Teaching Quality Standards (University of Oregon)
While similar in content to other frameworks, this one is conceptually quite different. It connects the institution’s four teaching evaluation standards (professional, inclusive, engaged, and research-informed) to three sources of evidence (student experience, instructor reflection, and peer review). The interconnectedness is visually illustrated nicely.
Teaching is evaluated at the University of Oregon for a variety of reasons, including for promotion and tenure, contract renewal, and assignment of merit raises. Because these applications are so important to faculty members and the university, evaluation instruments and processes must be as equitable and transparent as possible.
Members of the UO community will be familiar with research on bias inflecting teaching evaluation, particularly the student evaluation of teaching. To mitigate bias and ensure that evaluation supports the development of UO’s teaching culture, the University of Oregon, led by the University Senate and Provost’s office, has launched a new Continuous Improvement and Evaluation of Teaching System.
UO's framework for the Continuous Improvement and Evaluation of Teaching aims to more transparently evaluate teaching with 1) a clear definition of teaching quality and 2) evidence from three sources: peers, students, and faculty themselves. The system also captures and honors the process of teaching improvement, core to the ethos of the Teaching Engagement Program.
In these pages, TEP offers guidance and resources for instructors and departments to support the work of teaching evaluation.