Best Practice: How to set criteria for performance

 

The Personal Develop Plan should include:

• Indicators: by which to determine the results
• Opportunities: in the workplace and daily work for implementing improvement and learning
• Threats: that may stand in the way and how they may be handled.

It is important to formulate good indicators. Traditionally, indicators are expected to be SMART:

•             S for Specific (concrete, understandable, clear)
•             M for Measurable (measure by quality, quantity, etc., should be easy to obtain information)
•             A for Achievable (realistic to achieve but at the same time challenging)
•             R for Relevant (make sense in the world of schools and teaching, be of common usage there)
•             T for Timebound (within a realistic timeframe and a clear deadline)  

Fundamentally, a good indicator should be simple and straightforward. It should be relevant to the teacher’s job and the teaching profession. It should be easy to check it and checking it should not be associated with any major cost. It should be challenging to encourage personal growth, but also realistic for the teacher to achieve it within the given time, which must be agreed upon.

Example:

During the coming year, the teacher will apply learner-orientated participatory teaching methods (detail to be specified during initial meeting with supervisor).

Result: Pupils acquire a deeper understanding of the subject and become more critical and independent. They also develop confidence to present and ability for teamwork.

Indicator: Better overall results in internal tests; pupils do their homework without fail and with fewer corrections by the teacher; pupils are happy to work in groups and confident in presenting at the whiteboard; pupils demonstrate interest in learning more (all this must be specified on the basis of a baseline and measurable and concrete improvements.

An indicator may be quantitative or qualitative. Qualitative indicators may be based on the Professional Standards for Teachers and School Leaders.

It is essential that the school provides sufficient opportunities for teachers to implement their Personal Performance Plan and achieve the agreed objectives. Otherwise there is a risk that efforts will be wasted amid day-to-day work.