An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 5 – Employee Evaluations

B. P EER R EVIEWS The use of a peer review process adds some of the benefits of the 360 evaluation, but focuses more on the employee’s performance as it relates to his or her colleagues. For teachers in particular, this may be a helpful process, allowing teachers to observe each other in action, and then meet to discuss what they saw, including areas for both improvement and praise. Employers should make sure that all who are participating in the peer review process are given clear instructions regarding how they are to observe and critique others, avoiding personal attacks or the influences of personal friendships. Newer teachers in particular may benefit from this type of evaluation, as they gain the wisdom of those more experienced in the field. C. S ELF -A SSESSMENTS It is often helpful to get a sense for how an employee views his or her own performance as part of the evaluation process. This allows employers to see if there are any blind spots, where the employee’s assessment is vastly different from that of either the supervisor, or peers, or both. This may help the supervisor tailor the evaluation more precisely, focusing on the areas where the employee may not be aware there is a concern or sometimes to recognize achievements the supervisor is not aware of otherwise. If employees are able to see the criteria on which they are being evaluated, it adds transparency to the process and motivates them to succeed in areas that are important to the employer. Reviewing an employee’s self-assessment before the rest of the process begins can be a first step in a more tailored, successful, and accurate evaluation. ONE: The Purpose of Performance Evaluations It is sometimes easy to view evaluations as just another record keeping requirement, without appreciating the importance of evaluations and how they impact the school. When writing performance evaluations, it is important to remember why you are writing the evaluation and the basic purpose and goals, which are:  Performance evaluations are an important tool for supervisors to communicate with employees, to recognize good performance and to identify performance deficiencies.  The performance evaluation should be written in order to document and bring about improvement when the employee’s performance has been substandard and improvement is imperative.  If the employee’s performance has been satisfactory, but not much more, the performance evaluation should be written in order to encourage improvement and identify the area(s) Section 6 T HE B ASIC R ULES F OR W RITING E VALUATIONS

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