Performance-Based Principal Evaluation in Missouri: A Three-Year Report

Abstract

The performance-based principal evaluation (PBPE), passed as a section of the 1985 Missouri Educational Reform Act, is a process for professional development of principals through the identification and documentation of job-related expectations and school goals. Additionally, evaluations provide an opportunity to refine those goals and to improve skill and job-related decisionmaking. To determine the degree of implementation and the superintendent's perceptions about the effectiveness of PBPE, one half of the state's approximately 550 superintendents were mailed surveys; usable responses were received from 168 districts. Results indicate that the process used to develop PBPE systems in Missouri districts typically did not include principal involvement, but most evaluation programs were identical to the state PBPE Model. Principals' attitudes regarding PBPE were described as positive; their attitudes were more positive in the districts where principals were involved in developing the PBPE system, in the districts that followed the state model procedures, and in the districts where the evaluators had more training and were perceived as more skilled. The superintendent and other educational leaders from across the state who responded to the PBPE survey indicated that PBPE can impact positively on Missouri education.