It s Time t o Rethink Teacher Supervision and valuation he process by which most teachers are supervised and evaluated is nefficient, ineffective, and a poor use of principals time, argues Mr Marshall. It eeds to be drastically streamlined and linked to broader strategy for improving teaching and learning. Y KIM M RSH LL PRINCIPAL boasts that he spends two hours a day in classrooms. And it s true he really does visit his school s 7 eachers daily, chatting with students and occasionally chiming in on a lesson. But when teachers are asked what kind of feedback they get, they say the principal A rarely talks to them about what he when he strolls through their classes. A principal gets complaints from I several parents about a history teach- er s problems with discipline but is so overwhelmed that she rarely visits his classroom. When she does her required observation of his class, she sees a care- fully planned lesson featuring an elab- orate PowerPoint presentation and well- K M MARSHALL was teacher, central office administrator, and principal in the Boston Public Schools for 32 years. He now works as eadership coach for new prin- cipals in New York City and Newark, NJ.; teaches courses on instructional leadership; and publishes The MarshallI Memo, weekly digest of ideas and research on K-12 educa- tion www.marshallmemo.com). He wish- es to thank Roland Barth, John King, Sandy Kleinman, Jay McT7ghe Douglas Reeves Jo n Saphier, Mike Schmoker, Rhoda Schneider, and Athie Tschibelu for their important con- tributions to this article. Illustration by Brenda Grannan JUNE 2005 72 7