Who Should Evaluate Teachers’ Performance at Schools?

Abstract

Correct determination of whether or not the objectives are achieved or of the level of achievement of the objectives is vital in educational organizations.  In this context, one of the indicators of how teachers serve the organizational objectives is performance evaluation. In Turkish Educational System, the evaluation of the performance of teachers has long been considered a problem. The major question related to the performance evaluation is who should perform it. This study aims to determine who should perform the performance evaluation of teachers and the grounds for why it should be performed by them, based on the opinions of teachers, administrators and education inspectors. This study, which was designed with a qualitative approach, uses descriptive analysis to analyze data. The study included 60 participants, including 20 teachers, 20 administrators and 20 education inspectors.  It is possible to say that as a result, the study revealed an agreement that the performance evaluation should be made by school principals. Close observation and knowing teachers better were cited as the primary grounds for this choice of participants. On the other hand, it can be said that participants expressed their reservations about the school principals' "acting biased" and "being incompetent".  Another significant finding is that teachers, administrators and education inspectors reported that the issue of "objectivity" may occur with regard to performance evaluation. According to the results from the study, it can be claimed that school principals should be used in performance evaluation process but the issues of confidence, objectivity and incapability should be eliminated.

Keywords: Teacher, performance evaluation, MoNE