Putting the Teaching Quality Framework Initiative into action: A case-study comparison of three departments engaged in transforming teaching evaluation

The Teaching Quality Framework (TQF) Initiative seeks to create a process and tools for systemic transformation of departmental evaluation of teaching. As part of the Bay View Alliance and NSF funded TTEVAL collaboration, TQF is a response to national calls (e.g., Association of American Universities, National Academies) and draws on decades of research on higher education change and faculty evaluation. TQF objectives include: 1) documenting the iterative process of developing and implementing quality measures of teaching excellence and procedures for enacting these measures within academic units, 2) aligning and sharing resources, processes, and values across departments, 3) adopting these quality measures campus wide, and 4) enhancing the value of teaching campus wide. Here we present the theoretical background, our framework model, and the general three-phase process; we then explore these in more depth within the context of three departmental case studies. In Phase I, departments express interest, which is cultivated via one-on-one meetings with TQF team members and attendance at regular campuswide stakeholder discussions. During Phase II, the TQF team and departmental leadership coordinate to define timelines, processes, and members for Departmental Action Teams (DATs) using an opt-in model: departments choose to participate and determine who participates and how participants will be rewarded. In Phase III, DAT teams engage in regular facilitated meetings, review the framework, externalize values around teaching, identify/create tools to better assess quality teaching, and pilot the use of these tools. Fourteen departments across three colleges are currently engaged in this process (6 in Phase I, 2 in Phase II, 6 in Phase III). In addition to an improved evaluation system and increased valuation of teaching, predicted TQF outcomes include: externalization of departmental/institutional values around teaching and learning, improved instruction and student outcomes, and a shift in culture toward a scholarly approach to teaching.