Summary:
According to Sergiovanni and Starratt (2007), the evaluation process plays a powerful role in developing and nurturing a teacher’s instructional capacity, which, in turn, contributes to students’ academic successes. School districts in South Carolina utilize the Assisting, Developing and Evaluating Professional Teaching (ADEPT) system. A component of ADEPT is the Summative ADEPT Formal Evaluation of Classroom-Based Teachers (SAFE-T). The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ perceptions of conferencing with feedback. Findings indicate that observations need to occur frequently and for an extended period of time. In addition, systematic feedback is critical for a teacher in improving performance, motivation and personal satisfaction. Lastly, a structure, such as conferencing, should be in place to promote reflective inquiry and conversations for facilitating learning of teachers. It is the desire of the authors that others might use these results as a springboard for discussion as they examine their evaluation process. FULL MANUSCRIPT AVAILABLE AT: http://cnx.org/content/m38157/latest/