Abstract:
Challenges were anticipated during this inaugural year for the RISE model, Indiana’s new
educator evaluation and development system. The project purpose was to gain insight on how
Indiana teachers and administrators were embracing and adapting to the teacher evaluation
and development system. Administrators and educators (N = 3) were interviewed about their
perceptions of the challenges and successes of the first year RISE implementation. Results
revealed perspectives for the effectiveness of the system in the inaugural year and how
resilient (i.e. long term use) educators and administrators believed the new evaluation system
would be in regards to administrative feasibility and determining teacher effectiveness.
Participants voiced concerns about the school climate of “every man for themselves” as reality
for some schools in Indiana. The impact of merit-based evaluations is causing stress and
concern amongst teachers. How Indiana advances with its educator evaluation system is still
unknown.
