Performance Appraisal for Accountability and Quality Education

Nov 05, 2017 News

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By Olato Sam
The on-going initiative to develop a new performance appraisal system for teachers and Heads must be regarded as a critical dimension in the improvement of the quality of education delivery in Guyana.
The new appraisal structure will effectively evaluate the competence of both categories of educators against established performance benchmarks and professional standards. It is vital to its success that this initiative be structured within a developmental context, highlighting the clear value it has for improved educational output and erasing all concerns of it being an attempt to victimize teachers.
To this end, the Guyana Teachers Union has a critical role to play in working along with the Ministry of Education in ensuring the expected outcomes are attained, and in so doing, contribute significantly to the professional standing of teachers.
There are however, some key prerequisites in relation to the structure and implementation of the new appraisal process that must be addressed if it is to be successful.
The performance appraisal exercise must be guided by well-defined competencies and behaviors outlined in the professional standards for teachers. Teachers need to be fully aware of these expectations before entering the profession and they should serve, not only as the basis for hiring, but as critical components of training and for promotion within the system.
The standards define the context within which the performance appraisal exercise is structured and define who a good teacher should be and what a good teacher should be able to do.
Teachers and Heads should receive objective feedback, from multiple sources, in relation to where they fall on the scales that define the different levels of teacher quality. The feedback from such an appraisal mechanism would identify areas of weakness within the system for targeted professional development and teacher training interventions.
The developmental aspect of this exercise would ensure that the findings of the appraisals are used for individual teacher professional development, school-based interventions and/or system-wide initiatives, as the need may be.
The primary objective is to provide a framework for teachers and Heads to master the defined skill sets and in so doing improve student performance. Previous appraisal instruments were never effectively utilized as sources of vital information for planning teacher, school-based and system-wide interventions and therefore failed to at improving overall output.
In addition, any effective teacher appraisal system must have implications for professional development, compensation and benefits, tenure and upward mobility within the system.
In this regard our education system needs to begin to reflect what the existing research has for some time highlighted, that level of qualifications, years of service and age are not good indicators of teacher quality.
A robust and comprehensive performance appraisal mechanism would place emphasis on the factors that have been shown to matter, such as mastery of content, pedagogical skill sets, effective communication and interpersonal qualities.
Performance appraisal mechanisms are most effective when they are married with robust incentive and disincentive structures. Teachers and Heads whose performances are rated as outstanding should qualify for a performance incentive. The system must encourage teachers to attain the highest levels of education delivery standards.
Where teachers or Heads fail to meet the stated performance expectations,and after the relevant professional developmentinterventionscontinue to underperform, they must be subjected to disciplinary action and ultimately dismissal from the teaching service. This is usually the contentious dimension since teachers in the system are weary of subjectivity and possible victimization.
To address such concerns, it must be noted that no single individual appraisal can merit such action and all judgments regarding performance must be evidence-based to ensure transparency and eliminate any suggestion of victimization.
Mechanisms must also be put in place for teachers to receive clear feedback based on such high quality evidence along with the developmental expectations outlined for them, supported at different administrative levels within the system over a specified period. More importantly, dismissal must be regarded as the end result of multiple consistent unsatisfactory ratings despite professional development and support interventions. Research has shown that where such systems are effectively implemented and rigidly adhered to the percentage dismissed is relatively low, (no more than 3%-5%), as teachers and Heads with a propensity to underperform conform to the established output expectations once the accountability mechanisms are introduced.
The system will now have an objective means through which key decisions regarding retention and promotions can be made. Quality within the system has been overshadowed by seniority and certification, which, though important, do not always reflect true teacher competence and serve to improve student performance.
Effective performance appraisal systems have been proven to impact overall output on a number of levels. Teachers are forced to pay greater attention to their classroom practice and ensure that elements such as their content mastery and pedagogical knowledge and choices are in line with the stated expectations.
Heads are also pushed to place more emphasis on their roles as instructional leaders of institutions in meeting the requirements of monitoring the performance output of the staff and working directly with their teachersand the community to improve performance output.
The system is pushed to emphasise and be more responsive to the training and developmental needs of educators as reflected in the performance appraisal reports.
The Ministry and the Guyana Teachers Union need to work in tandem to ensure that there is consistent implementation of the standards and performance appraisal mechanisms throughout the system.
More importantly, it must maintain the level of rigor in its application across all schools within the system. There must be extensive consultation with and sensitization of all relevant parties to ensure buy-in and consistent support for these initiatives.
Teachers, administrators, education officers and school inspectors should all receive training in all aspects of the appraisal system and checks and balances introduced to ensure consistent application and transparency.
In addition, monitoring and reporting mechanisms need to be fully articulated with timelines and tracking of action taken from reports. Linkages need to be formed with the existing Teacher Induction Programme and teacher education and training at the Cyril Potter College of Education and the Faculty of Education and Humanities at the University of Guyana, to ensure consistency.
All of the above requires that the Ministry of Education takes ownership of this process through the identification of a focal point strategically placed and adequately resourced to ensure its effective implementation and sustainability. If all parties work in unison and provide effective oversight for consistent implementation, the education system will benefit from a key accountability and performance improvement initiative that will serve the nation well.

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