Management of appraisal practices and performance of teachers in primary schools in Kampala district.

Abstract

There seems to be a problem about the procedure of conducting appraisal of teachers in primary schools in Kampala district and this was intriguing enough to have the researcher conduct a study to assess the management of appraisal practices and their effect on the performance of teachers in primary schools in Kampala district. The objectives of the study were to identify the types of appraisal practices used to assess teachers’ performance in primary schools in Kampala district; assess their fairness, establish their effect on the performance of teachers and to establish the challenges of conducting them in primary schools in Kampala district. The study was carried out in the district with schools selected from Kampala Central Division. It involved both Government and private primary schools. Information was collected from head teachers, deputy head teachers and teachers using questionnaires and interviews. From the four objectives, four research hypotheses that guided the study were derived and were tested using the Chi-square test and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Scientist Programme (SPSS). The major findings of the study included the different types of appraisal practices used which include; Confidential reports, Involving teachers in target setting, Appraisal interviews using the newly introduced staff performance appraisal form for public service, self -appraisal and appraisal by fellow teachers. It was noted that there is no mutual agreement in determining targets and belief that the appraisals were conducted at the right time. Results also indicated that there were a number of challenges encountered while conducting the appraisal exercise. These challenges include; failure for the head teachers to work out performance targets with their staff early enough, say at the beginning of every academic year, in order for the teachers to know areas where they are to be assessed, head teachers failing to supervise their teachers implying that they lack information about how their teachers are performing. There is another challenge of comparing performance and favoritism in the management of the appraisal process. There is need for head teachers therefore, to exercise fairness and honest while assessing teachers performance. All these should be addressed by having joint decision making about the appraisal exercise between the teachers and the school administrators. Head teachers should supervise their teachers so that they get to know them and how they perform. This will help them to appraise them genuinely. The study concluded that; there are different kinds of appraisal methods used in appraising teachers in primary schools. It was also concluded that there is fairness in the appraisal practices used in assessing the performance of teachers in Kampala district and that there is a relationship between appraisal practices and teachers performance in primary schools in the district. It also concluded that a number of Challenges affect the appraisal process. From the results of the study, the researcher recommended the need to improve the way appraisal practices are conducted and managed. The study also recommended the need for head teachers to fully sensitize their teachers about the purpose of the appraisal process before it is carried out. There is also the need to make the appraisal practices as fair as possible to all the teachers and also to establish a system through which the teachers can be ranked in terms of performance so that action to help those who are weak is sought, and finally the study recommended the need to minimize the challenges that were found to affect the appraisal exercise.