ABSTRACT
This chapter provides suggestions for current principals and teachers for improving teaching and learning through observation and feedback. It suggests ways for enhancing classroom research to better inform teacher supervision and professional development. The chapter talks about to many considerations why Race to the Top (RTTT) failed: lack of principal preparation, failure to understand the complexity of teaching, teacher effectiveness and practice, and the use of observation instruments that did not adjust to context. Limited time spent on observing and providing teachers with feedback does not necessarily suggest that principals were ineffective in doing their job prior to RTTT, both more recently and in the early years of it. Beyond specific preparation in fulfilling supervision and evaluation roles under RTTT, policymakers ignored the reality of the principalship—a role that is complex, difficult, and evolving. When RTTT requirements were drafted, it should have been clear that many principals would need extensive training in order to be instructional leaders.
