TABLE OF CONTENT

Introduction .1

Case Study: Teacher Appraisal System in Singapore School .2

Purposes of teachers’ evaluation .2.1

Impartial evaluation system .2.2

A Clear understanding of evaluation criteria .2.3

Controllability aspect and its implications on evaluation criteria .2.4

Teachers’ role in nourishing the evaluation system .2.5

.Significance of a healthy relationship between appraiser and appraisee .2.6

Conclusion .3

References
 Introduction .1

Stiggins and Bridgeford (1985) exhibited the increasing significance of performance

appraisal of teachers as crucial for raising their competency level and thereby the
quality of education. The performance appraisal facilitates enhancement of the
teachers’ attitude and behavior which have a direct impact on their performance.
While there are advantages of the concept, shed light on some of the few criticisms
which awarded this concept as an ineffective approach in amending the teaching style
of the teachers. Further in this context, it has been noted that the primarily appraising
teachers may lead to resultant conflict in selecting the formative purposes or
summative purposes for appraisal process, the problems in the context of deciding
appraisal criteria, concerns pertaining to validity of the methodology undertaken for
appraising performance, and reluctance of teachers in accepting their performance
.evaluation

An in-depth analysis of the applicability of the teachers’ appraisal system in Asia has
been very limited. Also within Asia, the research has primarily confined to Hong
Kong. The Ministry of Education in Singapore, in the year 2000, attached high
importance to this concept with introducing major structural shifts to align the
educational system with the concurrent changes. In order to ensure the effective
implementation of the system, the MOE announced that the appraisal outcomes of the
teachers will share a high correlation with their growth and success in the field. Thus,
from this an attempt was made to study the potential effects of the system on the
behavioral aspects of the teachers. Given the cultural biases and social differences, the
results from this study in the western settings may not replicate to the Singapore
.educational system

Case Study: Teacher Appraisal System in Singapore School .2

Purposes of teachers’ evaluation .2.1

The system for evaluating teachers’ performance is designed to reap multiple

objectives, including formative and summative purposes. While formative purposes
aim at assisting personal career developments needs of the teachers, the summative
purposes accounts for the performance compensation related decisions such as bonus.
The previous studies recommend that a successful assessment system should focus on
promoting a healthy competition and prevent undue emergence of stress related to
antagonism. One question which often poses obstacle in designing the appraisal
system relates to orientation issue as to whether the system should be formative or
summative in characteristic. One school of thought suggests that both the purposes are
acceptable; however the system should not be designed including both the purposes
simultaneously. While an opposite view recommends the acceptability of both,
formative and summative purposes in the single system. As per an empirical research,
it has been discovered that in developed countries like USA, UK and New Zealand,
the formative purposes prevail over the summative purposes with the former being
.acknowledged with the wider acceptance by the teachers and principals

In the context of Singaporian education system, the performance appraisal system

contains a lethal amalgamation of both the purposes, formative and summative. In the
light of the above, the prime goal of this research is rooted in the investigation of the
extent to which an amalgamated system of evaluation is imperative, to prevent undue
struggle and antagonism, and to promote the healthy spirit of competition within the
.teachers’ community
Impartial evaluation system .2.2

In this report, an attempt will be made to investigate the fairness level of the teachers'
evaluation system as any evaluation process should be fair and just in order to retain
its effectiveness. Cardy and Dobbins (1994) stated that with "feelings of unfairness in
process and inequity in evaluations, any appraisal system will be doomed to failure".
Generally, teachers readily accept the appraisal systems if they view it in the context
of “usefulness and fairness”. Previous studies highlighted the negative response to the
appraisal systems, received by the teachers, as the evaluation was highly subjective in
nature, the criteria selected did not match with the requisite teaching standards , due
rights of teachers were not fully protected, and the outcomes of the evaluation were
.not in line with the actual performance

A Clear understanding of evaluation criteria .2.3

An important issues which make a teacher appraisal a difficult task is the evaluation
of multiple intangible aspects that a teaching profession encompasses . Locke and
Latham (2002) highlights the goal setting theory that stresses on the importance of
stating the clear and understandable appraisal criteria and performance goals in order
to motivate the teachers. The latter argument has also been supported by the literature
on teacher appraisal. While this holds true, some of the studies presented iterates that
Chinese have wider acceptability of subjective evaluation and hence, they may be
more willing to accept an appraisal system which lacks clarity. Given that the subject
under study relates to Singaporean system, the teacher appraisal criteria should be
more of subjective in nature. Thus, we attempt to examine the relation between
understanding of evaluation criteria and the outcomes post the completion of
.evaluation

Controllability aspect and its implications on evaluation criteria .2.4

According to Merchant (1989), controllability forms the prime factor in infusing

effectiveness to the performance appraisal system and particularly when its
consequence can have an impact on the compensation. An uncontrollable system may
produce negative implications on the objective of appraisal and hence the outcome of
such an evaluation may not be of any use in highlighting the criteria teachers may
improve upon. Further in this context Stiggins and Bridgeford (1985) highlighted that
an evaluation which doesn’t have a just criteria may sow the seeds of frustration and
demoralization amongst the teachers. Thus, controlling an appraisal system and tying
its outcomes to the monetary rewards is inevitable, as evident from the outcomes of
the Singaporean teachers’ evaluation. Paik et al. (1996) sheds light on the prevalence
of collectivist nature of Singapore that lays a great emphasis on the group
development against the individual achievement. Thus, from this we can drive that
Singapore teachers may accept a system which is based on achieving group targets
than individual teachers’ goals, managing which is more complicated and less
controllable in nature. Hence, our aim is to investigate the underlying correlation
.between the controllability aspect of an evaluation criterion and its results

Teachers’ role in nourishing the evaluation system .2.5

No appraisal process can meet the desired objectives until it secures a greater
participation from the group under evaluation. In the similar context, it has been
advocated that the success of teachers' evaluation process it is imperative that teachers
get involved in the evaluation process as it would provide a constructive platform to
the teachers for their professional development believed that increased participation in
the appraisal system is directly correlated to the wider acceptance of the system. Thus,
involving teachers in the evaluation process would ensure that the system results in
successful realization of goals and that it would enable teachers to set the performance
.expectations in accordance to their potential

.Significance of a healthy relationship between appraiser and appraisee .2.6

Previous studies throw light on the importance of a healthy relationship between the
teachers and their evaluators, and also it is inevitable that the appraisers possess
adequate level of creditability in order to ensure an effective appraisal. The prime aim
of developing a sound relationship between the appraisers and appraisee lies in the
fact that owing to a positive sentiment, the teachers would take the feedback in a
.constructive manner and would genuinely attempt to improve on the lacking areas

Conclusion .3
The positive perception of teachers towards an appraisal system can be achieved by
designing a fair system of appraising, thereby ensuring higher satisfaction and
motivation levels amongst teachers. Also, undertaking an evaluation system which is
controllable in nature provides a feeling of satisfaction to the teachers and they feel
relatively less vehement due to the evaluation process. Further, the development of a
sound relationship between the teachers and the appraisers form a premise for a
healthy appraisal system that may foster a collaborative, healthy, and prosperous
working environment in schools. In this study, we could not secure any tangible
evidence in support of the teachers’ role in the enhancement of the evaluation system.
The latter may be due to the prevalence of paternalistic top-down leadership style in
Singaporean teachers which prevents them in valuing the significance of wider
participation from the teachers’ community

:References
Cardy, R.L. and Dobbins, G.H. (1994), Performance Appraisal: Alternative .1
.Perspectives, Southwestern Publishing, Cincinnati, OH
Locke, E.A. and Latham, G.P. (2002), “Building a practically useful theory of .2
goal setting and task motivation”, American Psychologist, Vol. 57 No. 9, pp.
.705-17
Merchant, K.A. (1989), Rewarding Results: Motivating Profit Center.3
.Managers, Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, MA
Stiggins, R.J. (1986), “Teacher evaluation: accountability and growth systems.4
.– different purposes”, NASSP Bulletin, Vol. 70 No. 490, pp. 51-8