Supporting Professional Development of Teachers with Performance Feedback

There is a direct relationship between the quality of education and the teacher s qualifications. The quality of teacher plays a decisive role in the enhancement of student learning which is the ultimate goal of the education system. Teacher training programs aimed at providing teachers personal and professional development constitute an important part of the education system therefore, teacher education practices are constantly examined. Individuals who are responsible of teacher education are expected to encourage teachers and teacher candidates to use effective instructional methods. One of the techniques which may increase the use of effective teaching methods is to give performance feedback to teachers about instructional and behavior management skills. In this review, performance feedback and its characteristics are introduced and performance feedback in the framework of teacher education is examined. For this purpose, literature with regard to the use of performance feedback in teacher training was reviewed, research studies which were available were briefly summarized and suggestions regarding future research and practice were made in the light of information obtained.