System and leadership in performance appraisal 1
Running head: SYSTEM AND LEADERSHIP IN PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
Importance of System and Leadership in Performance Appraisal
1
Melissa Tuytens and Geert Devos
Department of Educational Studies, Ghent University
Author Note
Melissa Tuytens and Geert Devos
Department of Educational Studies, Ghent University, Belgium
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to:
Melissa Tuytens (Melissa.Tuytens@UGent.be)
Ghent University – Department of Educational Studies
Henri Dunantlaan 2 – 9000 Gent – Belgium
Phone: +32 9 264 86 30 / Fax: +32 9 264 86 88
Melissa Tuytens is a researcher at the Department of Educational Studies, Ghent University
(Belgium). Her main research interests are in the field of teacher performance appraisal and
school leadership. She is currently working on a Ph.D. thesis on the implementation of teacher
performance appraisal policy.
1
This manuscript has been accepted for publication in Personnel Review (2012; volume 41 issue 6). Please do not
cite without permission of the authors.
System and leadership in performance appraisal 2
Geert Devos, Ph.D., is an associate professor in educational administration at the Department of
Educational Studies, Ghent University (Belgium). His current research areas include educational
leadership, school organization and improvement.
Importance of System and Leadership in Performance Appraisal
Abstract
Purpose: Performance appraisal is used internationally to improve employee performance, also
in the educational field. However, doubts exist about the effectiveness of performance appraisal.
This study wants to contribute by expanding the knowledge about important context variables of
performance appraisal in secondary education. In particular, the study examines the role of both
characteristics of the teacher performance appraisal system and the school leader for procedural
justice and perceived feedback utility by teachers. Methodology: Both interviews with school
leaders and a questionnaire for teachers were used to collect our data in 32 schools. Path analyses
(n=298) were used to test our research model. Findings: The results indicate that teacher
participation in the teacher performance appraisal system significantly influences the perceived
procedural justice by teachers which in its turn significantly influences the perceived feedback
utility. The role of the school leaders is found to be extremely important. Charismatic leadership
influences both directly and indirectly (through procedural justice) the perceived feedback utility
by teachers. Originality: Our study contributes to the research field of (teacher) performance
appraisal by studying empirically appraisal system characteristics and leadership characteristics
that effect appraisal reactions. In this regard, this study responds to the need for more empirical
research to uncover the social context of performance appraisal, especially in the field of
education where there is a general skepticism towards teacher appraisal and its possible positive
outcomes.
System and leadership in performance appraisal 3
Keywords: performance appraisal, feedback utility, procedural justice, charismatic leadership,
secondary education
Type of article: research paper
Importance of System and Leadership in Performance Appraisal
Introduction
Performance appraisal is acknowledged as one of the most important human resource
practices (Judge and Ferris, 1993). Even in public sector human resource management (HRM),
performance appraisal is recognized as a feature of „new managerialism‟ (Johnson and Shields,
2007). Truss (2008) reports a renewed attention to HRM in public administration to enhance the
selection and retention of good personnel. This trend is also noticeable in the educational field
where reforms often display a focus on accountability (Fink 2003). Following this approach,
many governments took the initiative to implement teacher performance appraisal in education
(Timperley and Robinson 1997). Fletcher (2001) defines performance appraisal as „a variety of
activities through which organizations seek to assess employees and develop their competence,
enhance performance and distribute rewards‟ (p.473). This developmental approach to
performance appraisal has gained influence, also in the educational field. However, doubts about
the practical usefulness of performance appraisal exist (Frase and Streshly, 1994). Overall, in the
HRM field, there has been an ongoing debate about the effects of HRM practices on
performance, the so called “opening the black box” – debate (Farndale, Hope-Hailey & Kelliher,
2011). In this debate, performance is often filled in as organizational or corporate performance
(e.g. Guest, Michie, Conway & Sheehan, 2003). However, Wright and Nishii (2007) explain that
System and leadership in performance appraisal 4
in order to increase organizational outcomes, individuals‟ reactions must coincide with one
another to achieve a positive outcome at the organizational level.
When we apply this reasoning in the educational context on teacher performance appraisal
with a clear developmental focus, we notice several context specific difficulties for the
implementation and use of teacher performance appraisal. Hyslop-Marginson and Sears (2010)
describe these specific characteristics of the teaching profession. First, the teaching profession is
characterized by professional autonomy which should enhance teacher responsibility by
identifying them as the primary authors of their own success or failure. Hence, teachers should be
accountable in the same manner as other professionals. However, such accountability should be
accomplished by a professional community and not by external pressure. Second, teaching is
characterized by „a complexity that is difficult to understand for those not directly involved in the
profession‟ (p.7). Current accountability measures might ignore these specific characteristics of
the teaching profession.
In this regard, Frase and Streshly (1994) argue that teacher performance appraisal in many
cases is perfunctory and provides too little meaningful feedback for teachers to improve their
teaching practice. However, before entirely giving up on teacher performance appraisal, more
empirical research is needed to clarify the outcomes of performance appraisal practices,
especially in the educational field, where HRM practices only recently gained influence. Hence,
it is important to analyze if the involvement of the local professional community (both teachers
and principals) can influence their perception about teacher performance appraisal.
More research is needed to identify those characteristics of teacher performance appraisal
systems that are important to improve the teaching practice. Moreover, teacher performance
appraisal research should take into consideration context variables (e.g. leadership variables)
System and leadership in performance appraisal 5
because these variables may influence teacher reactions to their performance appraisal (Nathan,
Mohrman and Milliman, 1991; Levy and Williams, 2004).
In this study, we will analyse performance appraisal system characteristics and school
leadership in the context of the new educational policy of teacher performance appraisal issued
by the Flemish government (Belgium) in 2007. Traditionally, teacher performance appraisal was
not exercised on a regular basis in Flemish secondary schools. The new policy obliges secondary
schools in Flanders to evaluate all their teachers every four years, starting in September 2007.
The teacher performance appraisal process starts with the appointment of two evaluators, superior
in rank to the teacher. Next, a job description for the individual teacher is developed. This job
description contains clear standards for the work of the teacher. The further appraisal process
focuses on coaching and professional growth of the teacher during at least two appraisal
conferences (one formative and one summative). At the end of this process an evaluation report is
handed to the teacher (Department of Education, 2007).
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework that guided this study is shown in Figure 1. Our research wants
to contribute to the field by studying the effects of several teacher performance appraisal system
characteristics and leadership on the perceived procedural justice of the teacher performance
appraisal system and on the perceived feedback utility by teachers which is an important premise
for teacher action in response to the feedback (Ilgen, Fisher and Taylor, 1979). By studying these
relationships, we want to assess whether teacher performance appraisal has the potential to reach
its main goal, the actual improvement of teacher performance and hence, student learning.
<Insert Figure 1 here>
Effective teacher performance appraisal
