A Closer Look at Pedagogical Effectiveness

Students who are taught by educators with highly effective teaching practices are more likely to be engaged in the classroom, achieve better grades, and have higher test scores. One of the best sources of data on teaching effectiveness is students themselves. To help schools and districts identify and encourage strong teaching practices, the Panorama Student Survey has a series of questions that measure student perceptions of how effective their teachers are in the classroom.  

The Panorama Student Survey features questions on Pedagogical Effectiveness.

Questions and answer choices on the Panorama Student Survey about Pedagogical Effectiveness assess effective teaching practice in the classroom in a variety of areas: how much students are learning from a teacher about a particular subject area, how well teachers manage student behavior in the classroom, and how well teachers engage students who may have different learning styles or needs. In particular, students answer questions about how often their teachers give them useful feedback, how well their teachers can tell if they understand material, how comfortable students are asking for help, and how good a teacher is at teaching in the way that they learn best. 

On the Panorama Student Survey, Pedagogical Effectiveness is assessed with 9 questions written for older students (grades 6-12) and 7 questions written for younger students (3-5). All of the questions together are used to measure students’ perceptions of this important component of teaching to give an accurate assessment of a teacher's practice.

Sample Pedagogical Effectiveness Questions:

• How good is this teacher at teaching in the way that you personally learn best?
• How comfortable are you asking this teacher questions about what you are learning in his/her class?

Scores for a particular teacher on the Pedagogical Effectiveness scale are likely to predict the achievement gains his or her students make in that teacher’s academic subject, as well as how well students are being prepared for college and career. For schools and districts that are particularly interested in improving student achievement in specific academic subject areas (Math, ELA), Pedagogical Effectiveness can help identify areas of strength and areas for improvement in teaching practice. Pedagogical Effectiveness can also help determine if some student groups in your school are being better served academically than others, and how best to support student achievement for all learners.

Educators who use the Panorama Student Survey to measure Pedagogical Effectiveness and find that certain teachers, or entire teaching teams and schools, might benefit from strengthening their teaching practice can turn to Playbook to explore relevant strategies. Teachers who turn to Playbook to find new strategies to improve Pedagogical Effectiveness will find moves from fellow classroom teachers, including “Tie Subjects Together with Thematic Units,” “Make Learning Hands On,” and “Make Classroom Expectations Explicit” and others.