Posted by Elizabeth Counts on Wed, Jul 28, 2010 @ 12:35 PM
In many parts of America, high school students who aren’t college bound have limited options. In Pennsylvania’s Reading and Muhlenberg School Districts, students enjoy broader educational horizons. Through work-based learning opportunities in 31 programs, the Reading Muhlenberg Career & Technology Center (RMCTC) prepares students for careers or for post-secondary education.
RMCTC teachers follow educational best practices to help students compete in the workplace. Using PerformancePAM Talent Management software, school administrators initiated a unique process to help teachers achieve this goal.
Promoting Best Practices
Among their tenured teachers, RMCTC stresses professional development versus performance evaluation. “In my opinion, the clinical supervision method to improve pedagogy is not effective. When an administrator observes a class, teachers tend to present their best lesson and students are on their best behavior. As a result, it’s an artificial environment,” says Administrative Director Gerald Witmer.
To counteract this, RMCTC administrators invite tenured teachers to participate in a voluntary professional development process. (Last year, 100% of eligible teachers participated.) The first day of school, each teacher receives a signed satisfactory evaluation form based on their previous year’s performance. Unless they commit a serious infraction, they retain a satisfactory rating. Gerald explains the reasoning for this approach. “To improve performance, teachers must let their guard down and admit when they’re struggling with a particular aspect of teaching. They won’t mention weaknesses on an evaluation form because these invariably show up as a negative.”
To overcome this obstacle, RMCTC asked PerformancePAM to customize a professional development module. “Instead of an evaluation rubric, we designed a rubric to facilitate professional development. PerformancePAM allowed us to identify growth needs of individual teachers and to identify which teachers use best practices,” Gerald explains, adding, “This allowed us to provide the resources, workshops and peer support necessary for improvement. I can, for example, pair a teacher who is gifted in classroom management with one who’s struggling. They can then work together to improve the situation.”
A Teacher Tailored Process
The ability to customize PerforamancePAM made it attractive to Gerald Witmer.
“To review teaching methods, we created a software rubric defining areas of responsibility, such as curriculum and classroom management. We also identified necessary skills and had three rating levels: 1) needs development; 2) meets expectations; or 3) exceeds expectations. Next, we identified elements teachers could review to see where they place within the three levels.”
Working on a computer, teachers rate themselves in 45 areas within the rubric. When they’re finished, their supervisors complete the same process. Neither party can see each other’s responses. When both are done, a report is generated which demonstrates any differences of opinion. The supervisor and teacher discuss inconsistencies and an agreement is reached. Finally, PerformancePAM generates a report on individual teachers and the entire faculty to help RMCTC create a professional development plan for the school year. “This allows us to target individual and group needs and make good use of our limited professional development resources,” Gerald says.
Discovering a Software Solution
Gerald Witmer found PerformancePAM in a roundabout way. “I had a vision for what our software had to accomplish, but didn’t think a packaged product could align with our needs. I asked a software developer if he knew any programmers who could write a program like the one I envisioned. While attending a national industry conference, the programmer connected with PerformancePAM creators Pamela and Scott Perryman and reached the conclusion that PerformancePAM was 90% turnkey for our purposes.”
PerformancePAM was customized beyond its existing capabilities to meet RMCTC’s objectives. Set up of the rubric, users and permission access were done remotely. “It’s cool—I can give control of my screen to a member of the PerformancePAM technical support team who easily shows me what I need to do. They’ve been good to work with and have quickly resolved any issues we had,” Gerald comments.
PerformancePAM is entering its second year of use at RMCTC, and user feedback remains positive. “Our teachers love it. I’ve seen teachers encouraging their colleagues, saying, ‘You want to be part of this.’ They appreciate having ownership in the process. It’s a meaningful tool that meets their needs. It helps them admit weaknesses without feeling threatened and allows administrators to provide the necessary professional development.”
Indirectly, Gerald Witmer is seeing improvement in students, too. Academic scores, trade and technical assessments and attendance are increasing. “All of our goal indicators are improving, so I think that means teachers are doing a better job engaging kids. The software process has to have played a role in that.”
Posted by Elizabeth Counts on Wed, Jul 01, 2009 @ 07:49 AM
The performance appraisal process can be taxing to implement in any organization. Maybe you're still passing paper appraisals around the office or maybe you've taken it up a step and are using Excel spreadsheets. Either way, seeing the process through from beginning to end can be quite a consuming job for managers and HR professionals. The right type of performance appraisal software can make this activity much easier. So how can employee appraisal software make your life easier? We'll look at five ways.
1. Automation - How much time do you spend chasing after performance appraisals that are past due? With performance appraisal software, the "chasing" will be done for you. Many programs will remind reviewers that an appraisal is ready to be scored and will also remind them when appraisals are due.
2. Phrase selection - Do you or your managers struggle for the right words to use to illustrate an employee's performance? Phrase selectors can be found in a performance appraisal software. They are often arranged by competency and sometimes by role. The phrases range from reflecting excellent performance to performance in need of much improvement. This assistance can speed up the appraisal process and help prevent inappropriate wording of an employee's performance.
3. 360 degree review - If your organization is interested in administering 360 degree reviews, performance appraisal software is indispensable. Deploying 360 degree reviews this way allows for anonymity that is critical to honest feedback when one is reviewing his peers and especially his supervisor.
4. HRMS integration - If your performance appraisal system can integrate with your HRMS software (PAM integrates with Sage Abra and other HRMS solutions), this can aid and enhance the review process exponentially. With PAM, managers have access to job history, salary information, attendance records, and more. Having this information at your fingertips when completing an appraisal can not only speed along the process but also provide a clearer picture of the employee.
5. Web-based - Web-based performance management systems allow for collaboration among employees that are not located in the main office. They also allow for non-employees to contribute to the process. For example, you might wish to include customers or consultants in the performance review process, as they might have different insights into an employee's work than a manager would.
Performance appraisals can seem like a daunting task, but there are tools that make it simple!
What else do you wish was made easier for you with performance management?
Posted by Elizabeth Counts on Tue, Jun 16, 2009 @ 01:32 PM
Many companies are beginning to value green initiatives more than ever, not only to become more socially responsible but also to conserve expensive resources and increase business efficiencies.
Web-based software is one technology that can contribute to all of these objectives. With a web-based employee appraisal system, there is no need to waste reams of paper with the endless cycle of print, fill in, scan, email, print, sign, scan, submit, print, and store. All of these steps take place in a web-based performance management system with no need for a paper copy of anything from start to finish.
Another benefit of a web-based system is that employees who telecommute can participate in the appraisal process as if they were in the office. This keeps employee development on track with no delays. And for those companies who are environmentally concerned, it can cut down on trips to the office for those who have the option of working from home.
Has your company taken on any green initiatives? What steps have you taken in your company to become more socially responsible and have you seen residual benefits to your business?