Teacher Appraisal and PRP - Part Five: The Feedback Meeting, Target-Setting and CPD

The Feedback Meeting with the appraisee should take place as soon as possible after the line-managers have agreed a moderated and standardised version of the Appraisal Grid:

The Feedback Meeting fundamentally is a dialogue about teacher improvement.

The aim of the meeting is not to agree a final version of the appraisal grid - it is to have a constructive, informed conversation about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the appraisee and, above all, to set personal professional development targets for the following year.

Discussion of those areas where there is a difference of judgement:

There is clearly scope for a discussion where there is a difference of opinion between the self-assessment of the appraisee and that of the line-manager. Here the question of evidence will need to be discussed and the reasons for the different judgement explored.

1. The appraisee may over-estimate his or her performance.  In these instances it is incumbent on the line-manager to explain what the appraisee needs to do in order to meet the next level. This is a very important aspect for the credibility of the process:  the line-manger needs to have a good understanding of what it takes to be considered 'outstanding'. At the end of the day, there is nothing lost by the line-manager and appraisee agreeing to differ, so long as there are clear professional development outcomes.
2. The appraisee may under-estimate his or her performance.  These instances are an opportunity for line-managers to build up, praise their team-member and build up his/her confidence.

Target-setting

The whole appraisal structure is focused on Teacher/HoD/SLT improvement. 

The Appraisal Grids themselves point the way to target-setting. If, as a HoD, I put myself in column 2, assessing myself as 'meeting expectations/good', I have automatically set myself the target of being outstanding - the description for which is already in front of me.

The purpose of the Feedback Meeting is to select which 2-4 areas are going to be the priority for the next academic year. The role of the Line-manager is to set intermediate targets for the appraisee so that s/he can make that progress over the coming year. 

CPD

At Berkhamsted, alongside these developments in our Appraisal system, we have put in place a twilight programme of INSET with eight major stands:

1. GTP
2. NQT
3. General Teacher
4. Head of Department  (Academic Middle Management)
5. Assistant Head of Department
6. Head of House  (Pastoral Middle Management)
7. Assistant Head of House
8. Senior Leadership Team (including a Senior Leadership Reading Group)

All staff are required to attend at least four of the eight twilight INSET sessions during the year.  Each of the strands of next year's CPD programme will be devised in light of the training needs that come out of this year's appraisal rounds.  

(For more information on this see Dr Nick Dennis' blogpost: CPD Development #1)

Next Post in Series

Links to related posts on Teacher Appraisal and PRP:

• Part One: Background Thinking behind Berkhamsted School's approach
• Part Two: The Berkhamsted School HoD Appraisal PRP Consultation
• Part Three: The Self Appraisal Stage
• Part Four: The Review and Moderation Stage
• Part Five: The Feedback Meeting, Target Setting and CPD
• Part Six:  PRP for HoDs and Teachers