What exactly is a Performance Evaluation (PE)?

The UIC Performance Evaluation is a 10-min. mini-teaching demonstration on a topic that is basic to the TAs field and something that the department would expect any new TA to be able to explain as part of their department’s typical TA responsibilities.  One of the PE evaluators will take notes as a student, ask questions, and try to be prepared to answer a quiz question that the ITA will present at the end of the presentation.    The presentations are video-recorded as saved as a record for certification and ITAs can review them on their own or as part of a consultation.

The PEs provide a potential ITA with an opportunity to demonstrate his/her overall level of communication and ability to exchange information effectively and efficiently in a group academic situation.  In the performance evaluation, the ITA will be able to interact with the audience and use the blackboard, overhead, or a handout to support their exchange of information.  Use of power point is not encourage and must have prior approval and a hard copy of the slides provided for note-taking.   The audience will be 2 ITA Program staff or other ESL professional. 

How do I arrange to do a Performance Evaluation (PE)?

To be eligible for a PE	participants must have conditional ibT or IELTS Speaking and Listening admission scores and the support of the appointing department or have attended another institution of higher education in the U.S. prior to UIC graduate school admission.
To  schedule a PE	call the ITA Program office (312-413-2235) or e-mail to itap@uic.edu.
All PEs will be conducted	in the ITA Program Conference Room, BSB, Rm. 235.
The PE lasts	approximately 30 minutes.
PE scores	will be emailed to the department and to the student within 24 hrs.

                                   
Please contact the ITA Program Office, 237 Behavioral Sciences Building, 312-413-2235, if you have any questions.

Is there a charge for the Performance Evaluation?

There is no charge to the student for the Performance Evaluation if it is being done for the purpose of the Oral English Proficiency Certification in order to receive or retain a TA-ship.   Performance Evaluations cannot be repeated without participation in ESL 401 or its consulting services and the permission of the ITA Program Coordinator.

How do I prepare for the Performance Evaluation?

The presenter (the ITA) needs to prepare the following:

• a 10-minute presentation on one of two topics choices (both basic field-related) that will be sent to you approximately 36 hrs. before the schedule PE

• a quiz question to check the notetaker’s understanding of some aspect of the material presented. This quiz should require a little thinking on the part of the answerer.  For example an appropriate quiz question might be:  Name the steps in the process presented and specify your understanding of the purpose/function of each step.
  
  

Suggestions on how to prepare for the Performance Evaluation.

• make an outline of the material that you intend to present.  (Keep in mind it’s only 10 min.  Don’t try to cover the whole topic in 10 minutes.)

• make a note or highlight the key words and check out the pronunciation with a native speaker

• prepare a simple handout and make 2 copies for the evaluators

• plan to incorporate an example or 2   (or an analogy)

• prepare a couple of potential quiz questions so you can choose the one best covered in the presentation – have a native speaker check the grammar of your quiz questions

• practice giving your presentation out loud a couple of times thinking about what you will put on the board, how you will direct them through the handout, and build in the opportunity to check the notetakers understanding once or twice.

How not to prepare:

•  don’t write out your presentation or plan to read from a page of printed information – that would make it much harder to follow and would probably not be evaluated very highly

•  Don’t try to cover too much information or rely too much on technical terms or essential background information – this is expected to be 10 minutes of a presentation on a basic field-related topic at an introductory level – it is not expected to cover the whole topic.  Keep in mind that you are teaching us and not presenting at a conference of your colleagues

 

How long does it take to get the results of a Performance Evaluation?

The pre-semester results will be e-mailed to you and to your department generally within 24 hours.   When PEs are done in the middle of the semester when the ITA Program staff is also teaching classes it may take 2 days for the results to be e-mailed.