12.11.1Legislative and Policy Framework
ACTS
- The South African Schools Act, No. 84 of 1996 [SASA]
- The National Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act No. 27 of 1996) [NEPA]
- South African Council for Educators Act 31 of 2000 [SACE]
- Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998 [EEA]
COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS
- ELRC Collective Agreement: No 1 of 2003 – Evaluation procedures, processes and performance standards for institute based educators [CA 1/2003]
- ELRC Collective Agreement: No 8 of 2003 – Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) [CA 8/2003]
- ELRC IQMS Training Manual [CA IQMS]
- ELRC Collective Agreement: QMS for School Based Educators No 2 of 2020 [CA 2/2020]
12.11.2Framework for the Development of School Policy on Educators: Appraisal and Development – The Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS)
- What is the IQMS?
- The IQMS is an integrated quality management system that consists of three programmes, which are aimed at enhancing and monitoring performance of the education system. These are:
- Developmental Appraisal;
- Performance Measurement; and
- Whole School Evaluation.
- The purpose of Developmental Appraisal (DA) is to appraise individual educators in a transparent manner with a view to determining areas of strength and weakness, and to draw up programmes for individual development.
- The purpose of Performance Measurement (PM) is to evaluate individual teachers for salary progression, grade progression, affirmation of appointments and rewards and incentives.
- The purpose of Whole School Evaluation (WSE) is to evaluate the overall effectiveness of a school as well as the quality of teaching and learning.
- These three programmes are implemented in an integrated way in order to ensure optimal effectiveness and co-ordination of the various programmes.
- The IQMS is an integrated quality management system that consists of three programmes, which are aimed at enhancing and monitoring performance of the education system. These are:
- Purpose of IQMS
- To identify specific needs of educators, schools and district offices for support and development;
- To provide support for continued growth;
- To promote accountability;
- To monitor an institution’s overall effectiveness; and
- To evaluate an educator’s performance.
- Guiding Principles of IQMS
The implementation of the IQMS is guided by the following principles:- The need to ensure fairness, for example, there can be no sanction against an educator in respect of his/her performance before providing meaningful opportunities for development.
- The need to minimise subjectivity through transparency and open discussion.
- The need to use the instrument professionally, uniformly and consistently.
- The need to be developmental rather than judgmental.
- The need to be open, inclusive and transparent.
- The need to focus on growth and not deficits.
- Roles and responsibilities of individuals and structures involved in implementing the IQMS
- The Principal
- Has the overall responsibility to ensure that the IQMS is implemented uniformly and effectively at the school.
- Must ensure that every educator is provided with a copy of this document and other relevant IQMS documentation.
- Ensures that all documentation sent to the District/local office is correct and delivered in time.
- Responsible for internal moderation of evaluation results in order to ensure fairness and consistency.
- The Educator
- Must undertake self-evaluation of his/her performance.
- Identifies his/her personal support group – Development Support Group (DSG).
- Develops a Personal Growth Plan (PGP) and finalizes it together with the DSG.
- Attends INSET and other programmes in terms of areas identified for development.
- Engages in feedback and discussion.
- School Management Teams (SMT)
- SMTs inform educators of the INSET and other programmes that will be offered and make the necessary arrangements for educators to attend.
- Assist with the broad planning and implementation of IQMS.
- Ensure that school self-evaluation is done in terms of the WSE policy and in collaboration with the SDT.
- The Staff Development Team (SDT)
The SDT is made up of the principal, the WSE co-ordinator, democratically elected members of the school management and democratically elected post level 1 educators. The school should decide on the size of the SDT. It is suggested that the number could be up to about 6 depending on the size of the school. In schools with only one or two educators such educators make up the SDT but the District / Circuit provides the support.
Roles and Responsibilities of the SDT- Ensures that all staff members are trained on the procedures and processes of the IQMS.
- Coordinates all activities pertaining to staff development.
- Prepares and monitors the management plan for the IQMS.
- Facilitates and gives guidance on how DSGs have to be established.
- Prepares a final schedule of DSG members.
- Links Developmental Appraisal to the School Improvement Plan (SIP).
- Liaises with the department in respect of high priority needs such as INSET, short courses, skills programmes or learnerships.
- Monitors effectiveness of the IQMS and reports to the relevant persons.
- Ensures that all records and documentation on IQMS are maintained.
- Oversees mentoring and support by the DSGs.
- Develops the School Improvement Plan (SIP) based on information gathered during Developmental Appraisals.
- Coordinates ongoing support provided during the two developmental cycles each year.
- Completes the necessary documentation for Performance Measurement (for pay or grade progression), signs off on these to assure fairness and accuracy.
- Submits all the necessary documentation (e.g. SIPs) to the District/Local Departmental office in good time for data capturing.
- Deals with differences between appraisees and their DSGs in order to resolve the differences.
- Coordinates the internal WSE processes.
- Ensures that the IQMS is applied consistently
- Liaises with the external WSE Team to coordinate and manage the cyclical external WSE process.
- The Principal