skill in developing teachers was the
ability to dissect data and identify patterns to support teacher development (Backor and Gordon,
2015).
EIA’s Admin team believed that feedback should be a collaborative discussion between
the teacher and leader that values the teacher’s experience and fosters reflection. Development
of teachers should focus on the teacher’s experience and allow space for the teacher to reflect
and build upon prior learning (Darling-Hammond et al., 2009). This was also supported in
Backor and Gordon’s (2015) research, in which they asserted that instructional leaders should
engage teachers in a dialogue about teaching that poses questions to support teachers in
developing a plan for improving his or her own teaching practice. All five of the administrators
interviewed mentioned the idea of providing a forum for a collaborative discussion to support
growth and reflection. Mr. Green described his approach as,
I’m a big fan of not only looking quantitatively but qualitatively. It’s easy to look at a
piece of paper and say these things aren’t right, but once you talk to somebody and figure
out why they’re not right, it kind of explains why they are struggling. When people trust
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 43
that you care, trying to invest in them, connecting them to the why and their own purpose
is probably a better investment overall.
In this example Mr. Green described how he likes to approach a collaborative discussion with a
teacher and allow a teacher’s voice and experience to be valued, instead of just providing
teachers with a written judgement of their teaching without any dialogue. In his experience he
has found that listening is a better investment of his time in order to help teachers improve.
Similarly, Ms. Sanders said,
I tell them ahead of time, this is not written in stone, we’re going to discuss some things,
if I have follow-up questions we can edit and I think it kind of makes it safe for them.
It’s a discussion and then I ask what areas do you want to grow and how can I support
that?
This example from Ms. Sanders shows how she believed she uses feedback sessions from
observations to create a safe place where teachers feel free to voice their perspectives in order to
foster reflection and growth that aligns to the teacher’s goals. Mr. Jones’ explains his approach,
I like to ask teachers what do you think went really well and what do you think did not go
so well? Sometimes they will identify something that I thought they did ok on or
something I thought they did well on, but they are not satisfied with their performance in
that area and we can have a conversation about that. It’s also important because it helps
you identify professional development needs that your staff has.
These examples show how EIA administrators believed that they asked questions and tried to
connect the feedback to where the teacher has said they would like to grow.
EIA’s Admin team knew that providing specific actions the teacher can take to improve
and connect these actions to the teacher’s larger goals helps teachers grow as a result of
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 44
feedback. All five of the respondents stated that it was important to tell teachers specifically
how to improve. Mr. Tee said, about providing feedback to teachers, “I think the number one
thing about it is it has to be specific. I need to provide more direct examples and resources to
help the situation.” This example shows how the admin team knew that it is important to be
specific in what the teacher needs to do to improve. Similarly, Mr. Nester stated that, “Feedback
should be direct, specific and detailed for them to actually understand what they need to do
moving forward.” This example also demonstrates that administration knew that teachers need
specific and detailed actions so they know how to improve. This is supported in the research that
found that teachers who receive specific and meaningful feedback improve their teaching
practice during that year, but also for several years following (Taylor and Tyler, 2001). Mr.
Jones elaborates further on feedback to teachers,
It needs to be centered on a rubric, teachers need to be aware of the rubric, need to
understand the rubric. That’s important just so the teachers and the coach or
administrator so that they share a common language so there are no surprises. We all
know what we are talking about and what is the stuff that needs to be improved.
Mr. Jones’s statement demonstrates how he valued a rubric to provide focused feedback about
what the teacher needs to work on. This is supported in the research in that performance rubrics
that detail characteristics of effective teachers help support evaluators in constructing focused
feedback (Feeney, 2007).
Ms. Sanders also agreed about needing focused feedback with a plan that teachers can work on.
She stated,
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 45
It needs to be honest, kindly and it needs to be something they can take action on to
correct. Maybe an action plan or something that you could do to help them develop a
plan. I always try to find at least one thing to improve even if they are amazing.
These examples from the EIA Admin team demonstrate how the team knew that teachers need
feedback that provides specific actions that they can work on to improve following the
observation and feedback in order to grow.
Effective feedback should be based on objective, descriptive evidence that builds on prior
learning, utilizes a rubric and values the teacher’s perspective to promote professional growth
(Feeney, 2007). The EIA Admin team provided examples of their knowledge of how to provide
effective feedback through their responses to what effective feedback should look like and how
they have provided it to their teachers. Their responses demonstrated their understanding of the
need to provide feedback based on objective evidence, that allows for a safe space for teachers to
feel comfortable and able to grow, and leaves teachers with a specific plan of action moving
forward.
Table 6
Participant’s Identification of Elements of Effective Feedback
Elements of Effective Feedback Green Jones Nester Tee Sanders
Feedback should be based on objective
observations or data
X X X X X
Feedback should be a collaborative discussion that
value’s the teachers experience and fosters
reflection
X X X X X
Feedback needs to include the specific actions
teacher’s can take to improve
X X X X X
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 46
The EIA Administrative Team is motivated to provide feedback, but there are things the
organization can do to better support this goal
Not only did EIA’s Admin team demonstrate self-reported knowledge of how to provide
feedback, they also saw the value of providing feedback because it helps teachers reflect and
grow their skills. In other words, the utility value of providing feedback was a motivating
influence for the Admin team. Feeny (2007), asserted that quality feedback improves teachers’
performance, motivation and satisfaction. According to Rueda (2011), value is the importance
that an individual assigns to a task; the higher the value to that individual, the higher the
likelihood that the individual will engage and persist in the task. Mr. Jones stated in response to
being asked “what is the value of providing feedback to teachers?”
The teacher is naturally curious about how they did on an observation. An effective
teacher wants to improve their craft and is a lifelong learner. It’s important so that they
can continue to get better and more effectively work with students, serve students, and to
reflect on their own performance.
This example shows that EIA’s admin team believed that providing feedback to teachers is
valuable because it helps teachers reflect and grow. Mr. Jones recognized that teachers need to
get feedback and want to get feedback after observations so that they can improve. Ms. Sanders
said about the value of feedback to her team,
My staff really likes the time spent with them, that is all of their love language, quality
time. So I try to set aside a whole hour because I know it is valuable to them, it just takes
a lot of time.
Ms. Sanders discussed her perception of the value of the time spent on feedback sessions with
her team, and Mr. Nester had a similar feeling. Mr. Nester stated,
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 47
Teachers appreciate it the most, because they are always looking for recognition, support
and growth. The growth in itself for the teacher, but it always goes back to the students.
Focusing on the teachers growth as a professional will ensure we are providing the best
service to the students.
These examples from the EIA Admin team show their perceptions of how valuable the feedback
sessions were to both the administrators and the teachers, as self reported by the administrators.
These examples also demonstrate how they saw feedback sessions as means to support growth
for teachers and students.
Table 7
Participant’s Motivation to Provide Feedback
Participant Why is feedback valuable?
Green
Allows teachers space to reflect so they can improve
Jones
Teachers want it and it helps them grow
Nester
Teachers like it; provides support, recognition and growth
Tee It gives teachers reassurance and information about how to improve
from an external source
Sanders
Staff appreciates it
EIA’s Admin team felt confident in their ability to provide feedback, but felt they could
improve with training. In other words, they had self-efficacy related to providing feedback. Five
out of the five principals interviewed reported feeling confident in this area but acknowledged
that they could improve. Mr. Jones stated, “I feel quite confident in giving teachers feedback.
I’d say the spot I would most like to improve is the time it takes me.” Similarly, Mr. Tee shared
about his perceptions on his ability to provide feedback,
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 48
That’s something that I feel pretty confident in. I’m confident in my communication
skills and emotional intelligence is something I put a lot of time in to. In that sense, I feel
that I’m able to provide meaningful feedback. The part that can be improved on is more
of learning more about practice in general and other resources.
Mr. Jones also felt confident about his ability to provide feedback and gave this example,
I can tell you about a post observation conference I had with a teacher last year. We sit
down, I try to sit next to them to make it less of an oppositional relationship and more of
like we’re on the same team, this is to improve our entire school. I like to go through the
rubric we use that has specific domains and indicators and we go over the evidence.
Before that I have given them an emailed copy of the evidence that has every indicator
and the evidence from the observation that I scripted and tagged for each indicator. They
kind of make their own projections and say ok I think I landed in the developing range or
effective range because of this. I feel like it is one of those things that if your’re doing it
right it’s going to take a significant amount of time. It’s something I struggle with taking
too long and it slows me down on getting them accomplished, but it’s so important
because I feel it matters a lot to that teacher and I don’t want to overlook anything.
In this example Mr. Jones provided his perception of his experience giving feedback to a teacher
after an observation, he states that he believed time is his biggest struggle, because he knows
what he would like to do to create a collaborative tone with the teacher and use it as a learning
opportunity to help the teacher grow. But to do it right, he feels, it takes an extraordinary amount
of time. Mr. Jones continued,
So I sit down with them, we review evidence, review the rubric and I tell them this is
based on the evidence from this day. There’s never a whole lot of discussion or
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 49
disagreement about the indicators the teacher is doing well in. Usually there’s the most
conversation about where they’re having a tough time. I ask the teacher about what went
well and what things have gone better in this category. The teacher acknowledged areas
where he wanted to improve so we had a discussion about it. I felt this was a successful
post observation experience with the feedback, because it really has more to do on the
front end with the work that was done discussing the rubric, discussing what effective
teaching looks like and I feel we did a good job explaining that so the teacher was able to
reflect on their own performance and identify the same things the trained evaluator
identified.
In this example Mr. Jones explained that he felt successful in providing feedback to this teacher
because the teacher was able to identify areas to improve that were similar to his priorities. All
five of the principals provided similar responses about their confidence in their ability to provide
feedback to teachers, but each also identified an area they would like to improve. Self-efficacy,
the beliefs that individuals hold about their own competence, is influenced by prior knowledge,
feedback and experience (Rueda, 2011). A principal’s sense of self-efficacy is critical to
meeting the demands of the position (Tschannen-Moran & Gareis, 2004).
Mr. Nester stated in response to being asked about his confidence in his ability to provide
teachers with feedback that improves their performance,
I feel fairly confident, about an 8 out of 10. There is always room for improvement
because there are certain things that do come up that stop me until I can figure it out or
discuss with someone else and say hey, have you ever encountered this before and
discuss it together with others.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 50
This example shows how EIA administrators believed they could benefit from additional training
where they could share their experiences and learn from each other, particularly around
situations that include observing teachers and providing feedback so that they could feel more
confident in providing feedback. This is corroborated in the research that shows principals need
support and preparation in order to feel confident in their abilities in the areas of observation,
providing teacher feedback and assessing student learning (Marshall, 2005).
EIA Admin team believed that they have the freedom to choose to set their own priorities
of what to work on. Five out of five of the administrators reported feeling this way. When asked
about how they set their priorities, Mr. Nester stated,
Priorities are always changing. I usually have a list of all priorities for each week going
into it and what needs to be accomplished and then throughout the week as more things
come in that priority list shifts based on the urgency of it.
In this example, Mr. Nester shows that he believed that he can set his priorities and determined
them by the urgency of what needs to get done. Similarly, Mr. Green shared,
I think it depends on the day. More often lately I’ve been trying to prioritize my bigger
sense of purpose. I would like to think the majority of days I come to the building with a
sense of purpose of the bigger why. There’s the mission and vision that coincides with
who I am and what I want to be. There’s also the bigger picture of where I understand
kids are struggling and how to work towards a change. I’ve been really reflecting and
trying to say what was my purpose today.
In these two examples, these administrators showed that they believed they have the ability to set
their own priorities but acknowledge that it is a struggle to prioritize what needs to happen and
define what should take priority over other things.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 51
Although the EIA Admin team felt they have the freedom to choose to prioritize their
time, their perception of the reality of the job is that they often cannot get to providing feedback
to teachers on their teaching due to operational duties. Principals need to be in classrooms often,
observing instructional activities on a regular basis, in order to get an accurate sense of the
quality of teaching (Marshall 2005). Three out of the five administrators interviewed felt that
they are not able to provide teachers with focused attention and feedback to improve due to
operational duties. Mr. Green expressed that,
When it comes down to it and when you look at the list of things an administrator has to
do, administrators don’t have the ability to focus on instruction. Very few administrators
will say their only job was to make better teachers.
This example demonstrates Mr. Green’s perspective that he cannot focus on instruction, the way
he would want to because of other non-instructional duties. Similarly, Ms. Sanders said that her
time is focused on administrative duties such as, “IEP’s, 504’s, parent meetings, parent calls, all
the stuff for the state reporting.” This example speaks to all the administrative tasks they feel
they have to prioritize in addition to being instructional leaders. Mr. Jones felt confident
providing feedback, but felt that he didn’t have the amount of time he needed to do it well. He
said,
I was discussing this problem with somebody and they had the suggestion of scheduling
time on my calendar that is sacred time, after I conduct an observation I should calendar
off 2, 3, maybe 4 hours and not take any appointments during that time. If I need to
squirrel away in a closet somewhere at school to get it done, or go sit at a coffee shop
nearby, somewhere where I can really devote my time and attention to this and get it
right. I want to get it done and provide good, timely feedback to the teachers.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 52
Mr. Jones’ explanation of his frustration around this shows that he felt that if he had the time,
free of interruptions he thought he could do a better job of providing feedback to his teachers.
In order for EIA’s Admin team to be even more motivated to provide feedback, they
believed the organization should make teacher observations a priority by providing staff to
support operational duties. Self-efficacy is the basis of motivation and accomplishment (Pajares,
2006). Individuals with higher self-efficacy are more likely to engage, persist and work hard at a
task (Rueda, 2011). Mr. Green stated,
I wish my only job was to work with teachers, observe, look at data and strategize. But
there are other parts of my job so I guess the simplest way to put it is I wish there were
more people to do the other things.
This example shows the administrators’ perspective that additional support would help improve
their self-efficacy in their ability to engage in effective feedback. Ms. Sanders similarly felt that,
Having another administrator would help to have someone that can also do observations
or feedback or do the other stuff that doesn’t get done when you’re doing the
administrative duties. It’s hard to get everything done, and especially with my staff, they
really like quality time. I try to set aside the time because I know it is valuable to them
but it’s just a lot, and takes a lot of time.
This example also shows how the administrators wanted to be able to provide feedback but felt
torn by all their responsibilities. Although they felt that they technically have the autonomy to
choose to focus on instruction and feedback, they believed that the reality is that their numerous
responsibilities do not allow for this.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 53
EIA Organizational Culture and Training Needs to Support Deeper Reflection
Most of EIA’s Admin team believed that mistakes are opportunities to learn and
questions are welcome. Five out of the five administrators said that for the most part, they
believed the culture is one where mistakes are viewed as opportunities for learning and most are
open to questions. Ms. Sanders provided her perspective by stating that,
As a whole I think questions are welcome, we just don’t always know the answers. I
think there’s a good sense of vulnerability that the people who made a mistake are able to
say ‘Oh I may have messed up and you know it’s okay to talk about it, fix it.’ Our leader
really sets the tone for that. She told a story at one meeting of how she blew like a
million dollars and she had to say oops, I messed this up, but now I know what to do
differently. When she said that, I was like ok, there’s room for mistakes here.
This example demonstrated the respondent’s overall belief that most individuals and the
organization as a whole were open to asking questions and talking about mistakes made in order
to learn from them, as evidenced by her example of their leader showing vulnerability and
willingness to be wrong.
There was some contradictory evidence, in that one person said that he believed questions
are welcome from most people, but it depends on who you ask in the organization. Learning
organizations need to actively seek to understand other views, encourage others to test their
views and use reasoning and data to support attributions (Senge, 1990). This describes the
importance of asking questions, understanding multiple viewpoints and the use of reasoning in
order to support learning. When an organization moves in that direction, the hope would be that
most, if not all, would buy in to questioning. Mr. Green stated,
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 54
I think it is a place that questions are welcome, but I think it depends on who you are
talking to. I feel like some parts of the organization are people who work at certain
capacities and are pretty in the box thinkers and you can’t go outside the box with them.
I think there have been times when I’ve posed them a good question, and they don’t
really answer the question, they stick to the script and so that’s kind of damaging. But I
think the majority of people in the organization are that spirit of asking those questions.
Mr. Green’s perception was that although some in the organization were open to questions, he
believed that the response that he sometimes received could have damaged the culture around
risk taking and questioning. In other words, he felt that not everyone has bought into this culture
that is being built. Mr. Nester also had a viewpoint that questioned whether in practice, everyone
in the organization believes that mistakes are an opportunity to learn. Here is what he stated
about the organization’s culture around learning:
It’s come a long way, but we are turning it into a place where questions are welcome.
Some staff members who have a growth mindset believe this. I could give you both sides
of it and I think it has to do with the current leader. If you have a leader that isn’t open to
learning, then it could be understood that staff don’t make decisions on their own and all
decisions need to come from the leader. So then there’s hesitation in making decisions
and in that type of regime if somebody makes the wrong decision then it’s definitely dealt
with harshly, which is unfortunate. Now on the opposite end of the spectrum, a more
positive way is to you know if the leader encourages staff to make decisions and if a
mistake is made, then sit down, have a discussion, identify why it was made and move
forward learning from it. That way they know it is okay to try to make decisions but
think about a few other components in the future.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 55
Mr. Nester believed that he has had experience with both kinds of leaders and found that leaders
in this organization who had a growth mindset were more likely to view mistakes as
opportunities for learning and be open to questions.
As EIA’s Admin team spoke of their belief in and showed that they value a growth
mindset, they believed the organization can help improve training to support reflection and
growth. Although EIA’s Admin team desired to improve the feedback that they provide to
teachers, they did not utilize specific practices to guide their reflection process. Administrators
must continually be self-reflective in order to determine whether best practice is occurring
(Winslow, 2016). Four of the five administrators could not identify strategies they utilized to
reflect on the feedback they provided to teachers. When asked about how she reflects on her
ability to provide feedback Ms. Sanders said, “Besides laying at night in my bed and thinking
about the conversation? I don’t do anything specific, I just try to learn from what didn’t feel
right.” Similarly, Mr. Jones said,
As far as practices on reflecting on my ability to provide feedback, I don’t have any
specific ways after a post observation feedback. It’s more of a think just thinking about
how it went. I know that sounds very informal, but just personal reflection about what
didn’t go well, what lessons I learned on how to approach it and how I could have done it
in a way that was well perceived.
These examples demonstrate that the administrators recognized they had thoughts and feelings
about how they wanted to improve following a feedback session with a teacher, but did not
utilize specific strategies to reflect so that they could increase their effectiveness in providing
feedback.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 56
Table 8
Participant’s Reflective Practices
Participant How do they reflect?
Green
No specific practices.
Jones
No specific ways, just thinking about how it went.
Nester
Just looking back on situations and how to handle them better next
time.
Tee Have a colleague present to observe, discuss each perspective, identify
areas that they could improve on, take note of what they would do
differently next time.
Sanders
Thinking about the conversation while lying in bed, try to learn from
what didn’t feel right.
In order for EIA’s Admin team to know how to reflect effectively, some administrators
believed the organization needs to provide professional development to facilitate deeper
reflection and learning. The three foundational building blocks of learning in organizations are a
supportive learning environment that provides psychological safety, openness, reflection;
concrete learning processes and practices including experimentation, data collection and training;
and leadership that reinforces learning (Garvin et al., 2008). This demonstrates the vital
importance of intentionally providing that supportive learning environment and practices. When
leaders invest in these things, it reinforces learning. About his ability to reflect on feedback to
teachers, Mr. Nester stated,
There is always room for improvement and certain things do come up that stop me until I
can find somebody to say hey, have you ever encountered this before? Discuss and get
solutions or support for the staff member. Any PD in this realm would support. I value
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 57
any PD that allows me to then reflect and see how I can apply these things to better
support the teachers.
In this example, Mr. Nester was able to articulate what several others alluded to, that they
wanted to improve, and thought about how to improve, but needed professional development
time set aside in order to reflect on how to increase their effectiveness in providing feedback to
teachers.
In this section, the results of the gap analysis of the knowledge, motivation and
organizational influences on the EIA Administrative team’s ability to provide feedback to
teachers was presented. The first finding presented was that the EIA Administrative team can
articulate key attributes of high quality teaching as identified by Tomlinson (2017), that
classrooms must be learner- centered, knowledge-centered, instruction-centered, and assessment-
centered. The EIA Administrative team identified a teacher’s ability to build strong
relationships, utilize active learning strategies to engage students, utilize formative assessments
to check for understanding, and ability to differentiate instruction to meet the unique needs of
students as key aspects of high quality teaching. The second finding presented was that the EIA
Administrative team has the knowledge of how to provide effective feedback. The EIA
Administrative team discussed the use of objective evidence, creating a collaborative
atmosphere, and having a specific plan of action as part of providing effective feedback to
teachers. The third finding was that the EIA Administrative team is motivated to provide
feedback, but felt that they could be better supported by the organization. The EIA Admin team
saw the value in providing feedback to teachers, felt confident in providing feedback but felt that
they could improve, and have the freedom to choose how to spend their time, but much of their
time is spent on non-instructional duties. Finally, the last finding presented was that the EIA
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 58
organizational culture and training needs to support deeper reflection. Although administrators
felt that the organizational culture supported risk taking and asking questions, some felt that this
was not always carried out in practice. Although administrators valued a growth mindset, they
felt that the organization could help them improve through training.
Discussion
In the previous section, the first and second research questions were answered, regarding
the results from this study on the administrative team’s knowledge of high quality teaching, and
knowledge, motivation and organizational influences on administrator’s ability to provide
feedback to teachers. In this section, the objective is to answer the final research question: What
are the recommended knowledge and skills, motivation and organizational solutions? This
chapter utilizes the Clark and Estes (2008) framework to discuss recommendations for practice
and future research.
Recommendations for Practice
Knowledge Recommendations
Stakeholder knowledge is necessary to organizations being able to achieve their goals.
Krathwohl (2002), identified four types of knowledge: factual knowledge, conceptual
knowledge, procedural knowledge ad metacognitive knowledge. The results from this study
indicate that the EIA Administrative team has the conceptual knowledge of the elements of high
quality teaching, the procedural knowledge of how to provide feedback, the motivation to
provide feedback, but there are areas that the organization can strengthen in order to improve
Administrators ability to provide effective feedback to teachers. Although the EIA Admin team
saw the value in providing feedback and have the ability to choose how to spend their time, they
often felt torn from instructional duties to work on the myriad operational duties that fall under
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 59
their purview. Additionally, the EIA Admin team valued reflection and growth but did not have
specific strategies for engaging in reflection to improve. The organization could support deeper
reflection and improve the ability of the EIA Admin team in providing effective feedback to
teachers by providing more professional development, including on reflective strategies.
Metacognitive knowledge is an individual’s knowledge of themselves that supports the
learning process (Krathwol, 2002). Administrative team members need to know how to reflect
on their own effectiveness in providing feedback to teachers. Denler, Wolters, & Benzon (2006),
found that demonstration and modeling help learners acquire new behaviors. This suggests that
in order to adopt new behaviors, Administrative team members need to see the new behaviors
modeled for them. The findings demonstrated that the Admin team valued reflection and wanted
to grow but did not engage in reflective strategies in order to do so. The recommendation of
modeling use of a reflection tool will help support this goal.
Baker (2006), found that using metacognitive strategies that allow learners to engage in
self-monitoring and self-assessment facilitates learning. Additionally, Baker (2006), suggested
modeling the metacognitive process for learners through verbally assessing areas of strength and
areas of weakness. The Administrators interviewed for this study mentioned thinking about what
felt right and what didn’t after providing feedback to a teacher, but no specific practice or
protocol for how to improve upon this. Leaders need to ensure that Administrators have
structured time set aside to reflect on observations after providing feedback to teachers. One tool
that could help support this is the Four-Step Reflection Process from York-Barr, Sommers,
Ghere & Montie’s (2001) book on reflective practices to improve schools. This protocol uses a
series of questions in four areas: description, analysis, application, and implications to prompt
thinking about an experience. Leaders should train administrators in how to use this tool, model
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 60
the process using a personal experience that they have had and then provide time for
administrators to practice using it. This supports the recommendation of modeling how to use a
reflection tool with the Administrative team to reflect on their own effectiveness in providing
feedback to teachers.
Motivation Recommendations
Motivation is composed of three aspects, active choice-taking action towards a goal,
persistence- perseverance in the face of impediments, and mental effort-confidence to do what is
necessary to succeed (Clark& Estes, 2008). The results from this study indicate that the
Administrative team members felt confident in their ability to provide effective feedback to
teachers but that there were things the organization could do to support in persistence and mental
effort. The administrators reported wanting to spend time providing quality feedback to teachers
but that when faced with multiple competing priorities their persistence and mental effort was
challenged. The EIA Admin team would feel more confident in their ability to provide effective
feedback if the organization provided more support staff and professional development
opportunities.
Social cognitive theory explains self-efficacy as the beliefs that individuals hold about
their personal capabilities (Pajares, 2006). Administration team members need to feel confident
in their ability to provide effective feedback to teachers. Pajares (2006) found that modeling and
feedback increases self-efficacy. This suggests that providing administrative team members with
a demonstration of what they need to do and feedback on their own practice would increase self-
efficacy. Leaders need to provide up front training on how to coach teachers using a framework
for teaching best practices. Ongoing training should allow administrators to practice using this
framework together, with leaders modeling how to use the rubric as an observation tool and
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 61
include opportunities for administrators to give and receive feedback with their peers. One way
for leaders to do this would be by utilizing the standards for teaching to guide best practices and
create a teacher assessment based on these standards (Darling-Hammond, 2015). Utilizing the
Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 2007), is another way that leaders could utilize a rubric to
practice providing feedback together. This supports the recommendation of providing training
that incorporates modeling of effective feedback and opportunities to practice with their peers.
In order for the EIA administrative team to reach their goal, it is important for them to
feel confident in their ability to provide feedback to teachers that improves performance. Several
research studies have shown that there is a strong relationship between employee retention
strategies such as constructive feedback and organizational performance (Gberevbie, 2008,
Cloutier, et.al, 2015, and Haider, et. Al, 2015). Increased feedback and modeling increase self-
efficacy and higher self-efficacy impacts motivation in a positive way (Pajares, 2006). The EIA
Admin team already value providing feedback to teachers, but feel challenged by their ability to
do it and do it well. The recommendations provided could help administrators feel more
confident in their ability to provide feedback.
Organization Recommendations
When knowledge and motivational barriers are not the cause of an organization’s failure
to meet their goals, it is usually an organizational issue (Clark & Estes, 2008). An organization’s
work processes and resources play a critical role in supporting achievement of their goals. The
study results indicate that the administrators know what high quality teaching looks like, they
know how to provide effective feedback and are motivated to do so, therefore most of the
recommendations for this organization lie in what the organization needs to do to support their
goals. This organization needs to provide training to improve the culture of learning so that
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 62
articulated organizational beliefs around growth mindset and risk taking are aligned to practices
and policies.
Culture includes the core values, goals, beliefs, emotions and processes that develop over
time within an environment (Clark and Estes, 2008). Schein (2004) posits that culture includes
accumulated shared learning composed of the beliefs, values and norms within a particular
group. This aspect of organizational culture can also be referred to as cultural models. The
organization does not yet have a strong culture of learning. Although they articulate values that
support a culture of learning such as growth mindset, the idea that mistakes are opportunities to
learn and that questions are welcome, the EIA Admin team felt that this was not always carried
out in practice due to a lack of knowledge or experience. Effective organizations ensure that
organizational messages and rewards are supportive of the organizational values (Clark and
Estes, 2008). Additionally, adult learners resist learning when they feel others are imposing
information or ideas on them (Fidishun, 2000). In order to develop a culture of learning, the
organization needs to examine their policies and procedures to ensure alignment with a culture of
learning. They need to ensure that communication rewards those who demonstrate the behaviors
in alignment with what the organization espouses, like encouraging staff members to make
decisions, take risks and ask questions. Leaders in the organization should conduct a careful
review of current policies, procedures and communication to ensure that staff members receive
the message that this organization is one that supports learning and you will not be penalized for
taking a risk and trying something different.
A key aspect of analyzing an organization’s cultural model can be found in the
understanding of what interpersonal relationships look like within the organization. Research
demonstrates that in order for an organization to function more effectively, employees need trust,
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 63
support and cooperation (Schneider, Brief, Guzzo, 1996). Korsgaard, Brodt, and Whitener
(2002) discuss five categories that impact trust: behavioral consistency, acting with integrity,
sharing of control, open communication, and showing concern. High functioning teams are
characterized by atmospheres of psychological safety, which include interpersonal trust, mutual
respect and allow team members to be themselves (Duhigg, 2016). Leaders can help build this
culture by modeling transparency, vulnerability and setting team norms that foster psychological
safety by not embarrassing or punishing those that speak up (Duhigg, 2016). The EIA
organization needs to ensure that all of its leaders model transparency and vulnerability and do
not punish those who ask questions.
In weak organizations, management structure requires that all operational as well as
strategic decisions must be pushed to the top for a decision (Schneider et al., 1999). This is not
only inefficient but also does not allow for those doing the work to have the independence they
need to be effective. Buckingham and Coffman (1999), identify what great managers do
differently, and in their analysis, they make the distinction between setting expectations by
defining the right outcomes, not the right steps. Great managers will share expectations so that
employees know what the goals are, but allow employees the freedom and independence to
determine their own path in achieving them. Leaders need to cultivate a culture where the
collective wisdom can work to solve complex problems through gradually changing the way
people in an organization think and act (Senge, Hamilton & Kania, 2019). The EIA organization
needs to allow staff members to make decisions and take a risk, and not expect that all staff
members will do things the same way they have always been done.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 64
Future Research
Teacher retention is a national crisis that will have far reaching negative impacts on the
lives of children in public schools, particularly in high-poverty communities. As Administrators
can have a large impact on teacher retention, there are many potential avenues for future research
in this area. Based on the results of this study and the review of the literature, it is recommended
that future research be conducted on what administrators can do to improve teacher retention.
For example, while feedback was identified as a critical role for administrators to help support
their teachers, it would be interesting to conduct studies that specifically examined the effect of
feedback on teacher retention. Given that interviews were the only form of data collection in this
study and the fact that this study was limited to the perceptions of the respondents from one
organization, the results are not able to be generalized to have wider implications. A future study
could utilize observations of administrators as they provide feedback to teachers to see if their
perceptions are in alignment with their reported confidence in this area. Another potential area
for future research could be a longitudinal study to see how administrators who receive
professional development in reflective strategies and feedback do after they are trained; how the
feedback shapes their instructional practice.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge, skills, motivation and
organizational influences that influence the ability of the administrative team to provide feedback
to teachers on instructional observations as one way to retain teachers. The focus of this study
was on the administrative team, because they have the ability to impact the amount of support
that teachers receive in order to influence the retention of highly qualified teachers. The
conceptual framework for this study utilized Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis of knowledge,
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 65
motivation and organizational influences. Study results suggest that the organization needs to
further develop their culture of learning, and provide administrators with training to support
deeper reflection and practice providing feedback to teachers so that they feel more confident
and are better able to do so. Administrators were able to articulate key attributes of high quality
teaching including building strong relationships with students, utilizing active learning strategies
that engage students and allow them to take ownership of their own learning, utilizing formative
assessments and differentiating instruction to meet the individual needs of students and scaffold
growth. EIA administrators identified important elements of providing effective feedback to
teachers, including using objective observation data, creating a collaborative environment to
allow teachers to reflect and build upon prior learning, and developing a specific plan of action
of what needs to happen next. The EIA Admin team felt motivated to provide feedback because
they saw the value of it in helping teachers grow. However, they felt that the organization could
support them in better providing feedback to teachers through increased support and training that
includes modeling and practice giving feedback. The implication of these findings suggest that
the organization needs to put into place training to better develop the organization’s culture
around learning in order to ensure that the organization’s beliefs about growth mindset and
reflection are reflected in their practices. By implementing the recommended solutions,
Empowerment in Action can better support administrators and improve their ability to grow their
teachers.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 66
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Appendix A: Interview Protocol
I’d like to start by asking you some questions about your role as an administrator at this
school.
1. What does your leadership role entail?
2. Describe a day that represents the way you typically work with teachers.
3. How do you determine what your priorities are for the week?
4. How do you determine what your priorities are for the year?
5. How do you split your role between operational and instructional duties, if at all?
6. What is your role in helping staff improve their practice, if any?
7. Tell me about your experience working with your staff to improve their practice. What
has that been like for you?
8. What are you looking for during a teacher observation? What types of instructional
strategies are you looking to see?
9. How do you know if a teacher is able to build strong relationships with students?
10. How do you determine which teachers are currently providing high quality instruction?
11. What does “high quality instruction” mean to you? What would you say are the key
components of high quality instruction?
12. Can you provide an example of a time when you observed a teacher teaching in this way?
Can you provide an example of a time when you observed a teacher not teaching in this
way?
13. How confident are you in identifying “high quality instruction?”
Now, I’d like to ask some questions about providing feedback to teachers to help them improve.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 79
14. Describe the kind of feedback to teachers that helps them improve their practice. What
are the key components of high quality feedback to teachers?
15. In your opinion, what is the value of providing feedback to teachers after an observation,
if at all?
16. What are some challenges to providing feedback to teachers after an observation?
17. How do you typically provide feedback to teachers after an observation? Can you walk
me through a recent example?
18. Tell me about a time when you felt successful after providing feedback to a teacher.
How did you know that you did a good job?
19. Tell me about a time when you felt you could have done a better job of providing
feedback to a teacher. How did you know you could have done a better job?
20. How confident do you feel in your ability to provide teachers with effective feedback that
improves teacher practice?
21. How do you reflect on your abilities to provide feedback to teachers? What specific
practices do you engage in to help you reflect on your work with teachers, if any?
Finally, I would like to ask you questions about how the organization supports your work with
providing feedback to your students.
22. How would you describe the culture of your organization? Is it a place where questions
are welcome?
23. What is the organization’s culture around learning?
24. What are the norms related to staff making mistakes? Can you provide an example of a
time when someone made a mistake? What happened? How did the staff member
respond? How did leadership respond?
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 80
25. Do staff members believe mistakes are opportunities to learn? What makes you think so?
26. Do all staff members have shared commitment and ownership over the mission and
vision? What makes you think so?
27. Earlier in the interview I asked some questions about your role in the school. Related to
that line of questions, some people say that administrators aren’t’ often provided the
autonomy necessary to focus on instruction. What would you say to them?
28. What resources do you feel you need to help you improve your ability to provide
feedback to your teachers?
29. What would you say are some practices you think the organization should keep the same
to encourage the administrative team to provide feedback to teachers?
30. What would you say are some practices the organization should change in order to
encourage the administrative team to provide feedback to teachers?
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 81
Appendix B: Credibility and Trustworthiness
In this section, I will address how I ensured credibility and trustworthiness. First, in the
design of my interview instrument, I included opportunities to ask follow-up questions. I asked
open ended questions to allow for authentic responses from the participants. In the data
collection phase, I consistently applied my interview protocol in order to ensure rigor in carrying
out the study. Additionally, I utilized an audio recorder to ensure that participant’s responses
were accurately captured. During the data analysis phase, I will utilized member checks to take
the preliminary analysis back to certain respondents. In these member checks, respondents
confirmed that the preliminary analysis aligned to their experiences. Member checks are an
effective strategy to ensure plausibility of data analysis (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
As a professional who has worked in this field for over ten years, it was important for me
to separate my own perceptions and experiences from the participants of the study. When I was
a member of this administrative group, my perception was that most administrators did not have
much knowledge of how to provide teachers with feedback and most organizational culture’s did
not allow for administrators to grow as instructional leaders. In order to support my goal of
separating my own perceptions and experiences from the participants, I took detailed notes
during the interviews to decrease the likelihood of my own biases coloring the responses of the
participants. Additionally, I utilized analytic memos in order to engage in reflexivity to
acknowledge and articulate how my positionality could potentially impact my analysis of the
data. Another way I ensured credibility and trustworthiness in the data analysis phase was to
employ counting to ensure that the assertions I was making were truly based in the data and not
over emphasizing something because it aligns to my own experiences. As I reported in the
findings, I included the frequency of each response to demonstrate the strength of each assertion.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 82
Appendix C: Ethics
In order to meet my responsibilities to the participants as the researcher in this study, I
needed to ensure that interviewees did not come to harm as a result of their participation, that the
participants were not pressured and that they were treated respectfully (Rubin & Rubin, 2012).
One way I met these responsibilities was to make sure that participants were provided with
informed consent. I provided informed consent forms to all participants before beginning the
first interview with each participant. Informed consent is necessary to make participants
recognize that they are participating voluntarily, to make them aware of relevant information
about the study that may affect their well-being and that they can choose to stop participating at
any point in the study (Glense, 2011).
Informed consent is important because it allows participants have the information they
need to determine if they would like to participate or not. In my study, it was also important
because it provided me the opportunity to assure the participants that their responses will be kept
confidential. As all members of the administrative team were part of the sample, they might
have have concerns about the information they provided. It also ensured that they knew and
understood that they were voluntarily participating and that they had the ability to change their
mind at a later point if they decided to do so. Additionally, this study was submitted to the
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board (IRB) in order to ensure the safety
and welfare of human subjects who participated in this research study. Before the interviews
began, I reminded all participants that their participation was voluntary and that their responses
would be kept confidential. Prior to the interviews, I asked for permission to take notes and
record during the interviews. I did not provide any incentives to participate to avoid any
perception of coercion.
SUPPORTING TEACHERS THROUGH FEEDBACK 83
Appendix D: Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations are the aspects of a study that the researcher cannot necessarily control.
There are many limitations in a qualitative study that only uses interviews that can potentially
impact the study. Limitations in interviews can include that respondents may not articulate what
they mean, respondents may not have a balanced perspective, data is based on the perspective of
the respondent and the site of the interviews (Creswell, 2014). As such, I rely on the participants
to provide accurate and honest responses. And given that interviews were the only data
collection method used in this study, there was a major limitation in my ability to know exactly
how the administrators provide feedback to teachers on their teaching and how much value they
place on this important task.
Delimitations are the parts of a study that a researcher can control. In interviews,
delimitations can include the particular line of questioning and type of questions that a researcher
decides to use (Creswell, 2014). Given the use of the gap analytic framework of knowledge,
motivation and organizational influences, my study wass delimited by the concepts in this
framework. In addition to this, another delimitation of this study was the fact that I only
interviewed administrators. This delimited this study to only the perspective of administrators,
and did not consider the perspective of teachers.
Abstract (if available)
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Dueñas, Kristi Murakami
(author)
Core Title
Administrators' role in supporting teachers through feedback
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)
Publication Date
11/14/2019
Defense Date
08/20/2019
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
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Tag
classroom observations,feedback,OAI-PMH Harvest,teacher support
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Samkian, Artineh (
committee chair
), Ferrario, Kimberly (
committee member
), Lynch, Douglas (
committee member
)
Creator Email
kduenas@usc.edu,kristi.murakami@gmail.com
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Dueñas, Kristi Murakami; Duenas, Kristi Murakami
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Tags
classroom observations
feedback
teacher support