Teacher Observation Report

The best indicator of student achievement is the quality of the teacher. Good teachers produce learning students, and there is no substitute for a good teacher. In the process of interviewing parents for this report, I discovered a few findings that reveal important points about teacher attendance. I began with interviews of parents of students within Neshoba County School District. Not surprising, the parent interviews showed that parents are not aware when teachers will be absent. In general, teachers may tell students but may not tell parents when they are scheduled to be absent from school. Parents also felt that teacher’s attendance rates and reasons for being out were acceptable. The parents interviewed do think that achievement is compromised while the teachers are out. They felt that substitute teaches in general do not know the content and basically the day is “wasted” if the teacher is not there. Parents felt that substitutes should be qualified to teach the content of the class. Parents’ opinions differed in what they think happens instructionally when the teacher is absent. Two of the parents interviewed felt that the district provided qualified substitutes who were able to actually teach the content. The same two parents also felt that their children remained on task while a substitute was in charge …show more content…
The biggest difference in the survey results was that the students felt that their teachers missed more than the students do and that wasn’t fair to the students. They stated that if the teacher was out that no work was being done when the substitutes were in class, other than busy work. The students felt that there are too many things pulling teachers from the classroom such as meetings and teacher workshops, as well as the teacher’s personal