Appraisal of school leaders
What should we appraise?
Effective leadership is vital to the success of a school. Leadership appraisal can therefore be much more than an annual judgement about whether an individual has met a set of targets. When thoughtfully designed, it can help a school identify what matters most, understand the contribution of its leaders and create the conditions for continued professional growth and school improvement.
The starting point should not be a list of performance indicators. It should be a clear understanding of the school's context, its key relationships, its strategic priorities and the conditions that are critical to its success.
Effective appraisal asks not only how well is this leader performing, but also is this leader making the contribution the school most needs and what evidence do we have that this leadership is making a difference?
On this page we consider:
- why appraise school leaders?
- what makes appraisal effective?
- what should leaders be appraised against?
- how can appraisal connect individual leadership to school strategy?
- how can we distinguish activities, performance measures and evidence of impact?
- how can 360-degree feedback contribute to appraisal?
- how can appraisal support both accountability and professional growth?
The page also provides a tool for 360-degree feedback based on the seven leadership intelligences described by the IB.
Start with what matters most
The most useful appraisal systems help leaders understand:
what matters most → what their leadership contribution is → what evidence demonstrates progress → what has changed → what they should do next.
Appraisal should therefore be viewed as part of a wider cycle of professional learning and school improvement rather than as an isolated annual event. A common weakness in performance management is to begin by deciding what can be measured. This can lead to a long list of targets and KPIs which are individually reasonable but collectively fail to reflect what is most important to the success of the school.
A more strategic approach is to work backwards.
(1) First ask: What must we get right if the school is to succeed? These are the school's critical success factors. These describe the conditions that must be in place if the school is to succeed.
(2) Then ask: What are we going to focus on to ensure these conditions are in place? These become the school's strategic priorities. These identify where the school is deliberately choosing to concentrate leadership attention, resources and action.
(3) Only then should leaders identify the actions they will take and the evidence that will demonstrate whether those actions are producing the desired results. These become the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
The key principle is: Do not start with the KPI. Start by identifying what is critical to success.
This is a one-page visual I created with the help of AI to ‘tell the story’ of our school and where the Head of School KPIs fit within this story:
What should you appraise?
Appraisal processes often begin with leadership standards or competency frameworks. These can provide useful starting points, but they should not become a checklist of disconnected behaviours.
The seven IB Leadership Intelligences provide useful lenses through which to consider leadership practice:
On this page we have taken the seven IB Leadership Intelligences as our benchmark for establishing leadership standards against which a school leaders' performance can be assessed.
Appraisal Tool: 360 Degree Feedback
The idea of appraising a leaders performance from multiple perspectives is an accepted way of working in the business world and other fields. It is less common in the educational world. However, such a tool can be very valuable for seeking instructive feedback from other leaders and teachers, as well as school governors or superintendants.
This 360 degree feedback enables the Appraisee to get feedback from a variety of people they have either worked with or for. This helps the Appraiser gain feedback on what the individual has done well and provides guidance on improvements and development areas.
The Appraiser and Appraisee should agree who the forms should be sent to (typically one from a colleague or peer and one from a direct report). I would recommend that a wider range of feedback is sought from a maximum of four people, which can include a range of stakeholders in the school community (governors, students, parents, staff, administrative staff, educational partners).
It is the responsibility of the Appraisee to distribute the forms (at least two weeks before the PPA date) and to ensure that they are returned to the Appraiser at least one week before the meeting takes place. The Appraiser will then share the feedback during the PPA discussion.
Strategic Leadership:
This is the leadership intelligence required to "respond appropriately to the present, creating the future and anticipating the consequences" (MacGilcrest).
Strategic thinking involves collaboratively establishing and creating alignment to a shared vision, recognizing emerging trends, developing school strategy and effectively managing change within the school. The IB Standards and Practices talk about the leaders' role in aligning school mission and philosophy with that of the IB and ensuring 'buy in' from the whole school community.
As you consider their strategic leadership abilities ask yourself the following - ‘to what extent does the school leader’:
- Regularly articulate and promote a vision for the school’s future in collaboration with the school community?
- Develop and articulate shared school values?
- Engage in collaborative strategic planning and programme implementation activities
- Build alliances and partnerships in and outside the school?
- Make decisions which reflect deep understanding of issues and how they relate to students, staff and parents?
- Manage resources to respond to changing needs and improve whole school outcomes?
Cultural Intelligence:
Cultural intelligence is required to navigate the complex cultural terrain of IB World Schools.
IB leaders are continually interacting with people and ideas from different cultural traditions. In many cases this is because they are working with a large number of cultures in their student and staff body, be it in national or international schools. IB leaders are also responsible for leading on IB programmes which have international mindedness at their heart.
The IB's stated aim is to "promote intercultural understanding and respect ... as an essential part of life in the 21st century" (IBO 2015). It is the role of the IB leader to harness the human potential within the diverse school communities and create a shared culture that not only respects and celebrates cultural diversity but also sees it as essential for intercultural learning.
As you consider the quality of the leaders’ cultural leaders ask yourself the following questions. To what extent does the school leader:
- Demonstrate a commitment to international mindedness, promote intercultural understanding and respect?
- Understand cultural expectations of themselves as leaders and others within their community, and demonstrate flexibility in meeting those expectations?
- Understand differing cultural expectations of teaching, learning and education?
- Balance diverse cultural expectations in the service of achieving the school vision?
Pedagogical Leadership:
Pedagogical intelligence is required to lead an effective teaching and learning community. IB Standards and Practices are clear that IB leaders are "expected to demonstrate pedagogical leadership aligned with the philosophy of the programmes."
IB leaders recognize the impact of a pedagogical style of leadership on student outcomes. They are responsible for developing a school culture that fosters and values professional learning. They acknowledge that the IB has a constructivist view of knowledge, i.e. schools as places where knowledge and meaning is constructed. They show a commitment to professional inquiry, collaborative learning practices and research. Thomas Sergiovanni speaks of the role of the leading in “developing the social and academic capital for students, and intellectual and professional capital for teachers.”
As you consider their pedagogical leadership ask yourself the extent to which the school leader:
- Leads, facilitates and promotes a collaborative professional culture in the faculty?
- Leads the learning and development of teachers whilst learning alongside them about what works and what doesn't?
- Have expert knowledge about contemporary teaching and learning practices? Understand and interpret the IB programme's curriculum and the IB approaches to teaching and learning?
- Ensure professional development is linked to improved teacher performance and student outcomes?
- Have formal review and renew policies and practices to inform educational decisions?
- Hold teachers to account by articulating SMART goals and motivate them to achieve them?
- Understand and use research and high quality data for school improvement?
Relational Leadership:
Relational intelligence is required to create a collaborative culture and a cohesive school community focused on achieving agreed shared goals.
IB World Schools can often be complex and richly diverse communities. The challenge for IB leaders is to understand all stakeholder expectations (both internal and external) and support all to work together to achieve better outcomes for students. They demonstrate contextual sensitivity to others. The IB Learner Profile draws attention to three attributes which are very clearly associated with relational intelligence: communicators, principled and caring.
As you consider the school leaders’relational leadership ask yourself - to what extent does the school leader:
- Focus on cultivating trusting, respectful and collaborative relationships across the whole school?
- Ensure systems and resources are adequate to nurture collaboration and that people feel they can take creative risks?
- Demonstrate the ability to engage with people who hold different (cultural) values, show empathy for them and their perspectives?
- Promote and build the leadership capacity of others, developing future leaders through coaching, mentoring and succession planning?
- Model, promote and develop positive, respectful relationships within the school and wider community?
Entrepreneurial Leadership:
Entrepreneurial intelligence is required to lead the school in creative ways through the inevitable changes that schools experience. IB leaders who exhibit this intelligence demonstrate a commitment to active, creative and discovery-driven engagement. They promote, and evaluate new ideas and practices, take intellectual risks and support others in these endeavours. They expect change and respond in creative ways.
One of the IB Learner Profile attributes is 'risk-taking' which is described as approaching "uncertainty with forethought and determination ... to explore new ideas and innovative strategies ... (being) resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges and change."
To what extent does the school leader:
- Creatively generate new ideas, redefine problems and act persuasively to get people alongside these new ideas?
- Analytically redefine and formulate problems to find new solutions, and use resources effectively to solve problems?
- Demonstrate that they are open to new opportunities as they arise?
- Look to balance new ideas and practices and the school community's capacity to implement them?
Reflective Leadership:
IB leaders embody the IB Learner Profile and work to put critical reflection at the core of professional activity. The ability to reflect is a key attribute of that profile: "they work to understand their strengths and weaknesses in order to support their learning". Reflective intelligence is essential to solving problems in complex and changing environments. Reflective intelligence also includes the ability to be reflexive, i.e. the ability to question one's own way of doing things with the potential of changing practice.
To what extent does the school leader:
- Continually reflect on their leadership style and the impact their leadership is having on others?
- Inquire into leadership practice, engage in professional learning activities, reflect on their own leadership practice and carry out action research?
- Listen to others and gather information so as to help solve problems?
- Ensure congruence between leadership stance and actions?
- Continually assess the impact their leadership is having on student outcomes, using data to inform themselves?
- Critically analyze their own leadership practice, critique their own performance and model an attitude to lifelong professional learning?
- Question assumptions to find creative ways forward?
Heuristic leadership:
Heuristic intelligence is concerned with the ability to make decisions in complex situations. Leaders use it when making crucial judgments. Underpinning heuristic intelligence is the need to make decisions and rapid judgments with the big picture in mind.
IB leaders do not always have the time or luxury to carry out deep reflection and analysis of a situation before they make decisions. An example of when they may have to use heuristic intelligence is in the recruitment of teachers when the decision is sometimes based on a judgment call.
As you consider the school leaders’ heuristic leadership ask yourself - to what extent does the school leader:
- Make timely and considered decisions, drawing on past experiences to ensure that the right action is taken at the right time?
- Understand multiple perspectives of complex issues and align decision-making and priorities with vision and mission?
- Analyze and evaluate alternative potential outcomes?
- Take time to pause, reflect and consult with stakeholders before making decisions?
- Maintain integrity in the face of disparate voices and significant pressure?
Top tips for effective appraisal
The Wallace Foundation document identifies the following traits of successful appraisal processes:
It is fair and reliable. Appraisal should reach similar conclusions if two or more similar leaders are appraised in similar conditions. This makes the process consistent.
- It is part of a process of continual professional development – evaluation needs to be clearly linked to professional development and mentoring opportunities. It should identify and acknowledge strengths and aim to improve performance.
- It measures what it is intended to measure. It is tied to accepted leadership standards, and especially focuses on the leaders’ impact on the learning of the school community. The school should have a conceptual understanding of how leaders improve student and staff learning.
- It supports whole school goals. Is what you are appraising (assessing / measuring) clearly related to the desired learning outcomes of the school? How, for example, does an individual leader develop the (instructional) leadership capacity of others? Appraisal should promote necessary school change rather than reinforce the status quo. It is all about continual school improvement.
- It is relevant: the appraisal should be relevant to the most important challenges facing the school. It should also acknowledge the context of the school and the leadership challenges the school is facing.
- It is evidence based. The data base should include but not be limited to academic test scores. It should focus on behaviours and actions, rather than knowledge and (personality) traits. Measuring personal characteristics by, for example, popularity, level of parental complaints may distract appraisal from a core purpose of how leadership is impacting learning.
- It provides actionable feedback on that which matters most – this allows leaders to professionally grow and address weaknesses.
- It should be flexible enough to take different contexts and career stages into account.
Reflect
The following questions can be used in groups to reflect on your current appraisal process.
- How do you appraise staff? Do you follow a traditional model in which you have an annual process with targets established at the beginning of the academic year, which are reviewed during the year and appraised against performance at the end of the year? Or is your process more organic and on-going emphasizing frequent, informal feedback, coaching and mentoring?
- What is your appraisal process aiming to achieve? Is it aimed at holding people accountable for past behaviour or is it about developing people, improving current performance and nurturing talent for the future? To what extent does your appraisal process improve individual performance and developing skills for future roles?
- What do participants feel about your appraisal process? What do they think are the aims? Do they look forward to their appraisal review or is it a bureaucratic chore to be endured? Do they feel that the process helps them continually improve their performance? What do you think they would say are the strengths and weaknesses of your current appraisal process?
- How effective is your appraisal system? Judged by whom? What does it achieve? How has your school changed as a result? To what extent does your appraisal process let people know how they are doing? How effective is it in identifying ways to improve performance?
- Is your appraisal process relevant to modern working practices and needs? Traditional appraisal processes have focused on the individual at fixed moment in time. However, today peoples' jobs are often complex and diverse.Jobs have also become more complex and rapidly change shape. Is it any longer practical to set annual goals which will continue to be meaningful 12 months later? Furthermore, at a time when we encourage teamwork and high degrees of collaboration how relevant is it to appraise individual contributions?
Dig deeper
A useful article providing contextual background on the appraisal process and how it has developed over the last 100 years is The Performance Management Revolution, Peter Cappelli, Harvard Business Review (October 2016). Click here to access it. The article provides reasons why many global corporations are dropping annual appraisals in favour of on-going processes which allow people to solve problems in current performance while also developing skills for the future. In the words of one Deloitte manager: “The conversations are more holistic. They’re about goals and strengths, not just about past performance.” Deloitte's have also found that its new model of frequent, informal check-ins has led to more meaningful discussions, deeper insights, and greater employee satisfaction.
The Wallace Foundation's work on assessing school leaders provides useful insights into what effective leadership assessment should seek to accomplish, including the importance of assessing what matters most and connecting leadership to learning and school improvement. (‘Assessing the effectiveness of school leaders: new directions and new processes’ (March 2009) by the Wallace Foundation.)
The Harvard Business Review article Create KPIs That Reflect Your Strategic Priorities by Graham Kenny provides a useful reminder that organisations should not begin with a list of KPIs. Instead, they should first identify the relationships and conditions that are critical to organisational success and then develop a balanced set of meaningful measures.