Educational Assistant Evaluation Reflection

According to the document, Teacher Assistant Guidelines for Standards and Evaluation
the Educational Assistant (EA) should be evaluated twice a year by the principle in collaboration
with the school- based resource team (NBEECD, 1994). As this document has not been revised
since 1994, many schools no longer follow these guidelines or use the evaluation form included
in the document. As a result the evaluation process of the EA varies from school to school and
district to district. The New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood
(NBEECD) require all employees including EAs to identify three learning goals for their growth
plan. All EAs meet with their administrator twice a year to review goals as part of the normal
employee review. In some schools, the monitoring of the growth plan replaces formal
evaluations. Other schools have developed an updated evaluation template to assess EAs on
specific tasks and indicators.
The template that is used at our school is a condensed version of the Teacher Assistant
Evaluation included in the 1994 document and is administered by the Education Support
Teacher- Resource (EST-R) at the end of the year. The performance of the EA is monitored by
the EST-R through weekly meetings which are scheduled to monitor the goals that have been
identified in the Special Education Plan (SEP). Informal discussions throughout the week are
also beneficial in monitoring the EAs ability to follow through with instructions and directives.
In addition, the EST-R consults with the classroom teacher and the EA to address any concerns
that may arise. Verbal feedback is given to the EA by the classroom teacher and core members
of the Education Support Services Team (ESST) and is ongoing throughout the year.
I did participate in the evaluation of an experienced EA at our school who I was familiar
with and had always admired her dedication to the students. She was very receptive to the
positive feedback and to the suggestions for areas of growth indicated on her evaluation.
Although she is a very outgoing person, I sensed that she was not comfortable with the formal
evaluation process. I was not sure if it was my presence but the EST-R informed me that many of
the EAs are intimidated by the process. She also added that the year-end evaluation is not always
effective because of the time of year. When problems arise throughout the year they need to be
dealt with immediately. The informal check-ins and weekly meetings are more beneficial to the
process than the year-end evaluation.
My opinion is that there is value in doing formal written evaluations but they need to be
administered at least twice a year, three times a year would be ideal to be effective. Having an
evaluation mid-year or every 3 months would provide an opportunity for positive feedback
which is empowering and would allow the EAs more time to reflect on their areas for growth. It
is important to have a written document especially if there are re-occurring issues. More frequent
evaluations would make everyone more comfortable with the process. However evaluations are
time consuming and with the many roles and responsibilities of the EST-R, it is a challenge to
schedule evaluations during the school year. Administrators and other members of the ESST
could also become involved in the process. As EAs contribute significantly to the success of all
students in an inclusive educational setting, it is imperative that guidelines and policies for
evaluating EAs are established and updated to achieve consistency throughout the province.

References
New Brunswick Department of Education (1994) Teacher Assistant Guidelines for Standards
and Evaluation. Fredericton, NB: Province of NB.