Evaluating Teachers in the Big Easy: How Organizational Context Shapes Policy Responses in New Orleans

Abstract

Although multiple-measure teacher evaluation systems have gained popularity in the United States, few studies have examined their implementation or how they are shaped by organizational context. New Orleans provides a strategic case to examine the enactment of a state teacher evaluation policy in a highly decentralized setting with variation in organizational context. Utilizing a multiple case study approach, we analyzed documents and interviews in eight case study schools. We found that schools varied in their responses to teacher evaluation—in ways that were reflective, compliant, and/or distortive—and that the type of response was not associated with governance model, school authorizer, or level of autonomy. Instead, shared instructional leadership and structures for frequent collaboration appeared to facilitate more reflective responses.