How to choose teacher and principal evaluation software

On Board Online • September 19, 2011

By Adam Cobb
Regional Manager, Education  Halogen Software

In light of New York State’s new Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) requirements, employee performance management software provides an easier and faster way to measure teacher and principal effectiveness as required by new legislation and regulations. Such software can incorporate measures of student achievement and evidence of educator effectiveness.

Software can automate a variety of other performance management tasks, including competency assessments, goal setting, teacher and principal improvement plans (TIP/PIP) and “onboarding” checklists to help new employees become productive.

With automated performance evaluation systems, school districts are seeing far greater participation in the annual evaluation process and more consistent evaluations as evaluation criteria are standardized. Teachers are now receiving comprehensive feedback and administrators have fingertip access to employee performance data to support decisions about promotions, discipline and discharge, to cite just a few examples.

But the primary appeal of these automated performance management systems to most human resources professionals in the K-12 education system is the promise to save them an abundance of time, paper and money. Moving away from a paper-based review process is another way for school districts to “go green.”

Most school districts that buy performance management software start out looking to automate their existing paper-based evaluation process. But, with a variety of products available on the market for this purpose, choosing the right one for your school district can seem like a daunting task.

Indeed, today’s employee performance management products offer a myriad of bells and whistles. But before you get dazzled by the list of available features or blown away by the associated cost, it’s best to start by defining your needs and creating a description of your APPR process. Your district should begin by having a team answer questions including:

• What problems are you trying to solve with your APPR plan?
• What processes do you want to automate using the tool?
• Are there changes to your current process or evaluation forms that you would like to make?
• Of the Approved Teacher Practice Rubrics and Approved Principal Practice Rubrics for New York State, which will you be using for assessment?
• What are your reporting requirements?
• Do you need to host the technology solution in house, or would a hosted solution better meet your needs?
• Do you need the tool to interface with one or more other tools (e.g. HRIS, payroll, etc.)?
• How frequently will you want to provide timely and constructive feedback to teachers and principals?

 Be sure to include your district’s head of information technology in these discussions. And, of course, district superintendents and human resource personnel should be involved.

Who are potential vendors?

 The next step is to identify products and vendors. Here are some ways to proceed:

•  Visit human resource association websites, blogs and forums. Look for vendors with solutions specifically designed for the unique K-12 performance evaluation environment, and visit their websites.
•  Consult LinkedIn groups and ask peers for their recommendations.
•  Network with other school districts in your state and ask them about their experiences.
•  Consult industry analysts and review associations’ research and recommendations.
•  Look for vendors with money back guarantees, with high quality customer services that will ensure your implementation is successful.

 As you review this information, consider not only the products’ capabilities, but also the vendors’  reputations.

Learn more about each product

Once you’ve identified a short list of products/vendors to evaluate, book an online demonstration of each product. Many vendors will also offer you a free trial of their products.

 As you learn more about each product, use your requirements list to evaluate its ability to meet your needs. You might find it helpful to create a table and scoring system that helps you rate how well each product meets your requirements. Don’t be afraid to go back to a vendor to ask for more detail or for clarification as many school districts find they need to sit through several product demonstrations to get all the information they need.

When comparing software tools, consider:

• Does the tool have the ability to integrate and customize the rubrics that you select, along with other custom competency evaluation forms you wish to include?
• Can the tool be configured to include classroom observation data within the evaluation?
• Can feedback from students, parents, teachers and other sources be automated within the evaluation solution?
• Can goals and goal achievement, set collaboratively between the principal and superintendent or district superintendent, be configured into the tool?
• Do you need to be able to import evaluation scores from previous years into the solution for comparison and reference?
• Can the rating and scoring scale be configured to the Highly Effective, Effective, Developing or Ineffective scale, as defined by the State Education Department, for each of the evaluation components?
• How will the tool incorporate student growth and local measures of student achievement?
• How will the tool construct composite evaluation and component scores?
• What are your learning and development planning processes?
• How will the tool track and manage the progress and completion of standard-based goals?

Identifying the front runner

Use the list of prioritized requirements you established early on to identify the teacher and principal evaluation tool that best suits the needs of your school district. You should also review your list of desired benefits to see whether the products you evaluated will deliver these. Compare costs, including licensing, implementation, training, maintenance, support, and customizations.

And don’t forget to look at their customer service availability. For example, can you reach an agent by phone? How quickly will they deal with your issues? What do their current customers think of their customer support?

Look for industry and customer testimonials on the quality of their support, so that you aren’t left out in the cold once the software has been purchased.

Ideally, one clear front runner will emerge that will allow you to proceed with recommendations for a purchase. If not, it may help to go back to your list of needs and requirements and further refine them.

Automating your performance evaluations and other talent management processes can provide numerous benefits to your school district, including saving you valuable time and money — but only if you choose the right product for your organization. Carefully defining your requirements, then evaluating products and vendors on their ability to meet or exceed these requirements will ensure you make the right choice. 

Adam Cobb is regional manager with Halogen Software. He focuses on helping K-12 school and district leaders and administrators optimize their teacher and staff evaluation approach and overall talent management practices. He can be reached at acobb@halogensoftware.com.