Though Douglas J. Horne stands in front of a class full of students every day as a design and technology teacher at a Vermont high school, at different times he also sits before a computer to teach engineering principles to online students.
In his classroom at Essex High School in Essex Junction, Vt., an administrator might observe him a few times a year as part of his evaluation. But in Mr. Horne鈥檚 online classroom, his actions are logged and recorded and often examined by administrators at the Maynard, Mass.-based Virtual High School Global Consortium, which requires member districts, such as Essex, to supply teachers for its courses. Mr. Horne鈥檚 salary is paid by the Essex district.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e online, you almost have someone watching your every move, unlike the brick-and-mortar classroom, in which you close your door and you鈥檙e on your own,鈥� Mr. Horne said. In virtual education, 鈥渋t鈥檚 all quite visible to your students and your virtual high school administrators.鈥�
Depth of Data
Virtual schools are constantly collecting data on the actions their online teachers take. From the first day of each course, every chat, discussion, e-mail, grade, instant message, and keystroke a teacher makes is recorded by a virtual school鈥檚 learning-management system. Often, even a teacher鈥檚 phone calls or Skype videoconferencing sessions with students are recorded. Learning-management systems can sift through the resulting data to analyze how much time a teacher spends grading, for example, or interacting on discussion boards with students, and virtual school officials use all that information and more to evaluate instructors.
It鈥檚 far different, online experts say, from a traditional evaluation in a regular school, because of the information. The sheer depth of the data collected makes a significant difference when it comes to evaluating online teachers, said Liz R. Pape, the president of the Virtual High School Global Consortium, or VHS, a network of 660 member districts.
In a traditional evaluation scenario, an administrator 鈥渟its in on a teacher鈥檚 class two or three times a year and, of course, the teacher always polishes up those lessons so they鈥檙e shinier than bright red apples,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit of an artificial situation. ... For the most part, once that teacher closes their classroom door, they鈥檙e on their own, doing their own thing.鈥�
Virtual Walk-Throughs
At the Orlando-based , or FLVS - the largest state-sponsored online school in the country - virtual instructors must meet a host of expectations, including being available (though not necessarily working) to students from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, said Pam Birtolo, the chief learning officer for the school, which serves about 97,000 students. The turnaround time for grading tests and assignments and replying to e-mail is 48 hours; it鈥檚 12 hours for returning phone calls.
Students must receive specific feedback on assignments - not just a 鈥済ood job.鈥� And FLVS teachers must hold a monthly phone call with a student鈥檚 parents or guardian.
Principals examine a teacher鈥檚 electronic records monthly to view the kind of feedback, response time, and discussions instructors are having with students.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e working virtually, you do have a way to do a classroom walk-through and ensure teachers are learning about [the tone of an] e-mail, for example,鈥� Ms. Birtolo said. 鈥淚t has to be a constant give-and-take.鈥�
Still, said Mr. Horne, the Vermont high school teacher, despite all the data collected for his online evaluation, he doesn鈥檛 feel it鈥檚 more or less accurate and objective than a face-to-face evaluation - just different. Essex High, too, collects data on teachers, around students鈥� graduation rates, grades, and academic achievement, for example, he said.
Online experts say it鈥檚 critical to go beyond statistics. While learning-management systems used by virtual schools can easily generate numbers on the lengths of time and ways that teachers and students interact, it鈥檚 important to look at the quality of those interactions, said Bryan H. Setser, the chief executive officer of the , which serves about 73,000 students across the state. School officials perform spot checks at least once a semester to review the transcripts of chats between a teacher and a student, for example, or listen in on a live exchange. They鈥檒l look at how teachers are using the system鈥檚 instant-messaging tool and note that certain teachers might have 15 to 18 conversations with different students each day, while some might not use the tool for weeks.
After the spot check, a teacher will receive a green, yellow, or red rating. Green means the teacher is meeting all the criteria laid out by the school. A yellow rating triggers a conference to coach the teacher and a warning that if concerns aren鈥檛 addressed, the rating could turn to red. Teachers are put under an improvement plan when it turns to yellow and generally get one final semester 鈥渢o prove they can cut the mustard,鈥� Mr. Setser said. If that doesn鈥檛 happen, the teacher is let go.
The entire process can happen within the span of a few semesters because the school鈥檚 345 teachers are contract workers, not bound by the same kinds of agreements that full-time public school teachers might have. In a regular public school setting, collecting the proper documentation to get rid of an unsuccessful teacher can take years, not semesters, Mr. Setser said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 holding face-to-face education back,鈥� he argued. 鈥淚鈥檓 convinced that鈥檚 part of what鈥檚 making the online environment so effective - because we don鈥檛 have those constraints.鈥�
Student Feedback
Many online schools also turn to student feedback and completion rates as a way to evaluate teachers.
Jamey T. Fitzpatrick, the president and chief executive officer of the Michigan Virtual School, which serves online courses to about 16,000 students, said he collects student feedback during the semester, and through a detailed end-of-course survey. The survey includes queries about course rigor, teacher effectiveness, communication, and response time
The has a lengthy teacher-evaluation process that includes a pay-for-performance bonus system. Teachers can get the bonus by meeting 鈥渆xemplary expectations,鈥� said Donna Hutchison, the chief executive officer of the state-sponsored Idaho Digital Learning Academy, or IDLA. Some of those are typical expectations for virtual educators, like fast response times, but teachers also are judged on intervention provided for struggling students and on students鈥� course completion.
Unlike some virtual schools, IDLA compares the course-completion rate for a teacher鈥檚 students with a three-year aggregate of that course over time.
But even supporters of online evaluations say there are some things that don鈥檛 translate in the virtual world.
In an online-only environment, for instance, it can be difficult to assess a teacher鈥檚 charisma and empathy with students, Mr. Setser said. In addition, some teachers may feel more comfortable getting constructive criticism in person.
鈥淪ome teachers find the online method somewhat impersonal,鈥� said Mr. Setser, adding that videoconferencing can help ease that problem.
Such in-person contact can make a difference when assessing a teacher鈥檚 strengths and weaknesses and in motivating him or her to improve, said Chris Rapp, a consultant with the Evergreen, Colo.-based Evergreen Education Group and a former curriculum director at IDLA.
鈥淚t takes longer for an online principal to know their teacher personally, because they鈥檙e separated by space and time,鈥� he said.
