Missouri’s administrators in the public schools have the everyday task of creating an environment that allows faculty members and students to experience success. How to achieve this environment remains the question for many public secondary educators and administrators. This study was conducted to measure perceptions of Missouri’s secondary public school administrators and teachers regarding teacher evaluation and the Missouri Performance-Based Teacher Evaluation model.

The research population for this study consisted of administrators and teachers in public school districts throughout the state of Missouri. The survey contained three questions regarding geographic information, years of service and size of school district along with twenty-three Likert-scale questions and two constructed-response questions focused on leadership and teacher evaluation. The quantitative survey results showed significant differences between the teacher and administrator responses. Administrators consistently rated the model higher than teachers.

The qualitative data collected for this study revealed few differences in the way Missouri’s secondary public school administrators and teachers perceive the Missouri Performance-Based Teacher Evaluation process and its efficacy according to the Performance-Based Teacher Evaluation criterion. Both groups consider the Missouri Performance-Based Teacher Evaluation a slightly helpful tool in some situations, but quite inadequate in others according to the Performance-Based Teacher Evaluation criterion. The two constructed-response questions gave respondents an opportunity to comment with the administrators having slightly more positive comments but both groups producing more negative comments than positive ones.

From the study, public school districts across Missouri can learn the importance of engaging in communication and best leadership practices in order to increase student achievement. Secondary public school administrators and teachers can gain an understanding of evaluator expectations and the benefits of how timely, constructive feedback, professional development and positive relationships improve the educational environment.