@TeacherToolkit
Ross Morrison McGill founded @TeacherToolkit in 2007 and is widely recognised as one of the leading influencers in education in the UK and across the world. In 2015, he was named among The Sunday Times/Debrett’s 500 Most Influential People in Britain for his impact on…
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How would you describe the teacher appraisal process in your school?
Performance management is meant to improve teaching, but most systems still reward box-ticking over professional growth. This explains teacher appraisal inquiry, a research‑informed method where teachers create and answer professional questions to improve teaching practice, replacing compliance‑based targets.
Teacher appraisal: From pay decisions to performance conversations
Most teachers are familiar with the annual appraisal process. Historically shaped by performance-related pay (PRP) reforms in 2013, appraisal became a mechanism for deciding pay, rather than improving practice.
Many schools still use rigid frameworks – three targets, judged annually – that position performance management as compliance, not development. This process continues despite clear evidence.
Teachers said: “Appraisal made no difference to how they worked”
Research from the Department for Education (DfE, 2017) found that 66% of teachers felt appraisal had added to workload, and 58% said it made no difference to how they worked. Despite removing spine points from pay scales and encouraging school autonomy, most schools copied local authority policies to avoid legal pitfalls, rather than rethinking their purpose – read the latest guidance.
Critics like Professor Simon Burgess argue the policy lacked central coherence, leaving schools to create schemes without clear guidance. Most appraisals still rely on outdated proxies: observations, exam data, and school improvement targets. Meanwhile, feedback from parents, colleagues or wider responsibilities are rarely considered. More importantly, PRP ignores the complexity of teaching and learning.
Research from ASA (2014) suggests only 1 to 14% of outcomes can be attributed directly to teacher input. This highlights the limitations of attaching pay decisions to metrics outside a teacher’s control.
So where are we ten years later?
Improving teachers, not proving their work
A growing number of schools are redesigning appraisal around research-informed practice. Instead of top-down targets, they invite teachers to craft their own inquiry questions. “How can we…?” and “Under what conditions…?” are simple sentence stems that spark professional curiosity, supporting teachers to implement one small change and collect the lightest evidence possible – not to prove, but to improve.
Schools embedding this model provide protected time, routine inquiry processes, and opportunities for dissemination. Appraisal becomes collaborative, not punitive. The strongest cultures treat appraisal as a driver of school improvement – not a compliance tool, and I share case studies from many schools I have worked with.
Making research-projects work for teachers
- How are teacher appraisal targets currently set in your school or college?
- Are appraisal meetings focused more on accountability or development?
- Have teachers ever rewritten a target as a research question?
- What evidence is used to measure teacher effectiveness — and what’s missing?
- How often do performance policies get reviewed or rewritten?
- Do school leaders model research-informed inquiry in their own appraisal?
- How could appraisal better reflect teaching complexity in different key stages?
- What processes are in place to share appraisal findings across departments?
- Is there protected time for staff to explore their own professional interests?
- How might appraisal change if its purpose was teacher growth, not pay?
Appraisal resource to get started?
This resource offers a good starting point for school and college leaders wanting to take the first step in flipping the traditional appraisal model. Perhaps abandon one performance target and trial it with this research process, before abandoning the (x3 targets) approach altogether?
The main challenge associated with performance-related pay is the additional staff time involved in collecting and reviewing evidence for appraisal reviews; the pressure on teachers to meet student outcome targets; and the challenge of applying a school or college pay policy, fairly and consistently.
In the YouTube video, you will find direct links to all the resources you need to get started. This explains how a flipped model, supported by rigorous processes and trained line managers, can empower all teachers to engage with the process. Get in touch if you need any help, sample documents, or case studies.
