Are Teacher Evaluations and a Growth Mindset Mutually Exclusive?

During a webinar hosted by Frontline, one attendee asked a striking question about the positive or negative power of teacher evaluations:

“Wouldn’t the process of giving feedback, which is, really, criticizing through performance evaluation processes, conflict with the promotion of a growth mindset? Given what is known about the negative effects of performance evaluation, could it be claimed that these hierarchical and outdated management practices may in fact promote a fixed mindset in adults?”

This is a great point. It calls on educators to examine the practices designed around teacher evaluations. Do your administrative practices reflect a fixed mindset, in which you approach evaluations as simply boxes to check off, work to complete?

Culture is essential to a growth mindset. If as a leader in your organization, you model a fixed mindset in how you approach evaluations, then yes, that could influence the mindset your teachers bring to their own practice. However, it is possible to take a formal process like performance evaluation and mold it into a growth-focused practice.

Two areas to consider when doing so:

Foster Personalized and Reflective Goal-Setting

As part of the formal evaluation process, ask yourself some questions:

• What do your conversations with teachers around goal-setting look like?
• Do you make it a priority to not simply be aware of what a teacher’s goals may be, but why? How do you seek to understand those goals?
• If a teacher has (or has not) made progress toward those goals, is it a priority to understand why?
• Are these reflective conversations built into the evaluation process?

Give Formative, Actionable Feedback

Yes, time is in short supply for all of us — and observing teachers in the classroom and providing feedback can be time-consuming. But it’s so vital. If you want to foster a growth mindset, one of the key ways to do that is through ongoing, formative, actionable feedback.

It may not be feasible for administrators to provide in-depth feedback to every teacher in their buildings, but feedback doesn’t always have to be given by the same person. What would it look like to develop a practice in your school or district of empowering peers to provide feedback? Whether through in-person observations or by equipping teachers to share videos of classroom practice, this can be a powerful way to support collaboration and growth — even if it’s an informal process that supports your formal evaluations.