How to … focus performance management on professional development

John Blanchard looks at how in performance management collaboration between teachers, senior leaders and governors can contribute to all involved being better prepared and lead to a more effective and rewarding experience.

The performance management process is beneficial when mutual respect and understanding are fostered between those who lead the process and those whose work is appraised. Their concluding meeting produces agreements about colleagues’ achievements and strengths, as well as decisions about their objectives and action plans.

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      string(387) "... groups?6. Have we considered whether our judgements on the quality of teaching concur with data analysis and workscrutiny outcomes?7. Can we demonstrate how performance management and professional development have been informedby robust self-evaluation and have secured improvements in the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress,helping to ..."
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      string(5834) "of desire on the part of some school leadersto tackle the staff where performance isn’t good enough.’ (Michael Cladingbowl, National Director for Schools, July2013). Questions have been asked in schools where weak performance has nevertheless led to pay increases. Somereports have cited leaders, including those on UPS who have not been giving ‘value for money’.These concerns are now reflected in the Ofsted Framework for School Inspection 2013 which requiresinspectors to ‘evaluate the robustness of performance management arrangements, and consider whether there isan appropriate correlation between the quality of teaching in a school and the salary progression of the school’steachers.’To considerEstablish a culture in which all staff have consistently high expectations of all pupils and of themselves ascontinually improving professionals.Engage staff at all levels in action to secure a baseline of good and consistent teaching and progress.■■■■■‘The most important purpose of teaching is to promote learning and raise pupils’achievement.’Ofsted School Inspection Handbook September 201319Vol 5.3School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comSpecial BriefingOfstedGuideEnsure that teachers use assessment practice systematically and effectively to check pupils’ understanding andprogress, adjusting teaching and interventions to improve progress.Systematically track and evaluate the impact of performance management and CPD on teaching on progress.When evaluating achievement, inspectors will focus on progress and attainment in reading, writing andmathematics. When evaluating teaching however, inspectors will consider:the planning and implementation of learning activities across the whole of the school’s curriculumthe appropriateness and impact of teachers’ support and intervention strategiesteachers’ marking, assessment and feedback to pupilsthe setting of appropriate homework that matches individual needs.‘Inspectors must spend as much time as possible gathering evidence on teaching and learning, observing lessons,scrutinising work (including in pupils’ books and writing), talking to pupils about their work, gauging theirunderstanding and their engagement in learning, and obtaining pupils’ perceptions of typical teaching.’To noteConsistency in the quality of teaching of mathematics across different groups is now a specified focus.The importance of your pupils’ attitudes, behaviour, effort and success – ‘When observing and judging teaching,inspectors must be guided by the response and engagement of pupils and evidence of how well they arelearning.’ (School Inspection Handbook, paragraph 123)The importance of skilful assessment practice to plan work that challenges or supports, to monitor and adjustteaching, and to give feedback that ensures pupils know what they have done well and how to improve.The Teachers’ Standards remain key to informing judgements.Progress within lessons is balanced with progress over time and can include evidence from prior observationsundertaken by school leaders, positively influencing outcomes where a specific lesson is weak – but the sameevidence trail, if it confirms weaknesses, will influence judgements on both teaching and leadership.Ten key questionsYou may wish to consider the following questions:1. Have we reviewed our teaching, learning and assessment policies with all staff and governors, givingattention to how well these policies set and support high expectations and are understood by all?2. How are we using our best teachers as leaders and models of good practice?3. Have we examined the consistency of teaching quality across subjects, for different groups, and withparticular attention to mathematics? For example:i. Do all teachers in our school demonstrate consistently high expectations of all groups of pupils,expecting all to achieve well?ii. Is this reflected in interactions?iii. Do we make consistently effective use of teaching assistants?iv. Does homework used consistently match individual needs and effectively support progress?4. What do we know about the quality of teaching for those pupils receiving targeted interventions, includingany for whom the pupil premium provides support, and for the most able?5. What do we know about the consistency and effectiveness of planning, marking and pupil responses acrosssubjects and for different groups?6. Have we considered whether our judgements on the quality of teaching concur with data analysis and workscrutiny outcomes?7. Can we demonstrate how performance management and professional development have been informedby robust self-evaluation and have secured improvements in the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress,helping to sustain ‘good or outstanding’?8. In what ways are we promoting the development of teaching this year and can we demonstrate an impact?9. In what ways are we sustaining and/or developing consistent and accurate assessment practices this yearand can we demonstrate an impact?10. What do our pupils tell us about teaching and learning, in particular the lowest and highest attainersand those eligible for pupil premium, and how have we used this to improve or sustain ‘good or better’teaching?■■■■■■■■■■■20Vol 5.3School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comSpecial BriefingOfstedGuide Behaviour and safety of pupilsThere is renewed attention to attitudes to learning underpinned by:Ofsted’s own analysis that has shown the behaviour grade is often above others.The belief that good attitudes to learning, good teaching and good"
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Leadership

Ofsted Leadership Guide 2013

25 Oct 2013

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      string(4487) "fixed.■■ Changing teachers’ and parents’expectationsAt the summer conference, teachers and support staffwere challenged to an activity to make a ‘chair’ forHumpty Dumpty (plastic eggs from the sports day eggand spoon races) using dry spaghetti and marshmallows.Staff were asked to write on Sticky Notes how they felt 44grow mindsets for effective learning……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………➜How to…Summary: how to grow mindsets for effective learning1. Explore the theory on mindsets and how different kinds of feedback inculcate different mindsets whichaffect learning and progress; share this with all staff and with parents and governors.2. Teach children what happens to the brain during learning. Make mindset theory part of the curriculumand reinforce each year.3. Build a bank of statements illustrating feedback for a growth mindset and introduce these into practice,including assessments, vocabulary on the walls and communications with parents.4. Devise creative ways to support celebration and sharing of mistakes and learning from mistakes.5. Examine and develop existing self-assessment and self-evaluation approaches and introduce new ones,so that children take greater ownership of feedback and learn to cultivate their own growth mindset.6. Consider whether staff assessment, performance management and professional development emphasisefeedback for a fixed or growth mindset and discuss the implications of this.Dweck, C.S. (2006) Mindset: how you can fulfil your potential. New York: Ballantine Booksbefore, during and after this new learning task, whichas well as being messy, was deceptively challenging.Despite much laughter, the comments revealed manypeople’s insecurities and frustrations in anticipation ofbeing ‘no good’ at creative tasks, not being able to dothis task ‘right’, chagrin at ‘failure’ and disappointmentat not doing as well as others. Being in a learningsituation therefore gave much food for thought. Someparticipants were then given feedback focussing onability and some focussing on effort and perseverance,enabling staff to discuss how this affected theirperceptions of the task and what they had learnt.■■ A whole school strategy for growthmindsetsTeachers have been so convinced by this classroombased research that they have suggested that learningabout mindset forms part of the PSCHE (Personal,Social, Citizenship and Health Education) curriculum sothat children develop their understanding systematicallyas they progress through the school. Teachers areconvinced that this can contribute to the LocalAuthority’s focus on narrowing the attainment gap, withclear benefits for the most vulnerable children.  Whileclassroom based developments will continue, there isalso a plan to introduce the ideas to parents as well,through a ‘Tea and Topics’ session, so that parents canunderstand the emphasis in feedback to their childrenand can start to mirror this at home.■■ Growth mindsets in professionaldevelopmentAt the end of their conference, teachers and supportstaff expressed intentions to follow up this professionallearning with their classes by changing the ways inwhich feedback was given. Some had also reflectedon whether they had a growth or fixed mindsetthemselves, in relation to their own professionallearning. This begs some serious questions in relationto performance management, performance relatedpay, lesson observation and the Teachers’ Standards.A growth mindset would suggest that emphasisingeffort, perseverance and learning through reflectivepractice might be more effective than judgementsof ‘ability’. An action research approach that allowsspace to experiment, reflect, take risks and challengeoneself professionally in safe, supportive, collaborativeenvironments, such as that created for staff at BleanPrimary School, creates the conditions necessary foreffective professional learning with a growth mindset."
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Growth Mindset

How to... grow mindsets for effective learning

2 Jan 2014

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      string(5918) "Vivienne Porritt questions the whole basis of the current approach to performance management and shows how this can be transformed through developing a coaching culture which focuses on ultimate learning games for children.“I thought I was a good teacher, but after that review, apparently I’m not. I’ve got lots to do to get better.”These words of a teacher about a performance management review open a Teachers TV programme about looking afresh at what performance management is doing, and can do, for colleagues in schools. The words are spoken by a drama student from Brampton Manor, a secondary school in Newham, London. The quotation is supposed to be a fictional representation of the perceptions some teachers have about performance management and it reveals issues about the nature of the professional relationships and the quality of the dialogue within this process.Is this quotation a caricature or do you recognise these words as coming from some of your colleagues? Maybe you have felt something similar yourself at times. Or is such a perception a historical view of performance management (PM) and, as a result of the revised regulations introduced in September 2007, do schools now have a more dynamic and motivational approach to this key improvement process?What does PM feel like for you?Over the last two years, in working with schools and local authorities in London and nationally, my colleague, Carol Taylor, and I have gained a very clear sense that many teachers are not only feeling less than motivated and enthused by their experience of performance management but also frustrated by the amount of time that was invested in it for seemingly little impact. Many are unable to articulate the difference that performance management makes either to their own learning, or that of their pupils or to their school. Support staff told us that they were glad they were not included in the statutory process as their teaching colleagues said it was a waste of time. When support staff were included they, alongside their teaching colleagues, often felt the process was about jumping through hoops or simply ticking boxes.As an ex-English teacher I believe strongly that language reflects culture and ethos and so am dismayed by the kind of language used by many people in discussing performance management. The most common phrases we hear are:  ‘I was ‘done’ last year’.  or ‘My head of department ‘does’ me’. What picture do these words suggest? This language certainly reflects the feeling that the PM process is one-sided with colleagues being recipients rather than feeling ownership.Simply ticking the boxSome schools describe the achievements people are working towards as targets and, for me, this only conjures up images of archers shooting at circular boards. When I was working in a school as a teacher or a headteacher, I didn’t want to be shot at, so do you now? I was told by others that I was good at what I did so I didn’t ever feel. I personally needed my performance managed. What I, and I think most people in school, needed was to work with a colleague to help me to keep improving and achieve what could move both me and the school forward. Most importantly, I wanted to learn more so that in turn I could help my students learn and achieve more.Equally concerning is the nature of the objectives that should be at the heart of the PM process. Mostly these are described by colleagues as “set” – again suggesting a model of imposition. More hopefully objectives are agreed: we rarely hear of objectives being negotiated. We encountered objectives that were simply already aspects of a person’s role: To write the school timetable. Other examples were often teacher based tasks such as ‘Revise the schemes of work for Year 4’ or ‘Go on a course about Assessment for Learning’. An objective for a senior member of the support staff that I heard recently was Restructure the office.These objectives did not challenge, motivate or engage colleagues and seemed to be there simply to ensure a box was able to be ticked next year and everyone could say a successful review had been accomplished. Pupil progress targets centred around numerical data are very common and seem to cause great anxiety for many colleagues in case they miss their target and achieve 53% of A* – C grades instead of 54% or in case one child in a class does not move through 2 sub-levels in a year.With such objectives, little attention is given to identifying the learning outcomes and real changes in practice for the adult that would result in improved learning or practice for colleagues or pupils. Te potential for the PM process to develop colleagues, to build motivating and collegiate relationships, to achieve school priorities and to improve pupils’ learning and experience is thus diminished.Where are we now?We are now at the end of our first year engaging with the revised statutory regulations for performance management for teachers which were introduced for September 2007. Alongside the revised regulations, new professional standards for teachers were introduced and performance management is highlighted as a ‘key process’ in achieving these aims.Key questions therefore might be:are all of your colleagues feeling positively engaged with your new performance management process?have you improved the links between performance management and professional development?is the dialogue and feedback within the PM process leading to improved internal relationships, based on openness, mutual trust and"
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Professional Development

Coaching to manage performance

26 Jun 2009

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      string(5404) "�Towards a framework forprofessional learningEarly in my career, as a young and very impressionable teacher, I recall trying to see my boss one afternoon only to be told byhis secretary (we didn’t call her a PA then) that hewas “on a course”. Being young and impressionableI was impressed: here was a busy senior professionalnonetheless ensuring that he retained a commitmentto his own training (we didn’t call it professionaldevelopment then). It was some time before the youngand impressionable teacher was disabused of his naivetyby a more experienced and more cynical colleague, whopointed out that the boss was indeed on a course, butit was a golf course, and that he slipped off more oftenthan he would care to admit.With the advent of Teaching Schools Chris Husbands provides a possible structurewithin which they can effectively combine some essential features. These includepractitioner-led professional development, innovation drawn from external researchand development projects, and extensive collaboration between institutions, includinguniversity partners.Towards a framework for professional learning ■■■■■Policy andpractice�……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………There’s a lot I learnt from this experience. Some isobvious: honesty and clarity are important characteristicsof senior leaders in any organisation, and deception willalways be found out. Over the course of my career wehave learnt even more about the nature of professionallearning. Teachers – and others – still go off site forcourses, but we no longer believe that professionaldevelopment is something which involves going off‘on a course’.■■■ Key ingredientsInstead, we have learnt some fundamental things aboutthe ways in which post-experience teacher developmenthappens most effectively. We have learnt that successfulprofessional learning is needs-based, that is, it shouldaddress some specific, observed, and relevant need ina professional’s practice. Only in this way are busyand frequently over-worked teachers likely to see theprofessional learning experience as something theycan use and deploy, rather than file away. Secondly,we have learnt that effective professional learning iscontext-bounded, that is, it needs to accept as a giventhe real contexts in which teachers work. One reason,though not the only one, that learning on ‘courses’ is nottransferred into changes in practice is that no course,delivered off-site to an audience from a number ofschools can take account of the different pressures anddemands facing all the participants. The best of intentionsexpressed in action plans agreed at the end of a trainingday in a conference centre collapse when confrontedby the realities of working back in school. Thirdly, wehave learnt that professional development must becentrally concerned with improving performance, withaddressing cognitive and behavioural changes whichimpact on teacher performance in the classroom inorder to improve learning outcomes. If it is not, thenit will simply miss its target, and become diversionaryrather than essential.■■■ Professional development integral tothe schoolThese building blocks of successful professionaldevelopment have been broadly accepted as the basisfor a consensus around the best ways to manage teacherlearning and improvement. The consensus – expressedmost clearly in the development of Teaching Schoolsas hubs for teacher learning – is that good professionallearning is school-focused, school-based and practitionerled. Teachers know what their learning needs are, andother teachers are best placed to meet them. As a result,skill sets, and professional roles have been createdwhich support the localisation of teacher learning:coaching and mentoring are seen as critical to goodprofessional learning; professional development plansneed to be integrated into school improvement plansand translated into teacher performance managementplans. Professional development is an obligation lockedinto the ways in which schools think and act.■■■ The lynchpin of school improvementThere is no doubt that this consensus is a powerfultool for change. OFSTED (2006) called professionaldevelopment a key link in “the logical chain” ofimprovement, and in 2010 returned to the theme,characterising good professional development “as anintegral part of improvement plans”, based on drawingtogether “assessment data, observations of teaching andlearning, scrutiny of pupils’ work, subject, faculty andwhole-school reviews, performance management andself-evaluation by staff, monitoring of the performanceof staff, feedback from parents and pupils about theperformance of the school and feedback from externalinspections” to shape whole school priorities"
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Professional Development

Towards a framework for professional learning

3 Oct 2011

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      string(5793) "BRIEFCASEprimaryleadershipTODAY • Vol2:3704How do you feel about performance related pay? It should be simple. Those people who work hardestand perform best should get more money – shouldn’t they? A logical conclusion but there are a fewproblems in education connected with this evidently logical statement. Firstly, we don’t work asindividuals but, a cliché it may be, we are all part of a team. Setting one person above another either interms of label or remuneration is open to sowing that little seed of envy. We know we shouldn’t feel likethat but who hasn’t found it flashing across their mind at some point – what’s so good about them?And then how comfortable are you as headteacher in passing judgement through salary? Do youfeel able to do that without considering the implications for the school as a whole, thinking throughwhat might happen in the staffroom? Does the snubbed or rejected teacher work any harder toreceive accolade another time or do they just become further embittered, drawing others into theircynicism?How do you decide who is responsible for the value that is added in education?  When so manypeople have so much influence on the end outcome ( in itself open to all kinds of misinterpretation) – howcan we confidently state that it was teacher X who made the difference and not teaching assistant Y?And so it goes on.  Yet the powers that be have for many years felt convinced that performance relatedpay is the way to go. We have had little choice. A sequence of completely incompetent legislations– particularly the threshold which has been the most pointless and badly planned exercise yet – havecontinued to reinforce my view.The new performance management arrangements have done nothing to convince me otherwise.We have a new policy and have reviewed the cycle we had previously. We will combine our objectivesetting and our review. We will give greater consideration to the objectives which could prove thegatekeepers of a pay rise. We will link our objectives more closely to our targets and SIDP. But ourteachers work as hard as they can because they want to do the best job they can for the benefit ofthe children. Not because they want to achieve an objective on some bit of a paper. I’m with themall the way.So what’s different?l Annual cycle must be completed by 31st Octoberl Annual cycle for headteachers must be completed by 31st Decemberl The reviewer is the headteacher who can then delegate the role in its entirety to the teacher’s linemanagerl Headteacher to moderate statements from other reviewers for consistencyl Assessment at review meetings forms basis for recommendation for pay progression for eligibleteachersl A limit on observations of no more than 3 hours per cyclel Written feedback to be given within 5 daysl Protocol for classroom observation must be developedl Objectives set need to contribute in some way to school improvement  and pupil progressl Performance criteria need to be agreedl Review statements must be kept on file for 6 yearsFurther information can be found on www.tda.gov.ukManager’s Briefcase 44BRIEFCASE471Vol2:3 • primaryleadershipTODAYPerformance Management Policy2007The Governing Body adopted this performance management policy on ______________Signed__________________________________  (Chair of Governors)RATIONALE 2WHO IT APPLIES TO 2AIMS OF THIS POLICY 2ROLES OF STAFF 3THE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT CYCLE 4THE PLANNING AND REVIEW MEETING 5CLASSROOM OBSERVATION 6APPEALS 7APPOINTMENT OF REVIEWERS FOR THE HEADTEACHER 7LINKS BETWEEN PAY, CAREER STAGES AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT 8SUPPORT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 8ACCESS AND CONFIDENTIALITY 8REVIEW OF THIS POLICY 8RATIONALEThe quality of teaching is essential for schooleffectiveness. 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Leadership

Manager’s Briefcase

20 Jan 2008