Education Administrators Challenged to Upgrade School Performance through Teacher Appraisal

(EMU) – St. Kitts, 2nd May, 2013: School administrators are in a better position to determine the level of efficiency with which their schools are operating following a recent seminar to train them in teacher appraisal.

The objective of the Ministry of Education in introducing this training is to keep an on-going, hands-on approach to school development by way of staying abreast of the performance of their teachers.

“Assessment allows administrators to supervise classes much more frequently while helping policy makers monitor programmes that ensure that the education system is working effectively,” stated Headmistress of the Dieppe Bay Primary School, Mrs. Jacqueline Douglas, a workshop participant.

Chief Education Officer, Ms. Clarice Cotton, told the Media Unit that high quality teaching is directly linked to improving student outcomes and reducing gaps in student achievement.

Additionally, she emphasized the benefits of teacher appraisal including providing a formal means of communicating feedback to teachers on their professional strengths and weaknesses. It also allows teachers the opportunity to improve their efforts and to focus more strategically on the impact of their planning and classroom delivery on students.

As part of the appraisal process, the portfolio review was identified as an effective means of assessing teacher performance. Minister of Education and Information, Hon. Nigel Carty, in addressing the opening ceremony emphasized that each teacher should be versed in creating a portfolio that documents his or her classroom activities so that education officers, principals and supervisors can more easily develop programmes tailored to their schools’ improvement.

Minister Carty added that the procedure should not be burdensome for teachers and thus, training was necessary.

Education Officer Mr. Darryl Lloyd, chairman for the event complimented the facilitator Dr. Bronte Gonsalves who he referred to as being “intimately involved with the developmental process and the execution of clinical supervision and teacher appraisal in the Federation.

Dr. Gonsalves who comes from the Island of Nevis is a consultant to the Ministry of Education in St. Kitts and Nevis.