San Antonio ISD recently launched a brand new practice for non-teaching personnel that will be incorporated into each employee’s yearly appraisal starting this school year. The Professional Practice Goal (PPG) will be developed by employees, using reflections on prior evaluation results or current self-assessment of their professional practice.
“Implementing goal setting was the second phase of the appraisal re-design process, which began in January 2019,” said Arnoldo Gutiérrez, director of Performance Management. “Employees will develop one PPG as part of their annual appraisal process. PPGs help an employee focus on growth and development, which are essential to meeting performance expectations for the campus or department, the organization, and the individual.”
Elizabeth Botello, an instructional assistant at Huppertz Elementary School, said she was a little bit nervous when she heard about the new goal setting aspect to her performance evaluation.
“But now, I am so glad that we are having to do this,” Botello said. “To me, it is like I am challenging myself to accomplish something new. I like winning, and this feels like a win that will benefit not only me, but any future teachers and students I work with. I love this job and this goal setting gives me something else to look forward to.”
Gutiérrez said the PPG may help employees keep up with current trends, hone their skill sets, and leverage their passion within an existing area of responsibility. PPGs also support employees to develop, in some cases, a new set of skills and knowledge base in order to grow into a new area of responsibility.
“The Professional Practice Goal should identify one specific objective that the employee would like to achieve and then create a plan of action to reach that goal by the end of the school year,” said Gutiérrez. “Goal setting supports the growth and develop of all employees. The Professional Practice Goals assist in taking away the notion the appraisals are only compliance-related and helps all employees grow in their professional practice. Goal setting can help improve employees’ engagement in a way that elevates performance and benefits the overall organization.”
Cynthia Speed, FACE specialist at Huppertz, thinks the new process will help to focus efforts, enabling many non-teaching personnel to know precisely what they want to achieve and where the focus needs to be in professional development.
“Non-teaching professionals are a huge part of the glue that holds the educational process together,” said Speed. “By concentrating efforts through the Goal Setting Process, we all become a part of the goal and vision, but more importantly we become accountable for motivating ourselves, learning and growing in these rapid changing times we are finding ourselves in.”
Employees will be using SMART goals strategies to develop their PPGs. The SMART framework consists of the below:
S- Specific: Identifies what exactly the employee hopes to accomplish.
M-Measurable: Goal can be evaluated to determine if it has been met.
A-Attainable: Goals should not be overly lofty, but within reach of the employee.
R-Results: Goal is based on accomplishment and aligns with the campus/department/district goals and job-specific objectives.
T-Timelines: Goal has specific timelines (deadlines) to be measured against.
Professional (non-teaching), paraprofessional (instructional/clerical), and classified personnel have begun receiving links to begin this required training via their SAISD email accounts. The Office of Continuous Improvement has developed a guide to walk employees step-by-step through the process and can be found in the Appraisal Hub.
The required PPG training can be done at each employee’s own pace, but must be completed by Friday, Oct. 2. Detailed instructions, as well as FAQs, can be found on the SAISD Employee Portal in the Appraisal Hub.
Employees will complete the PPG process through Performance Matters.