Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)

Project management: Prof. Dr. Felicitas Thiel, PD Dr. Holger Gärtner

Research associates: M. Sc. Antonia Bolten, M. A. Christopher Kellermann

Student research assistant: Claudia Taschenberger, Johannes Übelacker

Funding period: September 2016 - August 2019

Research Program:                             

The aim of the project “Lesson observation and feedback by principals. Development and evaluation of a feedback intervention” (FEED-UB) is the development and validation of a standardized observation sheet that school principals apply for teacher appraisal.

The standardized observation sheet encompasses three basic dimensions of teaching quality: instruction, motivation and classroom management. Principals receive a training that provides a fundamental understanding of the theories underlying the three basic dimensions and raises awareness for typical judgment biases. Furthermore, the training comprises a feedback procedure providing the principals with communication strategies for an appraisal interview subsequent to the lesson observation.

Based on the standardized observations the trained principals give feedback to their teachers with regard to the three basic dimensions of teaching quality. Together they set target agreements on future instruction development and agree on strategies to accomplish these goals (e. g. teacher training courses).

The project FEED-UB contributes to staff development in schools. The efficacy of the feedback intervention will be evaluated in vocational schools in Berlin.