Teacher appraisal in Hong Kong self-managing secondary schools: Factors for effective practices

The two most important purposes of appraisal in schools are teacher improvement and personnel decision making, which are often referred to as formative and summative purposes, respectively. Staff appraisal was introduced to Hong Kong secondary schools participating in the School Management Initiative scheme. These schools have adopted a school management system based on the principles of self-managing schools. Data on appraisal systems as well as teachers' recent experiences of appraisal were collected in a survey. This study has found that the overall perceived effectiveness of an appraisal system is related to both its formative and summative outcomes. The formative outcomes for teachers are associated with teachers' attitudes to the formative purposes of appraisal, the appraisal procedure, and most important, the nature and quality of feedback received. The study has also found that summative outcomes and formative outcomes are interrelated. © 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers.