Principals who want teachers to begin using performance assessments should build teachers' commitment to the change—not force their compliance, said Bobb Darnell, who directs staff support for Township High School District 214 in Arlington Heights, Ill. "We have to get teachers to choose to do this," he emphasized. As a teacher, "something has to make me believe that performance assessment will make my life better and my students' lives better."
When encouraging a move to performance assessment, principals need to convey a clear sense of what the target is, Darnell said. Do they want teachers to use performance assessment exclusively? Only in some content areas? As part of graduation requirements? A lack of clarity will raise concerns and anxiety among staff members, Darnell warned. Too often, administrators ask teachers to put together a jigsaw puzzle without even providing them with "the picture on the puzzle box," he said.
Any change process should be guided by a model for supporting change, Darnell asserted. Otherwise, "we get so involved in the innovation, we don't stand back and look at the process."
Darnell advocated using the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) set forth in the ASCD book Taking Charge of Change, by Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, and Hall. The CBAM model is "powerful," he said, because it's based on the fact that people inevitably have concerns about change. "You can't write them off; they're legitimate."
- Change is a process, not an event.
- Change is made by individuals first, then by organizations.
- Change is a highly personal experience.
- Change entails developmental growth in feelings and skills.
Because change is rooted in the behavior of individuals, principals need to influence people first, Darnell said. "Intuitively we know this," he added, but often we don't know how to do it.
Principals should ponder what would motivate a teacher to use performance assessments, Darnell advised. They should ask their staff members: "What do you want from students that you're not getting?" If teachers respond that they'd like students to be more motivated and take more responsibility for their learning, then principals need to make a case that performance assessment will help lead to those outcomes. "We've got to get staff members to see the payoff in increased student engagement," Darnell said.