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STUDENT assessed by TEACHER assessed by PARENTS & ADMINISTRATOR assessed by PRINCIPAL assessed by SUPERINTENDENT/SCHOOL BOARD sssessed by ...

It never stops and that is good!  We should always try to become better.  I agree with Stephanie that the system seems a little crazy when the evaaluator has no clue what she should see or evaluate as "good."  There are administrators who will come into a class and grill the teacher because he/she spent too much time on linear equations/graphs.  WOW!  This teacher did all she could short of filing a grievance in trying to explain why linear equations/graphs are SOOOO very important and require multiple weeks of discussion.  This is just one example, but why are unqualified or uneducated people judging others?  I guess it only gets worse when those rating others have no clue how to evaluate and do not care to learn and do not care to model what they expect.  It's a vicious cycle and yes, frustrating.

Your last paragraph is also interesting.  I would argue it depends on what level I would expect the students at would determine if I would want to do inquiry.  Let's just say by the time a student is in high school, I can guarantee they will not see a inquiry-based lesson on multiplication (of real numbers) from me.  There are some pre-requisite skills and competancies that must be required to move to the next level.  During our "scale" model demonstration inquiry lesson, no one explained how to measure, how to do simple algebra 1 math, how to work cooperatively in small groups, etc