Purpose: In 2012, the Israeli Ministry of Education and its Testing and Evaluation Department introduced a new tool to evaluate the quality of kindergarten teachers' work. This paper aims to identify how kindergarten teachers perceive the new multiple domains performance tool. Design/methodology/approach: The study applied a qualitative paradigm…

This paper presents a qualitative study of the interactions between public kindergarten teachers and their superintendents, using the symbolic interaction theoretical framework. The purpose of the study was to gain insight into the meaning-making processes and social dynamics that occur in these interactions, specifically monitoring ones. The…

This study concerns the importance of assessing teachers' content knowledge (CK) and it is one of the very few international studies that directly measures science teachers' CK. We developed a comprehensive content knowledge test (CKT), relating to the content strand: "states of matter." The study compared teachers from the Jewish and…

Purpose: This study aims to examine teachers' perceptions of teacher evaluation (also known as teacher appraisal). In Israel and elsewhere, teacher evaluation is a cornerstone of teaching quality assurance measures; however, detailed knowledge is lacking regarding how teachers themselves perceive it in that context. Design/methodology/approach:…

As part of a larger mixed-method study on teacher evaluation, this paper explores how cultural and socio-political contexts of the Israeli Arab public schools inform principals' high-stakes evaluation processes for attaining tenure. Concepts from micropolitical theory were used to analyse data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with twenty…

This study seeks to explore the effectiveness of teachers' appraisal programs as perceived by teachers in primary schools in Israel and to examine teachers' appraisal effects upon their feelings of self-efficacy. More specifically, 290 teachers from 30 primary schools in Israel, where a systematic appraisal system exists, received two sorts of…

The objective of this research is to examine how principals of Arab schools view the evaluation of teachers and to determine whether and to what extent their perceptions of teacher evaluation differ. The Arab educational system in Israel is an integral part of the general educational system. For the most part it is run by Jewish administrators.…

Teacher appraisal is never an easy task, especially of teachers experiencing difficulties and failures. Nevertheless it is a requirement for good management, in our schools no less than our corporations. Forty elementary school principals in Israel described the informal methods they use to appraise teachers who are performing poorly. Most…

The current study examines the mutual discrete emotions among superiors and their above- and below-average workers within a hierarchical organisation (school). Using a survey method within a random sample of 40 elementary schools in Northern Israel, each principal and four of his or her teachers (two who had been appraised as excellent and two who…

Why do teachers become poor performers? In semi-structured interviews, forty elementary school principals in Israel described the personal story of one poor-performing staff member. Half of the problematic teachers were veteran teachers who faced a marked internal and external shift in mid-career. The seeds of their problems were probably planted…

The study investigated the effects of two reflection support programs on elementary school mathematics teachers' pedagogical problem solving view. Sixty-two teachers participated in a professional development program. Thirty teachers were assigned to the self-questioning (S_Q) training and thirty two teachers were assigned to the reflection…

Despite the possibility of poor teacher performance causing damage to pupils and to a school's reputation, the subject has rarely been studied. This article examines, within the Israeli context, who the poor performing (referred as "challenging") teachers are. Based on interviews with 40 elementary school principals, over 7 percent of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ways in which elementary school principals in Israel deal with teachers who are "challenging" in their behaviour, that is those who are perceived as under-performing. This is an important and under-researched area of educational management. Design/methodology/approach: Interviews…