PMS 2 - February 1997

Performance Management: Issues for Rural Schools & Small Schools with Teaching Principals

Performance Management Systems

A Series of Guidelines on

Performance Management Systems

Published February 1997

This is the second in a series of guidelines on performance management. The series will provide boards of trustees, principals, and teachers with an overview of performance management and the prescribed requirements for teacher appraisal in schools. This publication should be read in conjunction with the first guidelines issued on 10 February 1997. This issue outlines some of the considerations for rural schools and schools with teaching principals.

For further information about the material in this publication, Curriculum Division,

Ministry of Education, Box 1666, Wellington, fax (04) 471 6193.

E-mail: curriculum@minedu.govt.nz

For information and assistance in setting up or reviewing your school's performance management system, contact your nearest Ministry of Education Management Centre.

1. Introduction

The mandatory requirements for the assessment of teacher performance were prescribed in December 1996 and apply to all schools from 1 January 1997. The primary purpose of these requirements is to provide a positive framework for the improvement of the quality of teaching (and therefore learning) in New Zealand schools.

Although the requirements are mandatory, boards are encouraged to use the flexibility within the requirements to develop the most appropriate ways to manage the appraisal of staff in their school.

Schools situated in rural areas and small schools with teaching principals will have particular issues to work through as they develop or refine their appraisal processes. Many of these issues arise from the fact that most rural primary schools have principals who teach for the greater part of the school day. This must be taken into account when planning for both the principal's appraisal and the appraisal of other staff.

Other issues will be similar to those of larger schools, but they may have a greater impact on a smaller school. Alternative strategies may need to be put in place to ensure that appropriate and effective policies and procedures are implemented. Some of the issues that need careful consideration are:

• resourcing (including time);

• integration with other PMS components;
• delegation of appraisal tasks;
• appraisal of the principal;
• appraisal of other teachers, part-time teachers (including the principal release teacher), and other staff; and
• confidentiality.

Training and support

• Training programmes for boards and principals are continuing through 1997.
• Newly appointed principals should seek additional support from their nearest teacher support services.

2 Resourcing

Time allowances

The release time allocated to teaching principals accommodates a wide range of management tasks. This time allocation includes aspects of performance management. To meet the prescribed requirements for appraisal of teacher performance, boards may need to consider providing funding for additional release time.

Boards should check that their policies and procedures are appropriate to each staff member, including the principal, and meet the prescribed requirements for appraisal. Procedures could include the amount of time teachers will be involved in appraisal interviews, informal and formal observations, or other data-gathering activities.

Ideas for saving time

• Where two teachers already work together for some of their teaching time, a formal classroom observation may not be necessary, because the informal observations will provide sufficient information to meet the requirements.
• In smaller schools, principals often have many informal contacts with the teaching staff on a day-to-day basis and may well consider that this will suffice for classroom observation.
• Appraisal interviews may be scheduled when the teacher and principal are able to have uninterrupted time for both discussion and reflection.

Budgeting for outside involvement in the appraisal process

If the board's appraisal policy calls for the involvement of contributors from outside the school, there may be additional costs involved. When preparing the school budget, the board will need to allocate funds for the appraisal and for meeting the development objectives identified by staff.

Involvement of other principals and teachers

When principals, teachers, or consultants from outside the school are involved in the appraisal process, consideration should be given to who is appropriate and how the person is to be recompensed. If teachers or principals from other schools are invited to undertake classroom observations, they may need to be released from their own duties. Costs could be reduced if boards agree to reciprocal arrangements.

Involvement of consultants

Boards may choose to consider the use of consultants. Any such involvement should be identified in the board appraisal policy. A consultant may be useful in providing balance to peer appraisal or may be involved every second or third year as an alternative to appraisal being completed internally.

Suggestion For economy, a cluster of schools could consider contracting a consultant to carry out all the appraisals for the cluster.

Professional development

Boards, principals, and teachers will need to identify which components of the appraisal process are the most important in helping teachers to grow professionally. They will need to consider how they can incorporate their own best practices into their school's appraisal process.

Professional development is valuable. It should be based on the needs of the school and teachers and delivered within the school at times that suit the teaching staff. Each opportunity should be funded by establishing clear priorities in the school budget.

Distance, and the availability of professional development providers, may present additional demands in meeting the development needs of individual teachers. Boards may need to investigate alternative ways of accessing professional development for their teachers.

Some ideas to be considered:in-service or contract type development are not the only appropriate types of professional development. Some ideas to be considered are:

• utilising the expertise in the local area;
• clustering schools with similar needs, in order to share costs;
• using distance education programmes;
• releasing teachers from classes to observe peers' teaching practices; and
• releasing teachers from classes to allow them time to develop ideas or resources as part of their professional development.

3. Delegation in smaller primary schools

When implementing the appraisal process, the delegation of responsibility is a crucial decision.(see PMS1) In consultation with the principal, the board should consider whether proposed appraisers have:

• the appropriate skills and expertise to ensure the confidence of the principal and/or teachers appraised; and
• the time available to complete the task and report to the board as required. In situations where staff members are married or in a relationship, there can be a conflict of interest if one is delegated to appraise the performance of the other. It is important to consider this when delegating responsibility.

Some possibilities

1. A common approach

One board member is delegated responsibility for undertaking or supervising any appraisal process. They will have in-depth knowledge of the results. This member would then report to the full board in general terms only. The principal is usually delegated responsibility for the appraisal of teachers, whereas the chairperson is usually delegated responsibility for the principal's appraisal.

2. An approach used by some Boards

The principal is delegated responsibility for the appraisal of other teachers. The principal reports to the board on teacher appraisal in general terms only. The board chairperson takes responsibility for co-ordinating the appraisal of the principal:

• A consultant provides input on the management responsibilities.
• Another experienced teacher appraises the teaching component and completes the observations of teaching.

3. An approach for sole-charge schools

A committee comprising two board members seeks external input into the appraisal process. The external input may be from another principal, a teacher from another school, or an educational consultant. The committee is responsible for carrying out the appraisal and reporting back to the board with a summary report negotiated between the committee and the sole-charge principal.

4. Confidentiality

The board, as the employer, is entitled to receive reports on the appraisal of teacher performance from the person(s) to whom the responsibility is delegated. The 1996 prescribed requirements state that:

Boards of Trustees must have a documented policy on the appraisal of teacher performance.

This policy must: . . .

(iii) include a statement on confidentiality;

When the appraisal policy is being developed, in consultation with teachers, issues of confidentiality should be discussed. It should be clearly established:

• what information on individuals will be put into writing;
• where the information and reports will be stored;
• who will be allowed access to the material; and
• what happens to the material once a teacher leaves the school.

Security of storage and limitations on access to appraisal material also require careful management. Public interest in teachers and teaching can be an issue, especially in smaller communities, where the affairs of the school are closely scrutinised as an item of local interest.

Once a board has delegated responsibility, the protocols for reporting to the board should be established and then approved by all parties. To protect the privacy of individual teachers, board members will need to ensure that reports from the person(s) delegated the responsibility for performance appraisal are dealt with in committee. The board of trustees code of conduct (Charter Framework, 1990) states that:

Trustees shall ensure strict confidentiality of papers and information

related to the board's position as employer.

5. Appraisal of teacher performance

Performance expectations

Performance expectations that are consistent across the school need to be established. Consistency is an issue for all schools, particularly when the principal is an active member of the teaching staff. It may be appropriate that primary goals and key tasks are the same for all teachers in the school.

Some boards have developed generic job descriptions that apply to all teachers. In most schools, teachers work closely together in all areas of the curriculum. This enables them to establish common expectations, giving a more holistic, and therefore more manageable, approach to appraisal for small schools.

Suggestions

• Where a part-time teacher works in more than one local school, each employing board should establish protocols for appraisal. It may be that one school co-ordinates the teacher's appraisal, with input from the principals in the other schools. Funding for the teacher's development objective(s) could also be shared.
• In very small schools, the appraisal policy may need to be considered whenever new teachers are appointed. Boards may wish to include the current appraisal policy in the information pack that is sent to prospective applicants.

Development objectives

Effective performance appraisal requires the identification of potential areas for professional growth and the provision of appropriate support and assistance to foster the development. For each development objective, the assistance or support to be provided is a crucial element.

Suggestions

• The focus area for the development process for a teacher could include any of the key professional responsibilities and key performance areas.
• The development objective(s) for each teacher may also be linked to current initiatives in the school's strategic or development plan.

Staff trustee responsibilities

The impact of the staff trustee's responsibilities in a small school needs to be considered. In two-teacher schools, especially, the "other" teacher is often the staff representative on the board. This can increase the workload and level of responsibility for that teacher. This should be acknowledged when establishing performance expectations and development objectives to ensure that the teacher is not overloaded. When planning professional development, the staff representative's responsibilities should be taken into account.

Principal release teachers

Principal release teachers are required to take part in the appraisal process along with other teachers. In smaller schools, these teachers may be working only one half day each week, and they often work in more than one school. Although each board is accountable for the performance of these teachers, it may be unrealistic and time-consuming for each school to individually appraise the teacher concerned.

Appropriate expectations for a principal release teacher, consistent with school goals and expectations, need to be developed. In establishing job descriptions for these teachers, many schools use the same job description that they have developed for full-time teaching staff. However, the performance expectations reflect the level of involvement and responsibility that the principal release teacher has in the school. At least one development objective should also be negotiated for each appraisal cycle.

Suggested appraisal arrangements for a principal release teacher

• A group of schools employing the same teacher may work out a process where one job description is developed that covers the expectations in all of the schools. This would allow one school to appraise the teacher and share the results with the principals concerned. Over a period of time, the schools may take turns at carrying out the appraisal. Costs arising from travel, time, and professional development may be shared among the schools.
• Schools may employ an independent consultant to appraise a release teacher, who is then observed in a variety of schools.
• Principal release teachers working in only one school may be appraised by a full-time teacher at that school.

6. Appraisal of a teaching principal

Most rural primary schools have principals who teach for the greater part of the school day. This must be taken into account when planning for both the principal's appraisal and for the appraisal of other staff.

The prescribed requirements expect boards to establish performance expectations and development objectives to cover both the teaching and management responsibilities of teaching principals. Boards should be clear about what they, as representatives of the community, expect of a principal and how these expectations will be recorded and met.

Note: issues relating to principal appraisal and performance agreements will be the focus of the next set of PMS guidelines in this series. Scenario one provides an example for a sole-charge school.

7. Scenarios for appraisal in small Schools with teaching principals

Scenario One: Sole-charge G1 School

The board delegates responsibility for appraising the principal to the board chairperson. The chairperson and principal agree that a principal from a neighbouring school will be responsible for appraising the teaching component. Non-teaching staff and principal release teachers are to be appraised by the principal.

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The board and principal meet early in the year to finalise the principal's performance agreement for the year. This defines the performance expectations and development objectives for appraisal purposes.

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A brief report is given to the board, including an outline of the agreed time frame, processes, and performance agreement.

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The principal meets with the neighbouring principal.

A focus for classroom observation and a time frame are set and recorded. These are identified as development objectives. Actions the principal will take are agreed to, and support costs are established.

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The board agrees to provide the support costs associated with the development objectives.

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The principal meets twice with the neighbouring principal: once to complete classroom observation; and once for in-depth discussion.

A summary of each meeting is recorded.

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The board chairperson and principal discuss the achievement of the performance expectations.

A summary report is recorded. Goals for the next cycle are discussed and recorded.

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The board chairperson reports to the board at the next board meeting.

Scenario Two: Teacher appraisal based on quality learning circles

The board delegates the responsibility for teacher appraisal to the principal and includes the accountability for the school-wide process in the principal's performance agreement.

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The teachers and principal agree to use a collegial quality learning circle approach as the basis of the performance appraisal system. The principal holds regular professional development conferences with each teacher and retains overall responsibility and accountability to the board.

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The teachers meet regularly in small groups and establish an environment where teachers are provided with opportunities for professional dialogue about their teaching experiences and beliefs. They also discuss ideas about good teaching and learning, sharing ideas, and being critically reflective.

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At these meetings, the teachers establish parameters for peer appraisal and set up opportunities for classroom observation. These meet the mandatory requirements. Each teacher identifies at least one development objective. These are recorded. They are often based on a theme common to the small group.

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The level of support for each teacher is identified and costed. The principal seeks approval for these costs from the board.

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Teachers visit other classrooms to observe each other's teaching styles and to establish a basis for the development of their own teaching. Opportunities are provided for feedback and the sharing of ideas, which may be discussed in a wider group at the next quality learning circle.

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The principal meets each teacher on an individual basis once a term. These professional development conferences identify progress with the development objective(s) and review the performance expectations. The teacher and principal keep notes of the discussion, and these are used for reference at future meetings and provide the basis for the principal's report to the board.

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The principal formally reports to the board, in committee, on the performance of the staff and discusses the implications for the allocation of resources for continuing professional development.

Scenario Three: G1 two-teacher school: appraisal of the "other" teacher

The board delegates the responsibility for teacher appraisal to the principal. The principal negotiates the time frame with the teacher.

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The teacher and principal agree to involve an experienced teacher.

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The teacher and principal review the job description and establish the performance expectations. They also identify a development objective and the required professional development support. These are recorded.

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The principal reports to the board on progress in the appraisal process and confirms the board support for the development objective.

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The teacher and principal teleconference the outside teacher to negotiate a focus for classroom observation.

A date is set for a classroom observation.

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The outside teacher carries out a classroom observation with the school's teacher, followed by a formal interview involving all parties. The teacher receives a copy of the agreed summary report.

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The principal reports to the board.

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The board chairperson reports to the board at the next board meeting.

Footnotes:

"Quality Learning Circles": refer to David Stewart and Tom Prebble. The Reflective Principal: School Development within a Learning Environment. Palmerston North, ERDC Press, 1993.

Teacher Development Update 7. Ministry of Education. Published with the Education Gazette, 1 August 1994.