RSS Feed for the unit School Governors: performance management

Introduction

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

School governors are responsible for establishing the performance management policy of the school and for reviewing the performance of the headteacher. This unit will guide you through these processes, including the appeals procedure should the headteacher have any concerns. You will also learn the importance of linking performance review to pay review.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

Learning outcomes

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

The aim of this unit is to:

raise awareness of the process and principles of performance management/appraisal in schools;
identify the negative aspects of appraisal systems and consider how these might be overcome;
enhance understanding of the role of the governing body in the performance review process, especially in relation to reviewing the headteacher's performance;
encourage discussion of performance with regard to pay awards, and whether these should, or should not, be automatically related to each other;
familiarise governors with the appeal process relating specifically to the headteacher's performance review.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

1 Performance management

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

View larger image

Figure 1 Performance management

Long description

The current system of performance review in schools was introduced in September 2000 as part of the government's drive to raise standards. At its heart is the basic premise that, if teachers know how well they are performing and where they need to develop their own skills in order to support pupils, then standards in their planning and delivery will go up, as will their expectations of pupils. It is hoped that, as a result, pupil attainment will also rise.

The Education (School Teacher Appraisal) (England) Regulations 2000, available by clicking here, set out the detail of what is expected of the review process. In essence, it involves appraisal, usually by a line manager, that leads to identification of those aspects of an individual's performance that need further development. Objectives should include an attainment target and a professional development target, which will then be monitored over time, usually for a year, although some objectives may take longer to achieve than others. A formal meeting will review and agree the level of success in achieving the objectives, before considering new objectives for the following year. Teachers may not necessarily know each others' personal objectives, but these will inform the priorities of the school development plan.

It is generally recognised that people perform better when:

they know what is required from them;
guidance and support are readily available;
they have an opportunity to discuss their performance;
they understand any outcomes from feedback about their performance.

Click on 'View document' below to see a table from Bush and Middlewood (1997) that shows the benefits of a developmental approach to appraisal, linking the various components of the process to the perceived benefits.

View document

Click on 'View document' below to access a copy of the same table for you to fill in.

View document

Now spend a few minutes thinking about the issues around appraisal in a school community in Activity 1.

Activity 1

Look again at the table showing the benefits, or advantages, of performance review, available under the link above. Using this, and possibly working with the other members of an appropriate committee, you might like to consider if there are other benefits that have not been identified, but which would specifically help your school.

Then think about any possible disadvantages there might be, and complete the table second document above.

Having carried out this exercise, the next step is to identify ways in which you could overcome any perceived problems, so as to make the process beneficial for all.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

2 The role of the governing body

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

When performance review was first introduced, many governing bodies felt unable to undertake the role with confidence. They felt they were being asked to judge teachers and, particularly, headteachers, and were not comfortable with this.

Although the governing body is responsible for the performance management process in the school, it is not the role of the governing body to monitor the work of individual teachers. This is the task of the headteacher, or other appropriate senior/line managers, and governors may not see the performance reviews of individual teachers. It is only the headteacher's performance that governors directly review.

The governing body itself has only two main tasks to undertake. These are:

To establish the performance management policy in the school. The governors will delegate the drafting of the policy to the headteacher, who should devise the document in consultation with staff. The draft goes to the full governing body for formal agreement and adoption, and subsequently governors must review the policy annually and ask the headteacher for a report on its impact in raising standards. Within the policy it should be clear that no-one in the school, including the headteacher, may review the performance of more than six other people.
To review the performance of the headteacher. Two to three members of the governing body, excluding anyone employed to work at the school, must be appointed to undertake this task. Foundation schools must ensure that they include the requisite number of Foundation governors – one Foundation governor where two governors are appointed; two Foundation governors where three are involved. It is suggested that this group choose one member to be the key contact. Membership of this group must be reviewed annually.

The performance review process follows the three main roles of the governing body. Click on each sector in the diagram below to follow the process.

If you wish to view the animation in a new window click on 'Launch in separate player

Interactive content appears here. Please visit the website to use it.

Now take a look at Activity 2.

Click on 'View document' to see a suggested list of features of a good performance management policy.

View document

Activity 2

Ask for a copy of your school's Performance Management Policy. What questions might you like to ask about it?

Do you know if the policy was devised exactly from the DfES version, or whether the headteacher and staff devised their own document, simply using the DfES version as the basis for discussion?
Most of the teachers' professional associations also devised model policies; were these considered?

Under the link above you will find a suggested list of features of a good performance management policy.

Has the school's policy been reviewed since its initial adoption?
Have staff been involved in the review of the policy?

The headteacher should report annually to governors on the performance management in the school. Some questions you might like to consider include:

What impact has performance management had on staff development?
And in raising standards in the school?
Is there real evidence of its impact in helping to meet the priorities of the School Improvement Plan?
What training and development needs have been identified?
How is professional development evaluated?

You might also like to think about which governing body committee it would be most appropriate to have these discussions in; is it a standards or personnel issue?

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

3.1 What the review is about

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

‘The performance review process enables me to have a meaningful discussion about issues at the heart of the improvement of the school, with governors who support me yet make me stop and think about why I do what I do and, more importantly, how I might do my job better.’
Quote from headteacher

The review of the headteacher's performance is one of the most important tasks for the governing body. It requires discretion, mutual trust and respect, and the ability to discuss issues frankly and openly. It also needs a clear understanding by the governors of the challenges facing the school, and the impact these might have on the ability of the headteacher to achieve the agreed objectives.

The governing body must, until the introduction of School Improvement Partnership, use the services of an external adviser, to assist the appointed governors in the review of the headteacher's overall performance in managing the school, and also of his/her objectives in the three required areas of:

pupil progress;
leadership and management;
personal professional development.

These will be drawn from the school's current Development Plan or Post-Ofsted Action Plan, but the appointed governors may include other objectives if there is a particular area of concern.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

3.2 Adviser time

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

The governing body is allowed up to eight hours of external adviser time. These are split roughly:

three hours for preparation before the meeting;
one hour for writing/checking the review statement;
four hours in school.

The time allows for both the headteacher and the appointed governors to meet the adviser separately to discuss issues and, in the case of the governors, to seek advice. To do this, the adviser needs data about the school in advance so that s/he may make some preliminary suggestions for the headteacher's performance objectives. Following these pre-meetings, everyone involved meets for the formal review meeting.

Click on 'View document' to see annual cycle for the headteacher's review.

View document

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

3.3 The purpose of the formal review meeting

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

The purpose of this meeting is to:

review performance against agreed objectives, and also in overall leadership of the school;
agree objectives for the next year;
set dates for in-year monitoring of progress.

A statement must be agreed between the headteacher and governors that covers all of these areas, and which may be seen by the appropriate committee of the governing body when they review the headteacher's salary. Only the headteacher and chair of governors keep a copy of the statement.

Details of discussions are confidential to the parties involved, but many headteachers are willing to share aspects of their objectives with other staff and governors, so that everyone in the school takes responsibility for overall school improvement.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

3.4 School Improvement Partners

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

Following the introduction of School Improvement Partners during 2006–7, governing bodies will no longer be required to take external advice on the head teacher's performance management. Instead, each governing body will be advised by its School Improvement Partner on its management of the head's performance and appraisal. This advice (DfES/Ofsted 2005) will cover the areas currently covered by the External Adviser.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

3.5 Issues of capability

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

Very occasionally, issues about the capability of the headteacher may arise during discussions about performance against agreed objectives.

If the appointed performance review governors suspect that the headteacher is not able to meet his/her objectives, they should first consider the circumstances of the school to satisfy themselves that these have not altered significantly to make the objective/s unachievable. If this is the case, they should make necessary allowances when monitoring performance, and provide appropriate evidence for the external adviser at the next annual review meeting.

Where the appointed governors believe that the issue is one of the headteacher not having the ability to manage the school effectively, the performance review process should be stopped and the chair of governors alerted. S/he, in turn, should contact the Local Authority (or the Diocesan Director of Education in the case of RC and C of E Aided schools) immediately, to seek advice on how to manage this situation, potentially through formal procedures in accordance with the capability procedure adopted by the school – the exact procedure and personnel involved will depend on the type of school.

Find out about setting objectives for headteachers in Activity 3.

Click on 'View document' to see examples of leadership and management objectives set for headeachers.

View document

Activity 3

In discussing specific objectives to set for the headteacher, the appointed governors should remember that these should be linked to the changes the governing body is trying to bring about in the school. It is also important that all evidence used is rigorous data and not anecdotal.

Under the link above you will find examples of leadership and management objectives set for headteachers.

For examples of objectives relating to pupil progress, you might like to look back at the pupil attainment targets. Objectives for the headteacher may be set round these same targets, as the headteacher has the overall responsibility for ensuring that the pupil attainment targets are achieved.

If you are one of the governors responsible for agreeing the objectives for your headteacher, use these examples to inform your discussion.

Remember that the headteacher has an input to the objectives – listen to the headteacher's suggestions and views – and that the headteacher's objectives should be SMART.

Achievements should be celebrated!

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

4 The appeals process

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

Fairness and consistency of judgement are essential in any performance management system. The school needs to ensure that all its staff have equality of opportunity to achieve their full potential and are not discriminated against when agreeing objectives and assessing performance. Each school needs to ensure that staff are not discriminated against because of age, disability, gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion, nor are treated unfairly because they work part-time or are union representatives.
Support Guide for Governors and Headteachers, p. 5

Occasionally things go wrong during the appraisal process. People can feel aggrieved about the manner in which the process was carried out, believing they had too little opportunity to explain themselves, or that the appraiser did not listen/understand. Sometimes the review statement does not accurately reflect discussions and agreed outcomes or future action to be taken.

Individuals have a right to appeal against the process by which the review was undertaken, but not the outcome. For example, where a review has been correctly carried out, and performance objectives have not been met, provided there is evidence that confirms this judgement, it is unlikely that the individual will be successful in asking for the review to be repeated.

To enable an appeal to take place, the governing body must appoint a Review Officer. The advice from the DfES is that the chair of governors should be the Review Officer for the school, and so should not take part in the review of the headteacher's performance. However, many headteachers want their chair of governors involved in the review, so the governing body will need to appoint a different person. Some governing bodies have appointed a group of governors.

The Review Officer can review procedures in relation to any member of staff, as well as the headteacher. S/he may decide:

that there is no foundation to the appeal;
that the process was wholly or partially flawed;
that the review statement stands, with or without comment;
to amend the statement, with the agreement of the line manager/governors;
that the statement be set aside and a new review undertaken, with a different person or persons conducting this.

In any appeal the agreed objectives remain the same.

Study a real appeals case yourself in Activity 4.

Click on 'View document' to read a case study on performance review

View document

Click on 'View document' to see the crib sheet mentioned below

View document

Click on 'View document' to see the outcome of the case study, but try to reach your own decision before having a look!

View document

Activity 4

The case study (click on the link above) is real. You might like to discuss it with fellow governors, and decide what action the Review Officer should take.

A crib sheet is included above, which gives you some prompts as to what issues the Review Officer would need to consider.

The real outcome is also included above, but try to reach your own decision before you take a look!

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

5 Performance and pay

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

The School Teacher's Pay and Conditions Document states that awards of additional points of salary should only be given for ‘sustained high-quality performance’. It should never be assumed that an award will be automatic, and salary points should not be given to a teacher or headteacher for simply doing the job that would normally be expected in order to fulfil their contract or job description.

It is extremely important that the governing body reviews the headteacher's salary annually, otherwise a situation could occur where other senior staff members are being paid almost as much as the headteacher, as a result of awards for management responsibilities.

The appropriate committee of the governing body, which will need to have delegated responsibility to make decisions on pay awards, should ensure that pay ranges/points are agreed and established. This committee should ensure that all staff, including the headteacher, are informed of their total salary, showing the main salary point and any additional allowances they will receive for the school year.

A separate Pay Appeal Committee will need to hear any appeals against pay awards. This group should consist of different governors from the first committee, but must be no fewer in number. People employed to work in the school may not sit on either of the committees that deal with pay matters. The headteacher may sit on the first committee, but is more likely to attend in an advisory capacity. S/he must withdraw from the committee when her/his own salary is being discussed.

Look at the Terms of Reference of the Pay Committee in your school in Activity 5.

Click on 'View document' to see the pay committee - terms of reference

View document

Click on 'View document' to see the pay committee - membership

View document

Activity 5

The School Teacher's Pay and Conditions Document includes all the detail necessary for governors to agree the individual pay range for the headteacher, within the wider salary range that applies according to the group size of the school. Remember, there is the option to choose a range higher than the one designated for the group of school, for recruitment and retention purposes. The document is available in school, and the governors who make up the Pay Committee should take time to consult it before agreeing any salary increase.

You might like to look at the document yourself, not just in relation to the headteacher's salary, but for pay awards to all staff. It is available by clicking here

The Pay Committee (see documents under the link above) should have clearly delegated responsibility to make decisions about pay in its Terms of Reference.

Do you know if this is the case in your school?
Find the relevant terms of reference for your school and compare these to the model terms.
Are there any areas where you consider your policy to be exemplary?
Or further areas you might want to include?
Discuss your findings with fellow governors at an appropriate meeting.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

Next steps

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

After completing this unit you may wish to study another OpenLearn Study Unit or find out more about this topic. Here are some suggestions:

If you wish to study formally at The Open University, you may wish to explore the courses we offer in this curriculum area:

Education

Or find out about studying and developing your skills with The Open University:

Or you might like to:

Post a message to the unit forum, to share your thoughts about the unit or talk to other OpenLearners
Review or add to your Learning Journal
Rate this unit

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

References

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

Bush T. and Middlewood D. (1997) Managing People in Education, Paul Chapman, London, p. 172.

The Education (School Teacher Appraisal) (England) Regulations 2000

DfES/Ofsted 2005, A New Relationship with Schools: Next Steps.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

Acknowledgements

The Open University — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:42:34 GMT

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

Author

Sue Platt has been a school governor for 21 years, at both primary and secondary phase schools, and currently chairs her local secondary school governing body. She holds the Diploma in Management Studies (Education).

Sue is a Development Officer in the Norfolk Governor Support Service, part of the Norfolk Education Advisory Services. She works with colleagues to devise and deliver training courses for Norfolk's 7000 school governors. Within the team, Sue's areas of in-depth knowledge include personnel issues (including performance management and pay), use of data to aid school improvement, behaviour management and pupil exclusions.

Key image on page 1: Adapted from West-Burnham (1993) Appraisal Training Manual, p. 21;

Further acknowledgements

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material within this unit:

Extracts from Bush, T. and Middlewood, D. (1997) Managing People in Education, Paul Chapman Publishing;

Unit image courtesy of Esthr / Esther Dyson at Flickr

Every effort has been made to contact copyright owners. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.

Don't miss out

1. Join the 200,000 students currently studying with The Open University.

2. Enjoyed this? Browse through our host of free course materials on LearningSpace.

3. Or browse more topics on OpenLearn.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence