Teacher appraisal in schools has improved curriculum delivery

A major focus in the provision of quality education in the 21st Century is establishment of high standards of teaching in schools, which requires teachers to adapt teaching to learners’ needs and new classroom dynamics.

But as the 2017/18 Global Education Monitoring Report has acknowledged, delivery of high quality instruction is dependent on availability and institutionalisation of teacher accountability systems which, crucially, relay feedback to education sector stakeholders.

Second, the systems ensure that teachers are accountable to learners, parents, communities and professional colleagues.

Even with technological advancement in instruction, teachers remain the most important input in the teaching-learning matrix anywhere.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Moreover, most countries, including Kenya, allocate a significant proportion of national resources to education, most of which goes to remuneration of teachers.

Third, they provide a yardstick to demonstrate and measure accountability.

This could be through observing teachers at work, analysing pupils’ performance, carrying out surveys on learning outcomes or conducting school evaluation to assess effectiveness of teachers in curriculum delivery.

They also ensure curriculum implementation is properly monitored and learning outcomes quantified.

Lastly, the systems inform critical management decisions such as assignment, promotion, professional development or even sanctions.

TEACHER APPRAISAL
In Kenya, a teacher appraisal programme in form of performance contracting for heads of institution and Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) for all teachers remains one of the most effective and systematic accountability systems in the country’s teaching service.

Heads of institutions are assessed against key performance indicators including prudent financial management, service delivery to learners and other key stakeholders, leadership in curriculum implementation and human resource management and development.

TPAD mainly focuses on teacher preparedness to teach as demonstrated by preparation of schemes of work, lesson plans, lesson notes, maintenance of learners’ progress records, punctuality in school and class attendance, adherence to the school timetable, organisation of remedial work, innovation and use of ICT in teaching.

EXAM SCORES
To an extent, the 2017 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination results demonstrated the positive impact of the appraisal in the provision of quality teaching.

In less than two years of the system, KCPE exam scores in public schools have improved.

During a recent one-week monitoring of the appraisal by TSC, most heads of institution, teachers and school management boards cited drastic improvement in school and class attendance by teachers as one of its greatest impacts.

For many years, Kenya was ranked among countries with a high teacher absenteeism.

Teachers would miss lessons even when they were right within the school.

QUALITY LEARNING
Today, they routinely create time to recover missed lessons and provide remedial sessions.

The second major impact is improved teacher preparedness. Nowadays, most teachers get into the classrooms when they are better prepared to teach.

Thirdly, the appraisals have strengthened teamwork, collaboration and communication.

Schools are nurturing professional learning communities through collaborative peer-to-peer learning.

Finally, appraisals require face-to-face interaction between the appraiser and appraisee, inevitably improving communication, collaboration and team work.

This results in efficiency in curriculum delivery.

Mrs Macharia is the chief executive officer, Teachers Service Commission (TSC). This is an abridged version of her speech at the recent Kenya Primary School Heads Association annual delegates conference. [email protected].