Birmingham City School System teachers' perceptions of the Professional Education Personnel Evaluation Program of Alabama as it relates to their schools' academic statu

Birmingham city school teachers' perceptions of the Professional Education Personnel Evaluation Program of Alabama (PEPE), as it relates to their schools' academic status, were examined in the following constructs: benefit, fairness, consistency, adequacy, and supervision. Also, variables such as academic status and grade level were examined.;There were 122 surveys sent out to randomly selected teachers in the Birmingham City School System. Of these 122 surveys, 88 were returned, resulting in a return rate of 72%. In the quantitative analysis the respondents did not reveal any significant differences in their perceptions of PEPE based on the academic status of their respective schools. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed one significant difference between the grade levels, and that was in the beneficial construct. In essence, elementary teachers viewed PEPE more positively than early childhood teachers. In the qualitative analysis, the teachers expressed concerns about the adequacy of the process and the evaluators' ability to convey and conduct this process. The conclusions in this study were as follows: (a) Teachers and administrators need to be more collaborative in setting goals, and (b) administrators must do a better job of conveying and conducting this process so that teachers can understand and accept this process. Recommendations of the study were as follows: (a) The evaluation process should be collaborative between teachers and administrators, and (b) ongoing training and professional development should be conducted and maintained as a top priority annually.