English Language Teacher Evaluation in Saudi Arabia: Impact on teacher practice and challenges for program managers and leaders

Successful learning greatly depends on teaching quality, which is a significant challenge in education today. The main purpose of this evaluative case study was to investigate the effectiveness of an English language teacher evaluation system in a Saudi university context and report findings pertaining to its influence on classroom practice.

The study is guided by the key principles of fourth generation evaluation (FGE) (Guba and Lincoln, 1989). This mixed-methods study draws on the views of three main stakeholder groups, namely teachers, evaluators, and mentors. Data were collected employing three distinct surveys and two rounds of semi-structured interviews with an interval of two years. The survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis, while the interview data were thematically analysed to illuminate key stakeholder claims, concerns and issues. The findings indicate mixed perceptions: the stakeholder groups view the evaluation criteria positively and view the system as resulting in teacher development. However, the system is viewed as rigid due to a lack of evaluator training and causes stress and mistrust because of the use of a particular rating system.

It is recommended that the university administration consider a reformulation of evaluation policy by separating supervision and evaluation at policy as well as the practical level and provide more context-specific evaluator training.

The study contributes to the growing literature on teacher evaluation in TESOL by focusing on a university context in Saudi Arabia and employing the FGE framework. The FGE approach proved valuable in terms of active involvement of key stakeholder groups and the production of particular action points of benefit to the whole institution. Therefore, it is envisaged that similar programs across the Middle East can benefit from considering its findings and might also replicate the study with the aim of improving the quality of their teacher evaluation processes.