“The development of more effective arrangements for performance management is being taken forward as part of the development of a “new professionalism”. This includes:
- developing a culture where teachers and headteachers feel confident and empowered to participate fully in performance management
- the acknowledgement of teachers’ and headteachers’ professional responsibility to be engaged in effective, sustained and relevant professional development throughout their careers and to contribute to the professional development of others, and
- the creation of a contractual entitlement for teachers to effective, sustained and relevant professional development as part of a wider review of teachers’ professional duties.
“RIG is committed to developing a system where those who manage teachers and headteachers engage in a professional dialogue with them, respect them as professionals, and make decisions about their work and contribution in an open and fair manner, in the context of the national framework and any relevant agreements secured by pay partners. RIG is also committed to ensuring that the arrangements for performance management in schools are consistent with the principles and practice of equal opportunities and the legislative requirements and duties which apply to schools and local authorities. Schools need to ensure that their individual arrangements are managed effectively, transparently and fairly, and applied consistently.
“Performance management is the process for assessing the overall performance of a teacher or headteacher, in the context of the individual’s job description and the provisions of the STPCD [School teachers' pay and conditions document], and making plans for the individual’s future development in the context of the school’s improvement plan. Professional standards provide the backdrop to discussions about performance and future development. The standards define the professional attributes, knowledge, understanding and skills for teachers at each career stage.
“RIG has sought to develop non-bureaucratic, streamlined and multi-purpose arrangements for teachers’ performance management which build on the existing system and reflect partners’ overarching commitment to raising standards and tackling workload. The information and data that schools collect for performance management should be capable of being used in a number of different ways, for example, for school self-evaluation and school improvement and development planning. Schools should use the data collected for performance management to inform other processes. RIG believes that streamlining the process in this way is essential to ensure that bureaucracy and workload for all parties is kept to a minimum.”
Teachers and Headteachers Performance Management Guidance: Rewards and Incentives Group (RIG - October 2006)
