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This article describes a study of a large urban school's teacher appraisal system to ascertain the teachers' perceptions of the purpose of the appraisal system in use. The study initially involved an examination of government promulgations, which establish the requirement for an appraisal system, and a similar examination of the school's documentation, which contextualise the system for the teachers concerned. A survey questionnaire and interviews were then used to establish the teachers' perceptions. The main finding from the study was that the teachers had no clear sense of purpose for the appraisal system and consequently had little commitment to it. The general view from the teachers was that appraisal in this school was of little value and wasted otherwise valuable time; it is ineffective. The findings may provide a useful insight for schools that are reviewing their appraisal systems and policies.

With the implementation of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education since April 2010, the responsibility and role of the teachers in Indian school has been changed. Once again, the teacher quality in Indian schools has taken a center stage in nation-wide debate. The discussion on teacher quality has reappeared in submitted report as Draft National Education Policy (DNEP) on May 31, 2019, that gets endorsement in cabinet approved NEP 2020. The evaluation, as a process and system, starts with the very moment when a teacher assumes its duties in K-12 schools. This chapter addresses the main research questions as: what is the status of teacher evaluation in Indian schools as mentioned in various Commission reports, policies, and draft regulations? How does teacher evaluation could be reframed for local setting based on global standards laid in international and multinational context? This chapter employs qualitative research through review of policies, draft regulations, research, articles, and government documents as data analysis and frames hypotheses through comparative analysis. The objectives of this chapter are to frame hypotheses regarding policies and recommendations for: teacher quality; teacher appraisal process; teacher appraisal in local, regional, and national settings; and teacher appraisal in multinational context.

Performance appraisal is used internationally to improve employee performance, also in the educational field. However, doubts exist about the effectiveness of performance appraisal. This study aims to contribute by expanding the knowledge about important context variables of performance appraisal in secondary education. In particular, the study aims to examine the role of both characteristics of the teacher performance appraisal system and the school leader for procedural justice and perceived feedback utility by teachers.

Both interviews with school leaders and a questionnaire for teachers were used to collect data in 32 schools. Path analyses (n=298) were used to test the research model.

The results indicate that teacher participation in the teacher performance appraisal system significantly influences the perceived procedural justice by teachers, which in its turn significantly influences the perceived feedback utility. The role of the school leaders is found to be extremely important. Charismatic leadership influences both directly and indirectly (through procedural justice) the perceived feedback utility by teachers.

This study contributes to the research field of (teacher) performance appraisal by studying empirically appraisal system characteristics and leadership characteristics that effect appraisal reactions. In this regard, this study responds to the need for more empirical research to uncover the social context of performance appraisal, especially in the field of education where there is a general skepticism towards teacher appraisal and its possible positive outcomes.

This paper seeks to report the findings of a study focusing on the state of teacher appraisal in Kenyan secondary schools and to argue for an improved (facilitating) model of teacher appraisal.

The study adopted a qualitatively‐oriented case study using multiple cases and drawing on multiple methods of data collection.

The findings indicate that teacher appraisal policies and practices in Kenyan secondary schools exhibit weaknesses, which need to be urgently addressed if teacher appraisal is to be used to improve the quality of teaching and education in Kenya.

Of the eight administrative regions in Kenya, only one region was selected for data gathering. The reason for restricting the scope of the study related to availability of time in the first instance and the need for in‐depth investigation. The research was also limited to a study of six secondary schools. While including more schools in the sample would have widened the focus of the study, limited time and funding made such a wider study prohibitive. Moreover, the six schools, consisting of two private schools, and four public schools of various sizes, provided the opportunity to study Kenyan secondary schools in a variety of contexts.

There is a dearth of research‐based information on teacher appraisal in third world countries – especially Kenya – and this paper will therefore in itself be beneficial to education policy makers. This paper offers a more sophisticated conceptualisation of teacher appraisal, thereby laying a foundation for subsequent investigations. Such a conceptualisation should serve as a basis, not only for evaluating the existing teacher appraisal system in Kenya, but also for offering guidance for future practice and policy.

In this chapter, a model to understand teachers’ professional identity, appraisals and behaviours in the classroom is presented and illustrated with empirical data. It is argued that the comparison between interpersonal identity standards and interpersonal appraisals of classroom situations results in two types of emotions experienced by teachers. One type of emotion is the direct result of teachers’ interpretations of, and coping with, specific classroom events whereby their emotions are part of the appraisal process of situations and evaluated in the light of their interpersonal role identity standards. The second type of emotion emerges as a result of tensions or dilemmas of prolonged differences between appraisals and identity standards. It is argued that the Teacher Interpersonal Identity Role and Appraisal model is helpful for both researchers and practitioners to better understand, recognise and support beginning (and experienced) teachers with emotions that occur in the classroom, and to help stimulate both their personal as well as professional development.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the attributes of the performance appraisal system used for primary school teachers in Singapore, and how those attributes affect satisfaction with the appraisal system, stress experienced with the appraisal system, attitudes towards performance bonus, job satisfaction and motivation, and perceived cooperativeness amongst teachers.

Data were obtained from surveys of primary school teachers in Singapore (n=85). The researchers used factor analysis to identify factors of appraisal system attributes and factors of teacher attitudes and perceptions, and then employed step‐wise multiple regressions to relate appraisal system attributes to teacher attitudes and perceptions.

The findings indicate that fairness of the performance appraisal system and clarity of appraisal criteria are related to greater satisfaction with the appraisal system, more positive attitudes towards performance bonus, and higher job satisfaction and motivation. Using appraisal criteria that are controllable is associated with greater satisfaction with the appraisal system, less stress experienced with the appraisal system, and higher job satisfaction and motivation. Finally, teachers who report greater trust in their appraiser and more positive assessment of their appraiser's credibility also report more cooperativeness amongst teachers in their school.

The paper provides insights on how various attributes of the performance appraisal system in the Singapore educational context are related to important outcomes such as job satisfaction and motivation. The findings may help primary school administrators design and implement more effective performance appraisal systems.

Critical appraisal skills are necessary to navigate the numerous contradictory and pseudo-scientific claims in the popular media. Health and science education in schools is essential for promoting these skills in students. The purpose of this paper is to explore lower secondary school science teachers’ perceptions and reported practices related to teaching critical appraisal of health claims.

Interpretive description strategy guided the study process. A purposeful sample of 25 Norwegian teachers was interviewed individually or in groups. Interviews were analysed using the constant comparative method.

One main theme, “unexploited opportunities for teaching critical appraisal”, and three sub-themes were identified: “inattentive to the relevance of critical appraisal”, “prioritise facts over critical appraisal”, “limited competency in critical appraisal”. Teachers’ descriptions of science sessions devoted to health education uncovered important opportunities for teaching critical appraisal of health claims. However, teachers did not appear to seize opportunities because they seemed inattentive to the relevance of teaching critical appraisal, they reported to prioritise teaching health content knowledge, and teachers themselves revealed limited expertise in assessing health claims critically.

The findings suggest that science teachers need support to take better advantage of the links between health and science education to enhance students’ critical appraisal skills.

This study adds depth to the understanding of issues and challenges faced by science teachers regarding critical appraisal of health claims, which is an important aspect of health education schools.

The article aims to provide an insight into the perspectives and possibilities of implementing the performance‐related pay in the Estonian general educational schools. It also aims to test two propositions regarding factors that influence school performance and teachers' and school managers' opinions about performance management.

A total of 298 school managers and 2,165 teachers from general educational schools in Estonia participated in the study. The factor, regression and correlation analysis, independent samples t‐test and one‐way ANOVA analysis were used to study claims related to school management and performance and educational processes.

The results of the analysis show that besides teachers' activities and effectiveness factors, various school management factors play an important role in the shaping of the school performance and the opinions towards the implementation of performance appraisal and performance‐related pay.

The main limitation to the research is that it is difficult to measure the schools' outcome. Second, the study was mainly quantitative, with only a few open questions and thus, the respondents were neither able to give full answers nor provide explanations. Therefore, further case studies are needed to obtain a more precise overview.

Although performance‐related pay is seen as an important management tool for increasing schools' outcome, there is no clear overview as to how the school managers and teachers in Estonia look at the issue and which factors should be considered in implementing performance‐related pay.

The main purpose of this paper is to examine more closely the tension between, on the one hand, forms of internal school improvement based on internal evaluation measures and, on the other hand, control and legitimisation needs grounded on external evaluation measures.

The clash of these forms of evaluation is at the core of the paper, dealing in particular with the changing evaluation systems in the Cypriot education system. Therefore, the case study approach is utilised here. More specifically, the case of Cyprus is used as a system under transition in order to move from a primarily teacher inspection system, which is externally driven, to a combination of a teacher/school inspection system, which is based on both external and internal processes and is directed at both formative and summative evaluation processes.

It is asserted that the new proposed appraisal system for Cyprus addresses the deficiencies of the current evaluation system and generally aims at achieving a balance between external and internal processes. Finally, the conditions for the acceptance and successful implementation of new evaluation systems are described.

The results of the study constitute a rich setting of future developments for Cyprus schools with regard to important issues such as school accountability, school improvement, teacher evaluation, internal school evaluation and external inspection, through the proposed appraisal system. Therefore, the paper provides an important source of information for those who have the responsibility of creating educational policy and planning for the years to come in the area of teacher appraisal.

Research funded by the Albert Shanker Institute found African-American teachers leaving teaching at higher rates than White counterparts even though the former are recruited in proportionally higher numbers. Thus, while recruitment efforts appear somewhat successful, schools and school systems fail to retain teachers of color. This “revolving door” of African-American teachers portends dire consequences for school communities, creating instability of staffing that potentially upend students’ opportunities for academic success. African-American female (AAF) teachers, considered a backbone of non-White communities, are particularly sensitive to teacher mobility and turnover. Studies, however, indicate that AAF teachers are more satisfied working in urban school contexts than other teachers, suggesting that they prefer racially congruent schools which share sociocultural attributes similar to their own, and view working conditions more favorably in such environments.

Teachers’ perceptions of the workplace can be used to gauge risk for occupational stress. Commonly referred to as the transactional model, teachers’ risk for stress can be assessed by the appraising workplace resources vis-à-vis workplace demands. Stress-vulnerable teachers are associated with lower professional commitment and increased occupational burnout. Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics 2007–2008 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), this chapter explored the intersections of risk for occupational stress, racial congruence, and professional commitment among AAF teachers. Findings from this chapter suggest interactions between racial congruence and AAF teachers’ perceptions of occupational stress and commitment to teaching. Implications for how these results might inform policy are discussed.