A descriptive study of the supervisory model used in a large metropolitan school system: the triad support teacher model of Baltimore City, Maryland

Abstract

Effective supervision can improve the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom. Researchers in educational theory agree that supervision exists for the primary purpose of improving instruction. Wiles defined supervision as "assistance in the development of better teaching-learning situations."

There is a pressing need in our school system to decide what to teach and how to teach it. along with the increase of possible content material there is the tremendous growth in number and type of technological tools and media. Excessive demands are made on school staff.

Supervisors are destined to play an essential role in deciding the nature and content of curriculum, in coordinating programs, in facilitating learning, fostering teacher progress, and selecting the school organizational patterns which will facilitate improved instructional programs.

The professional literature of the past two decades is full of the theory of modern supervision. Terms such as democratic, team effort, mentor system, peer coaching, teacher-decision-making, and effective schools are lavishly used to show that the autocracy of the early twentieth century supervisor is no more.

It is apparent from a review of the literature that some theorists have strayed rather far from a workable concept of school supervision. Many supervisors are verbalizing various styles and terms while practicing either authoritarian control or the manipulation of staff to achieve their own goals.

This study is an attempt to address the major principles and characteristics which undergird effective supervision. The study will report teachers and supervisors' opinions of what is, and what should be as per a large metropolitan area.