Evaluating my effectiveness as a teacher

Before today, the first day of school for the 2011-2012 year, I had never heard of Charlotte Danielson.  I certainly have now, not only because my day was devoted to her work, but that work may well determine the future of my career as an educator. 

            Charlotte Danielson is an educational consultant for a company called iobservation. http://www.iobservation.com/danielson-collection/Biography/  She has created a teacher observation protocol that New York City has adopted (for a fee?) for evaluating teachers this year.  “The Framework for Teaching divides the complex activity of teaching into 22 components across four domains.  Each of the 22 components is made up of multiple elements.  There are a total of 76 elements over the 22 components.”

http://www.iobservation.com/danielson-collection/framework-for-teaching-rubrics/   

            Today we were introduced to several of these components, which include things like “designing coherent instruction,” “establishing a culture for learning,” “managing classroom procedures,” and “using assessment in instruction.”  Within each component are bullet points that list the attributes of ineffective, developing, effective and highly effective teaching. 

            I wonder whether the best way to begin the school year is how teachers are to be evaluated.  The message, it seemed to me, was a not so subtle threat that teachers are under the gun.  It made to feel quite defensive and uncertain about what this year will bring. And while the observation framework does a good job of identifying the myriad skills that go into teaching, its implementation remains to be seen.  If I fall short in any of the “76 elements over the 22 components,” am I (or can I be judged) ineffective, thereby jeopardizing my teaching career?  Will it be used as a tool to foster better teaching (which it could be) or one for devaluing and getting rid of teachers (which it also could be)?