The Utility of Teacher and Student Surveys in Principal Evaluations: An Empirical Investigation

In recent years, states and school districts in the Midwest Region have developed new evaluation models that hold principals accountable for their contributions to student achievement. Many districts are turning to teacher and student feedback surveys to evaluate principals based on school conditions that promote better teaching and learning.

This study's findings indicate that adding teacher and student survey measures on school conditions to the principal evaluation model can strengthen the relationship between principals’ evaluation results and their schools’ average value-added achievement gains in math and in a composite of math and reading. Neither teacher nor student survey measures showed significant incremental utility in explaining across-school variance in reading.