Current practices of teachers\u27 performance appraisal: A case study of a community-based school

This research was an attempt to find out the current practice of teachers\u27 performance appraisal of a community-based school and its implications for management\u27s role in implementing the appraised processes effectively. Appraisal is generally used for both accountability and professional development. This mostly depends on the school\u27s objectives for carrying out the appraisal. It is noted that teachers get uncomfortable and feel threatened by the performance appraisal process. This could be for two main reasons: (a) when the objectives of appraisal exercises are not made clear to the teachers, they do not know what this would lead to; (b) teachers become threatened if they know that, the school will use the findings to decide about teachers annual increments and promotions. Literature, however, suggests that performance appraisal should be for teachers\u27 professional development. The exercise should be a road map for teachers and finding should help teachers to grow professionally. I carried out an exploratory case study to find out the current practices of carrying out teachers\u27 performance appraisal of a particular school; their perceptions about the teachers\u27 performance appraisal and to know whether the findings of teachers\u27 performance appraisal enabled the teachers to grow professionally. The findings of the study revealed that, the teachers associated the performance appraisal not with professional growth but with the amount of increment in salary, dismissal in case of poor performance and promotion or demotion. However, there are different perceptions about the utility of appraisal among the stakeholders. Some relate this to professional development, others categorize the teachers in A\u27 and B\u27 category and based on this categorizes give increments. It was evident that the purpose of the practice is not clear to teachers. Appraisers do not negotiate and inform the details on which teachers are appraised. There are no pre and post appraisal meetings to discuss teachers\u27 progress and future needs. Also there is lack of clarity about the purpose and objectives of being appraisal In view of the findings and considering the importance of the performance appraisal exercise, this dissertation recommends that objectives of teachers\u27 performance appraisal be shared with teachers; the system should be more transparent and proper procedure of appraisal should be followed to gain maximum benefit from it and give qualitative feedback to the teachers