Workshops
For
PRSD
INSET
Programme

WORKSHOP 1 – Making sense of PRSD for your school

The scheme for PRSD provides a framework for performance review in schools, but each

school will want – and need – to develop its own sense of what it means, how it should work

in the particular context of the school, what it should focus on and what benefits it can bring.

This workshop will help you to start thinking about the way in which you might see performance review operating in your school.

Explanation of the Activity

  • nine perspectives about performance review are set out below
  • read each statement carefully, Record with a ‘+’ sign those statements that concur with your beliefs or opinions about performance review and noting with a‘–‘ sign those with which you disagree
  • gather all the positive comments together and try to form them into a statement which summarises your sense of what performance review can do in your school
  • use this statement to complete the sentence “We will recognise PRSD as a success in our school when it…………………….”

The Nine Perspectives

A / strategy for maximising the efficient and effective deployment of teachers in the school
B / means by and through which schools can establish whether or not teachers are doing what they are expected to do to achieve key objectives
C / mechanism to enable teachers to access higher levels of pay
D / means of recognising and rewarding the most effective teachers,
E / device for promoting the kind of regular professional dialogue that supports the translation of shared values into consistent practice
F / system which enables leaders to monitor and evaluate the work of teachers and hold them accountable for their performance
G / a process that allows for identification of the professional development needs of teachers to support their professional learning and, by doing so, contribute to the achievement of the goals and values of the school
H / a scheme for enhancing teachers’ performance, thereby improving school results
I / a framework within which teachers are able to have professional conversations with each other without undue concern about the outcomes

A Note about this Activity

This activity invites and challenges you to explore what PRSD means and consider what its focus should be in your school. You might find it worth using in school, inviting your colleagues to set out their thoughts about the performance review and staff development

process and what they would like it to do.

The outcomes would help shape the school’s own PRSD policy.

5.4 Exploring the Potential Benefits of Performance Review

This activity focuses attention on the benefits that could bring to you and your school.

You will find ten statements about the benefits of Performance review below.

Read each one carefully and think about its relevance to your school as it is now. Then

on your own and without any discussion, put the statements into what you see as the

appropriate rank order. Put what you see as the most important statement first and the

least important last.

When you have completed the activity, discuss your order of priority with colleagues in

your school, exploring the similarities and differences and looking to see if a broad

consensus either emerges or can be achieved.

Ten Statements about the Benefits Performance Review Could Bring to a School

The Statements Your Rank Order

WORKSHOP 2 – Exploring the potential benefits of PRSD

Note: This is an activity that can be used with teachers in school as part of the in-school training on PRSD. Similar to the last workshop this will also lead to a shared understanding of the contribution that PRSD could make to the educational experience offered, to pupils, in the school.

Individual and groups of teachers can follow the steps outlined below in order to build up a consensus about what the benefits of PRSD would be in improving learning and teaching within a department and within the school

The purpose of this activity is to focus your attention on the benefits that PRSD could bring to your school. It may be that, when you have completed it, you will want to revisit the conclusions you reached at the end of the first workshop activity.

Explanation

  • ten statements about the potential benefits of PRSD to a school follow
  • read each one and think about its relevance to your school
  • on your own, put the statements into a rank order, giving first place to the one that seems the most important to you and last place to the one that seems least important
  • when you have done this, look back over your list and compare what it says with the statement you wrote at the end of the first activity
  • discuss your order of priority with others from your school or a partner

Statements

A / Greater consistency in pupils’ learning experiences
B / Higher levels of attainment for the school
C / Enhanced staff capability and capacity
D / High-quality working relationships
E / Higher-quality learning and teaching
F / The creation of a high-performance culture in the school
G / Better focused leadership and management support
H / Effective preparation for self-evaluation, inspection, Investors in People and the like
I / Clearer expectations of and better support for individual teachers
J / Greater control for teachers over their professional learning and career development

PRSD can become a significant catalyst to creating a high performance culture within the school. Linked to the school development plan it brings coherence to the work of principals and teachers in achieving the outlined strategic priorities. It has the potential to add substantial challenges and value to the work of the school, departments/teams and to the individual teacher and principal.

Potential benefits of PRSD to the school include

  • improved pupil attainments
  • quality improvement throughout the school
  • effective communication
  • improved organisational performance
  • linkages between organisation self-evaluation (TTI) and individual self-reflection on performance
  • linkages between school development planning and personal/shared objectives
  • improved team working
  • coherence to the school’s professional development activity
  • distributed leadership through increased teacher participation in decision making and career planning
  • reduction in bureaucracy
  • a key component of external awards – IIP, EFQM, National Training Awards

Potential benefits of PRSD to a school department and/or school team include

  • improved team-working
  • improved motivation and commitment
  • better overview of the work of the department and/or team
  • more insight and better working relationships with and between all staff
  • sharing of professional practice
  • commitment to departmental and/or team plans and goals

Potential benefits of PRSD to the individual (teacher / principal) include

  • clarification of individual, departmental/team and school objectives and priorities
  • better understanding of their contribution to the school
  • increased job satisfaction
  • opportunity to talk professionally to their reviewer
  • enhanced professional knowledge, skills and capability
  • feedback on current performance

greater awareness of strengths and areas for improvement

WORKSHOP 3 – Establishing Performance Objectives

The purpose of this activity is to give you an opportunity to think about what is involved in the first, critical, stage of the annual review process. The initial meeting at which the objectives for the review are established.

If this goes well and the objectives are clearly defined, the remaining stages are much easier to manage and, more important, the outcome of the review is likely to be of much greater value to everyone involved.

Explanation

You will find three essential pieces of information below:

  1. an outline of a fictional school’s development priorities. These could apply to any school or type of school
  2. some information about the fictional teacher whose performance is being reviewed
  3. the criteria applying to review objectives for teachers, as set out in the scheme

Working with another participant, use the information you have been given to write one possible review objective for the teacher concerned

Please use the framework below to record your progress.

A Checklist to Use for this Activity

  1. What is the proposed objective?
  2. Is the objective (a) personal or (b) shared? (PRSD Scheme 4.4)
  3. Which of the three areas set out in the scheme does it cover? (PRSD Scheme 4.4)
  4. How does the objective relate to the development plan? (PRSD Scheme 4.4)
  5. Is the objective (PRSD Scheme 4.4)
  • Specific?
  • Manageable?
  • Attainable?
  • Realistic?
  • Time-bound?
  1. What are the success criteria for the objective?
  2. What evidence will be collected to enable a decision to be made about the extent to which the objective has been achieved? (PRSD Code of Practice 2.7)

You should now be able to complete the one-page record sheet that follows

When you have finished, consider the objective that you have written and ask whether it is appropriately challenging for the teacher concerned

PRSD Planning Record for Stage 1 – Setting Objectives

WORKSHOP 4 – Completing a Review Statement

1I workshop 3, we asked you to write a proposed performance objective for a teacher about whom we have you a certain amount of information.

2This activity asks you to bring the review process for this teacher to a close by completing the review statement that you will find below.

3This activity is based on the following assumptions:

  • you are dealing with only oneof the teacher’s review objectives
  • the objective you are reviewing is ‘By June 2006 to ensure that all my pupils, during class, use ICT to prepare and present a minimum of 2 oral presentations’.
  • the success criteria agreed for this objective were

(a)teacher’s use of ICT to support learning, particularly pupil oral presentation work, would increase from the present use

(b)pupil’s oral presentations would include an ICT medium

(c)teacher and pupils use a range of presentation available on the school network

(d)teacher’s scheme of work and lesson plans include ICT

  • the evidence to be collected to enable a decision about the extent to which this objective was achieved was

(a)the targeted levels of attainment for all the pupils in June 200?

(b)the teacher’s plans for the year, setting out expected learning outcomes and strategies to be used

(c)a survey of pupils’ attitudes conducted by the teacher towards the end of the year, using a previously agreed format

(d)two classroom observations focusing on the use of ICT to promote improved standards of achievement in English

  • the evidence to be collected to enable a decision about the extent to which this objective was achieved included

(a)a sample of pupil’s presentations

(b)the teachers’ plans for the year, setting out expected learning outcomes and strategies used

(c)a survey of pupils’ attitudes conducted by the teacher towards the end of the year, using the school’s agreed self-evaluation proforma.

(d)Two classroom observations, one in term 1 and the second in term 2, focusing on the use of ICT in pupil’s classroom activity

(e)Update knowledge and skills on the use of presentation software on the school network

  • the evidence that was collected suggested that

(a)not all of the pupil’s presented their oral presentation using ICT.

(b)The classroom observations showed that the teacher had, through the use of ICT enhanced the work of pupils in their oral presentations

(c)Pupils across the ability range within the class were using ICT and the teacher was supporting their learning as they were using it.

(d)The classroom observation showed that the teacher used only one presentation software package.

(e)The self-evaluation proforma indicated that the most (84%) of the pupils said they were more motivated to learn by making more use of ICT

(f)All the pupils who presented their work using ICT were successful in the task

  • the evidence that was collected suggested that

(a)the other two review objectives were met fully

(b)the objective described above was not fully met

  • a reason was that the teacher5 discovered in the course of the year that his/her knowledge and understanding of relevant software programs was not what it needed to be
  • and that the utilisation of computers in the classroom needed to be reviewed and timetabled to increase pupil access

4. Taking all of this background information into account, please

complete the review statement below as if it was for the teacher concerned.

WORKSHOP 5 – Plenary

Reflecting on today’s presentation on PRSD, complete the following grid on an individual basis and then working with colleagues note the shared persepective.