Teacher Performance Reviews – Four Steps To Ace Your Appraisal
It’s not just students who are assessed, says Damien Roberts – and the best way to make sure you get the most out of every performance review is to be prepared…
While September may seem too early to think about such things, the deadline for when most appraisal cycles come to a close is never really that far away.
Therefore, it’s important to get ahead of the game from the starting whistle, and ensure that evidence is collected throughout the year, to support objectives and whole-school priorities.
Be prepared, be ready
Preparing for any review is key. Rather than waiting until the end of the academic half term, term or year to pull together all your evidence to support your aims and objectives, keep on top of your progress as and when it happens. Keep it in one central place as this will make it a lot simpler to highlight your strengths and areas for improvement in an appraisal.
Using technology can really help with this as you’re updating it in real-time, and not searching for documents at the last minute. It’s also a good chance to work out whether there are any CPD programmes that may help enhance your performance over the next year.
It takes two to tango
A review meeting gives both you and your line manager the chance to provide honest and open feedback. It’s not just about ticking a few boxes and signing off on the process; this is a chance for both of you to look at the progress you’ve made throughout the year and assess the supporting evidence.
Make sure you’re both on the same page and understand exactly what is expected during the meeting, and ensure all answers and discussions are transparent.
Consider using open-ended questions also, to encourage responses and feedback.
It’s time to be constructive, not critical
Don’t be disheartened if you receive feedback on ways you can develop. Despite many schools and staff already demonstrating effective teaching and learning, there is always room for improvement.
Enjoy the positives, but do take on board the areas that could be worked on. The person conducting the review should take a constructive approach; the ‘praise, improvement, praise’ feedback sandwich might be an old one, but it’s a classic. When delivered in the right way, criticism is encouraging and not destructive.
Equally, if there is something that hasn’t quite worked for you as a teacher, now is the time to give feedback and offer suggestions for how this could be improved for the next academic year.
Keep the conversation going
Although face-to-face meetings are essential – especially when it comes to the end-of-year review – it’s vital to ensure that conversations between staff members and senior leaders continue throughout the year.
This is where online systems can play an effective role, creating a bridge for the times when face-to-face meetings aren’t able to take place, but factors can still be discussed and assessed. Notifications can then also be incorporated to remind each member of staff to provide new evidence or information against their objectives when necessary.
Ultimately, the answer to a successful review is to plan and prepare; and if you’ve done this ahead of time then it makes things a lot easier. Embrace every appraisal as an open, two-way conversation, whereby progress, evidence, goals and aspirations are discussed.
Only then can both senior leaders and teachers rest assured that they are working together, heading towards the end goal of professional and personal success.
Damien Roberts is director and co-founder of Derventio Education.
