Performance Appraisal Management in A Malaysian Secondary School

The purpose of this study is to explore the implementation of performance assessment in one of the Malaysian public secondary schools. Topics like what is a performance appraisal; the goal of having a performance appraisal in school; the processes for conducting performance appraisal at school; the benefits of having a performance appraisal in school; how performance appraisal affects school improvement; ways to improve performance appraisal in school; common problems with school performance appraisal are explored. There are six respondents have been selected in this case study including one principal and six teachers from an urban school in Malaysia. Eight open ended questions have been developed for the interview session with the principal and two open ended questions with teachers. Data were collected with personal in-depth interview and group interview. The results revealed that performance appraisal is important for the principal to track teachers’ productivity, to improve their career, provide a brighter career pathway and help teachers to improve their job quality. Teacher in the other hand thought that the performance appraisal should have stringent criteria and fair evaluation. It is recommended that this process need a highly cooperation and two-way communication between both parties of principal and teachers