Approaches to Faculty Evaluation for ESL

On the basis of research on teacher evaluation in the larger educational context, this paper assesses the applicability to ESL of seven common faculty evaluation methods: teacher interviews, competency tests, student evaluations, student achievement, classroom observation, peer review, and faculty self-evaluation. Each method is assessed in terms of its strengths and limitations with regard to faculty evaluation in general and for TESOL in particular. A developmental orientation to faculty evaluation is outlined in which various aspects of teaching are evaluated at different stages of the teacher's career and in which a combination of methods is used. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations for the implementation of faculty evaluation in an ESL context.