The PDAS is a teacher evaluation system created by the Texas Education Agency following the passage of Senate Bill 1 in 1995. The goal of the PDAS is to advance the level of the professional practice of teaching in Texas by implementing a teacher appraisal system that incorporates the learner-centered proficiencies in evaluation criteria and that promotes continuous professional development. All public school teachers in Texas, including art teachers, are appraised once a year by certified appraisers using either the PDAS or a locally-developed system that meets state appraisal guidelines, which are available on the web at www.tea.state.tx.us/PDAS. Specific links between the TEKS and TAAS objectives can be found by downloading the following documents:

PDAS and Elementary Fine Arts Teachers
PDAS and Middle School Fine Arts Teachers
PDAS and High School Fine Arts Teachers

The PDAS appraises teaching according to the following eight domains:

Domain I: Active, successful student participation in the learning process
Art students are actively and successfully engaged in learning at high cognitive levels, e.g., demonstrating critical and creative thinking, problem solving, and other complex thinking skills in solving art problems. Students are self-directed, when appropriate in art lessons and activities, and they are able to connect learning in art to work and life applications, to the other fine arts, and to non-arts disciplines.

Domain II: Learner-centered instruction
The goals and objectives of art teachers are based on the basic knowledge/skills and concepts/themes of art. Course content relates to the varied interests and characteristics of students, and instructional strategies promote critical thinking and problem solving. Motivation techniques emphasize the integral value of art knowledge and skills, involving students meaningfully in the learning process. Whenever possible, art teachers make use of available technology. These and other effective instructional strategies for art teachers are discussed in the Instructional Strategies pages of this site's art section.

Example: Art I in high school is a course for all students. Though many common techniques are taught, the Art TEKS emphasize the creation of personal artworks. Using appropriate vocabulary, students compare and contrast the use of art elements and art principles in personal artworks and those of others. They create visual solutions by elaborating on direct observation, experiences, and imagination and interpret, evaluate, and justify artistic decisions in personal artworks.

Domain III: Evaluation and feedback on student progress
Effective assessment of learning in art is necessary for attainment of the Art TEKS. Student assessment is aligned with class goals, objectives, and instructional strategies. Ideally, assessment: 

• reinforces student learning
• is individualized to meet the diverse needs of students
• provides students with constructive feedback
• gives them opportunities to relearn and re-evaluate performance on difficult course content. 

See the Student Assessment pages in art for more information and ideas on effective student assessment in art, including topics such as performance assessment.

Domain IV: Management of student discipline, instructional strategies, time, and materials
Whenever possible, art teachers should participate in the development and implementation of their campus discipline management procedures. Teachers are clear with students about their expectations for desired student behavior in art class, intervening and re-directing disruptive, inappropriate, and off-task behaviors. Teachers reinforce desired behavior when appropriate and interact with students in an equitable manner. The classroom environment promotes and encourages self-discipline and self-directed learning on the part of students. 

Refer to the Safety section in the Instructional Strategies pages of art to evaluate safety concerns specific to art classes. In addition to safety considerations, art teachers have the additional task of efficiently managing the many and varied instructional materials required for attending to students' diverse needs and interests.

Domain V: Professional communication
Art teachers should practice appropriate verbal, non-verbal, and written communication in their interactions with students, parents, staff, and community members. They should be courteous and supportive, respectfully addressing individual student needs, such as those of reluctant students or students having difficulty with course content.

Example: Teacher communication skills are critical in ensuring that all students demonstrate the Art TEKS. In the early grades art teachers help students develop and organize ideas from their environments. Through modeling and questioning techniques, teachers help students identify and organize sensory information and communicate ideas. Additionally, art teachers use various visual and oral communication strategies to help students identify art elements and principles. Art teachers’ needs for clear communication skills extends well beyond the classroom as they share clear, accurate information about student achievement in art with parents, teachers, and art professionals.

Domain VI: Professional development
Art teachers should seek out professional development activities that correlate with their discipline's content in the TEKS, with campus goals and policies, and with the varied needs of their students. Ideally, professional development activities address teachers' past performance appraisals. See the Professional Development pages in art for more information on opportunities for professional development in the fine arts. In addition to seeking out professional development, art teachers constructively collaborate with other teachers to enhance overall student performance.

Domain VII: Compliance with policies, operating procedures, and requirements
Art teachers should comply with all policies, operating procedures, and legal requirements, participating in policy and procedure development whenever possible. Art teachers consistently contribute to making their schools safe, orderly, and stimulating learning environments for all students.

Domain VIII: Improvement of academic performance of all students on the campus
Domain VIII evaluates teaching on the basis of its relationship to student achievement on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) and the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS):

1. Diagnosing student needs and providing performance feedback related to appropriate TAAS-related objectives and the Art TEKS
2. Aligning planning and delivery of instruction to all appropriate TAAS-related objectives and the Art TEKS
3. Collaborating with other faculty and administration to improve TAAS-related performance of all students on the campus
4. Identifying students who are at risk and developing strategies to assist these students
5. Monitoring the attendance of all students and intervening to promote regular attendance.

To address the criteria, fine arts teachers must identify TAAS-related objectives taught or reinforced in their classes on Teacher Self-Report Forms. Though art teachers may not be assigned primary responsibility for teaching skill sequences assessed in TAAS, art teachers can reinforce TAAS-related skills while teaching the Art TEKS. For example, a 7^th grade art teacher teaching Impressionist painting might ask students to describe the setting, circumstances, relationships, and themes in a painting and to compare one painting to another. For homework, students could search primary sources and write a composition documenting and elaborating on a point of view expressed in the in-class comparison.

Data for appraisal of each domain are gathered from observations, Teacher Self-Report Forms, and other documented sources. The data describe teacher contributions in increasing student achievement, making the whole school safe and orderly, and creating a stimulating learning environment for all students.