Last Friday, the Department for Education (DfE) published the new arrangements for the performance management of teachers. If you are currently applying for jobs you may wonder how this will affect you and what you need to know for any future interviews, particularly if you are applying for a middle leadership or senior leadership post.
If you are applying for a leadership post it is likely that you will have responsibility for setting targets and then reviewing them for a group of staff. At interview you could be asked specifically about your views on the new regulations. You may also wish to draw on your knowledge of the new regulations when discussing how you would raise standards in your area or how you would deal with underperforming staff.
The most obvious change is one of language. The press releases on the government website talk about 'teacher appraisal' rather than using the term 'performance management' which for teachers who are longer in tooth may remind them of the system before performance management was in vogue. If you are looking at senior leadership posts you may wish to read the model policy on DfE website which includes the section on capability which is consistent with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance procedures.
If you are asked about underperforming staff, you may wish to comment that the new appraisal structure has a much clearer link to capability procedures than before but it is important to remember that if a colleague begins capability procedures the appraisal process is suspended. The DfE suggest that the new appraisal process will allow poorly performing teachers to be removed in about a term. However this would require all the paperwork to be perfectly collated and time scales to be rigorously kept to. We also tend to know that in practice this can become much longer when colleagues are sick during the process.
For reviewers the new appraisal process states that teachers will have to be assessed every year against the new teacher standards. These are claimed to be simpler and sharper than before. You may wish to look at these standards which become live in September 2012.
It will be interesting to see if schools begin to develop their own tick lists of these teacher standards, perhaps even grading teachers on them against the OFSTED grades. As a reviewer you will have to ensure that objectives are set for each teacher which clearly show how they contribute to improving the education of the pupils. The best appraisers have always done this and some schools provide good training for their staff on how objectives should be best written. In the review you will have to give an assessment of the teacher’s performance and assess their current training development needs. There is an expectation that progression up the teacher pay spine will be subject to a satisfactory appraisal. This means that you may be responsible for making a recommendation on pay progression to your head teacher.
There is a greater flexibility in terms of the quantity of lesson observation that can be conducted. In recent years there has been confusion over the so-called three hour observation rule which suggested that teachers could only be observed for three hours for performance management reasons but for other reasons at a school’s discretion. The new appraisal arrangements will mean that schools have a greater flexibility on deciding what is appropriate.
It is worth noting that the government is still consulting as to whether performance management review documents can be requested by a future employer as part of the reference process. If this turns out to be the case, if you are looking for promotion you may be more interested in ensuring your review does happen and that it is completed in a clear and positive manner.
Paul K. Ainsworth is the Acting Principal of a Leicestershire secondary school. He has advised many teachers on how they can develop their job search skills. His new book, 'Get that Teaching job' is out at the end of January.
Melanie Wilson
Commissioning Editor (Professional Education)
