Teacher evaluation as growth process motivates Whitlock

Dianna Whitlock

Dianna Whitlock, a Cloverdale resident and vice president of higher education initiatives at Standard For Success, recently authored a book titled “Teacher Evaluation as a Growth Process.”

While this book focuses on evaluation of teachers, it is actually a book about fostering professional growth and improvement.

In her writings, she provides support for teacher evaluation as a growth exercise, and shows how creating a feedback rich culture in a school nurtures this process.

Her goal is for school personnel to view the evaluation process as a collaborative effort for teacher growth, and not a “gotcha” or an effort to see what someone is doing wrong in their classroom. If a teacher is doing well, he or she should still receive targeted feedback, not just a “good job.”

“This book includes practical tips for creating this culture and maximizing opportunities for feedback, as well as innovative trends in teacher evaluation, and how these can be utilized to drive teacher growth, ultimately leading to improved student achievement,” Whitlock said. “As educational leaders, we must ensure that feedback is meaningful, not only for individual employee improvement, but for the success of our schools as a whole. Are we analyzing trend evaluation data to drive professional development? Are we analyzing evaluator data to ensure that they are consistently providing appropriate feedback? When these criteria are met, we increase our chances of providing meaningful, intrinsic feedback for teachers and ultimately improving schools for our students.”

Standard For Success is a firm that helps schools build effective teacher evaluation programs from the ground up with their teacher evaluation solution.

Whitlock received her doctorate in educational leadership with a concentration in early childhood services in rural areas and has worked as a teacher, assistant principal, principal and professor for teacher preparation programming. A lifelong learner and graduate of both Indiana State University and Oakland City University in Indiana, she enjoys helping others grow professionally.

Whitlock has a passion for working with teachers and administrators to foster professional growth and development. Her latest initiative extends this philosophy to institutions of higher education, supporting faculty to track growth and provide feedback for teacher candidates. She has presented at both state and national conferences to administrators on the topics of providing a feedback rich culture in schools and how to utilize evaluation data to drive professional growth.

Whitlock lives in Cloverdale with her husband Todd. She has three grown children and two grandchildren.