Why Do Teachers Get Observed? (And By Who?)

If you’re new to the teaching world, you might be dreading your first classroom observation. Speaking with others, you’ll probably get mixed responses about it – some may say it’s unnecessary, and some will reassuringly claim that it’s an excellent opportunity for you. However, not many people ever mention why school teachers get observed in the first place.

Teachers get observed as part of the evaluation process implemented by schools, districts, and states. These observations serve to improve teachers’ instructions and management within the classroom and are often carried out by school administrators such as the principal.

In this article, we’ll explore many questions related to classroom observations, including if it’s truly necessary, who performs these observations, and the main methods of classroom observations.

Table of Contents

What Is a Classroom Observation?

Classroom observations are sometimes referred to as lesson observations or even teacher observations. Whatever the name, the premise is the same. It involves an educational professional sitting in on an ongoing lesson to observe and evaluate a teacher.

The observer will be assessing many aspects of the lesson, like teaching style, behavior management, student participation, and so on. The observer is expected to be objective and keep notes on the lesson.

Now that you know what classroom observations are, we can dive further into their role and function.

Why Do We Need Classroom Observations?

Teachers will spend around four years at college to earn their bachelor’s degree in order to teach. A college education will provide the foundations of good teaching practices, but that will only go so far, especially for a newly qualified teacher. This is where classroom observations come in.

Classroom observations are stressful and require a lot of preparation and adjustment. This can vary depending on who’s observing you and what segment of your class they’re watching. Therefore, at some point in your anxious preparation process, you ask yourself, “Why do we get observed? Is it even necessary?”

The answer is yes – classroom observations are a necessary element of teachers’ jobs, just like lesson plans or school curricula. It’s just something teachers need to go through.

This is especially relevant for elementary school teachers because they’re dealing with really young students who require a lot of attention, patience, and more creative methods of teaching and learning, and classroom observations are there to ensure teachers do it right from the get-go.

Now that we know classroom observations are an essential component of teaching, let’s discuss three reasons why observations are necessary:

To Reaffirm What and How Teachers Teach

A primary reason why teachers get observed is to ensure that they uphold the teaching standards and expectations. States and school districts have guidelines and regulations that all educators must follow. Such guidelines include:

Following a set curriculum of learning outcomes
Having the necessary subject knowledge to teach the class
Protecting students by creating a safe learning environment

Using available resources effectively
Following correct teaching methods for the appropriate level

It is the observer’s responsibility to ensure that the teacher meets these guidelines. That is why observations are often conducted by trained professionals familiar with current teaching trends and protocols, as well as the pedagogical side of things.

For instance, when the Common Core State Standards Initiative was rolled out in 2010, most school administrators had to make sure that their teachers were implementing the necessary practices within the classroom.

Although some teachers would say that the classroom observations conducted under this premise is a form of control, school districts would argue that they are in the best interest of students.

To Improve Teachers’ Performance

Another strong reason for classroom observations is that they should help teachers become better educators.

We all want to be better teachers. And however experienced or skilled we may perceive ourselves to be, there are areas we can all improve on that we may not even be aware of. This is where having another trained professional observing as you deliver your lesson can be extremely useful.

The observer will provide the teacher with feedback shortly after an observation. Within the feedback, the observer will highlight some strengths that were seen in the lesson; the teacher demonstrated good behavior management strategies, for instance.

But more importantly, the observer will give feedback on areas for development – targets for the teacher to work on to improve their practice.

This could include anything from how they should differentiate tasks more effectively to how they can boost student engagement.

Teachers must keep an open mind about observations and see them as opportunities to further their practice. Likewise, observers should be understanding and supportive when giving their evaluations.

To Recognize and Reward Good Practices

Teachers are unsung heroes, with their efforts often going unnoticed and being taken for granted. However, a classroom observation can change all of that and put the spotlight on a teacher’s excellent work.

Observations are a great chance to demonstrate your abilities, ideas, passion, and growth in your profession.

If you take ownership and can effectively portray your capabilities during an observation, you can instantly make a name for yourself within your teaching circle and beyond. This means earning respect and admiration from fellow educators.

In addition, you can use classroom observation feedback as part of your job-performance evaluation. Therefore, a strong observation will increase your prospects of furthering your career with a promotion and a raise.

Teaching in isolation is undoubtedly less daunting compared to being observed. But with observation comes the opportunity to showcase exceptional teaching practices that would otherwise go unseen.

I have come across many inspiring educators who were quietly working their magic in the confinements of their classrooms until one day, they received the recognition that they deserve, which allowed them to flourish more and more.

What Does the Law Say?

Another significant question is: Are classroom observations required by law? In the US, many of these questions are left to individual states or school boards to adjust according to their own standards and needs. Therefore, there are many variations of teacher observations.

That being said, there are still some framing structures on the federal level. The first is the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), that’s in place since 2015. This law reduced the national involvement in prescribing teacher evaluations (including observations) because there are student tests that are better indicators of teachers’ teaching methods.

We also can’t forget students with disabilities that are a part of our classroom experience. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), apart from trained observers or other teachers who are observing a class, parents of those children with disabilities are allowed to request they observe their children in public school classrooms.

The main takeaway is that teachers need to be observed from time to time, but there are a lot of gray areas that individual states can “color in” with their own laws and standards.

Who Observes Teachers?

Now that you are aware of the reasons and benefits behind classroom observations, you might be wondering who carries out these observations.

There are three groups of individuals that may observe teachers. They include:

School Administrators

In most instances, school administrators, such as principals or superintendents, undertake classroom observations. As the senior leadership team, it is expected that they carry out observations for several good reasons.

Firstly, they need to make sure that the standard of teaching is at the right level across the school. If a teacher is not meeting expectations and their performance goes unchecked, this is an enormous disservice to the students and the teacher.

Administrators must be aware of how (and if) teachers are carrying out their duties so they can intervene when necessary. This may be to provide more support for the teacher or, in rare cases, replacing the struggling teacher.

Another reason why administrators are often observers is down to their level of experience. A school principal, for example, is expected to have several years of experience working at schools, with an abundance of knowledge and understanding of education.

It is only right then that the individuals with the most expertise are the ones evaluating and advising teachers in becoming better.

Administrators are also responsible for drawing up school policies and procedures. Therefore, classroom observations allow administrators to inspect if these policies are being implemented properly.

Finally, administrators conduct more observations simply because they have more time. The other personnel at the school, namely other teachers, are already swamped with their own workload. On the other hand, school administrators have more non-contact time (not having to supervise children), so they can, in theory, dedicate more time to observations.

Peers

Fellow teachers can also carry out classroom observations. This kind of observation is arguably the most beneficial and stress-free of the three groups.

When getting observed by school principals, they’re there to see if you’re doing your job right from an administrative perspective.

On the other hand, getting observed by fellow colleagues mean:

They are more likely to understand how you’re feeling
They can provide more compassionate and insightful feedback
They can share their methods and strategies with you

You’re more likely to feel relaxed and comfortable during the observation

The observations become even more practical when carried out by teachers in the same content area or grade level, allowing more relevant suggestions and ideas to be shared.

Take a look at this video to see why peer observations are important in education:

State Departments and External Inspectors

The United Kingdom has set up an organization called Ofsted, which consistently aims to improve teaching standards across the entire country. They visit schools and observe lessons vigorously to inspect the quality of education in all public and private schools.

In the US, however, there isn’t an equivalent federal organization that oversees all schools and how education is provided across the whole country. Instead, the responsibility falls onto individual states and communities.

Therefore, outside educational authorities visiting a school is not a given, unlike in the UK. But that is not to say that you will never be observed by external inspectors.

For instance, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) has data about the performance of its 4,000-plus public schools on its website. Specifically, information about the quality of teaching is readily available for each school. This data was collected using a range of factors, with classroom observations being one of them.

Observations from state departments and external agencies are rare, but they are often the least pleasant and helpful because the observer does not share their feedback directly with teachers.

How Long Do Classroom Observations Last?

As I mentioned, new teachers start being familiar with the actual classroom experience only when they start working in one. They come with sound theoretical background and knowledge about how classrooms work and how younger students should be taught, but classroom observations are a scary mystery.

So, when teachers are told they’ll soon have an observation, a common thought is how long the observation will be.

Depending on a classroom observation’s objective for a particular class, the duration of those observations can vary. Classroom observation can last for:

Half a lesson or less: When observers need to see only some selected segments of a class, they’ll be there for about half a lesson, usually even less, before they quietly leave the classroom.

The entire lesson: More traditional observations last for a whole class. These observations are more detailed, and they’re not aimed at one segment but the whole lesson and students’ engagement for every activity and lesson goal.
The entire working day: These observations are rare and usually used for newer teachers who visibly need more help. Additionally, observers can analyze various responses from different groups of students about the teacher being evaluated.

How Often Do Teachers Get Observed?

It is worth stating that there are no rules prescribed by a federal law that apply to every state. Instead, each state and school board can decide how often and how many times observational classes are enough.

If we look at the National Education Union (NEU) from “across the pond,” they recommend three observations in a year (maximum). In the US, Network for Education Effectiveness (NEE) doesn’t agree with this number. They think that observations are one of the best ways (if not the best) to monitor what’s going on in classrooms. So, they recommend as many as 6 to 10 observations in one school year!

Some other relevant sources of research and information regarding education are closer in sentiment to NEU’s recommendations. One of those is Education Next, which analyzed various research on this topic and recommended 2 to 3 observations, with at least one being observed by an agency or government professional.

To sum up this point, it’s worth adding that it also depends on the type of observation being conducted. You could expect these to occur more frequently for the shorter observations of less than half of the lesson. However, for the traditional whole-lesson observations, then three is a fair number of observations to expect per year.

Different Observational Methods

Yet another misconception is that all observations are the same in the way they’re conducted. Because of new technology and research, classroom observations can take new forms. Let’s see some of them.

Classroom and Virtual Observations

For decades now, observations have been conducted in person, that is to say, in physical classrooms. Observers would usually sit at the back, earnestly taking notes. However, with new technology, they’re no longer required to come in person.

They can do their observations using the internet and a camera. That means, of course, classrooms need to be equipped with that technology for an observation to take place.

This isn’t changing that quickly, though, with most schools still conducting conventional classroom observations. Only this time, the observers can come with a tablet or a laptop and type their notes.

Announced and Unannounced Observations

Yes, unfortunately, there are unannounced observations. They’re not as common as announced ones and don’t usually last for an entire class, but they’re equally stressful – if not more. Teachers are not given the luxury of being fully prepared for the observation, but again, that’s the point.

Those who support unannounced classroom observations (and they’re not that many) say they’re better because the observer sees a typical class that a teacher would deliver on a day-to-day basis rather than a “performance”.

Unannounced observations are usually done by either a principal or another colleague in the school. Agency and government classroom observers inform teachers when the observation will take place and what will be observed.

Final Thoughts

Observations are an important and necessary part of a teacher’s practice. They can be conducted by different groups of people to:

Monitor and evaluate a teacher’s performance

Raise standards by improving the teacher’s abilities
Recognize and reward exemplary teaching practices

Be sure to read the article How To Pass a Teaching Observation for the best information and advice on acing your next observation.