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PERSONNEL EVALUATIONS METAEVALUATION CHECKLIST 
(Based on The Personnel Evaluation Standards)
pdf

Daniel L. Stufflebeam 
June 2000

This checklist is for assessing the adequacy of individual personnnel evaluations.  It is organized according to the 21 Joint Committee Personnel Evaluation Standards, plus an additional recommended standard focused on legal viability.  For each of the 22 standards the checklist includes 6 checkpoints drawn from the substance of the standard.  It is suggested that each standard be scored on each checkpoint.  Then judgments about the adequacy of the subject evaluation in meeting the standard can be made as follows:  0-1 Poor, 2-3 Fair, 4 Good, 5 Very Good, 6 Excellent.  It is recommended that an evaluation be failed if it scores Poor on standards P1 Service Orientation, U3 Evaluator Credibility, F4 Legal Viability, A4 Valid Measurement, or A7 Bias Control.  Users of this checklist are advised to consult the full text of The Joint Committee (1988) Personnel Evaluation Standards, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS FOR PROPRIETY, PERSONNEL EVALUATIONS SHOULD:
P1 Service Orientation 
  • Assess whether each service provider is delivering high quality, principled services
  • Ground the assessment in pertinent institutional/program mission and goals
  • Seek clarification, as needed, of the service provider’s responsibilities
  • Assess the service provider’s performance of job responsibilities
  • Assess the service provider’s contributions to meeting the assessed needs of the targeted beneficiaries
  • Support personnel actions that protect the welfare of targeted beneficiaries 
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor
P2 Formal Evaluation Guidelines
  • Follow the provisions of pertinent personnel policies
  • Be attentive to the requirements of any pertinent collective bargaining agreement
  • Deliver unambiguous assessment findings 
  • Conform to the pertinent legal protections of the evaluatee’s rights
  • Be consistent and equitable considering evaluations of similar evaluatees
  • Meet all pertinent ethical standards 
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

P3 Conflict of Interest
  • Search out potential conflicts of interest
  • Control conflicts of interest at every level of examination and judgment
  • Openly and honestly address conflicts of interest, including the appearance of conflict of interest
  • Show that the evaluator is not subject to an unresolvable conflict of interest
  • Employ multiple data sources to examine and judge personnel performance
  • Invite and append the employee’s reactions to the evaluation report
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

P4 Access to Personnel Evaluation Reports
  • Maintain security of the obtained information
  • Clearly identify authorized users of the evaluation report
  • Appropriately restrict access to the obtained information
  • Follow established rules for distributing evaluation reports
  • Notify the evaluatee of additions to her/his personnel file
  • Promise only those levels of confidentiality and anonymity that meet pertinent law
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

P5 Interactions with Evaluatees
  • Develop rapport with the evaluatee
  • Address the evaluatee in a professional, considerate, and courteous manner
  • Be sensitive and responsive to the evaluatee’s pertinent personal and professional needs
  • Demonstrate a genuine interest in the evaluatee as a person
  • Gear evaluative feedback to help the evaluatee strengthen performance
  • Provide feedback in a private setting
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

SCORING THE EVALUATION FOR PROPRIETY:
Add the following:
Number of Excellent ratings (0-5)
____
x 4 =
 ____
Number of Very Good ratings (0-5)
____
x 3 =
 ____
Number of Good ratings (0-5)
____
x 2 =
 ____
Number of Fair ratings (0-5)
____
x 1 =
 ____
     Total Score
=
 ____
Strength of the Evaluation's provisions for Propriety:
19 (95%) to 20  Excellent
14 (70%) to 18  Very Good
10 (50%) to 13  Good
5 (25%) to 9  Fair
0 (0%) to 4  Poor
TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF UTILITY, PERSONNEL EVALUATIONS SHOULD: 
U1  Constructive Orientation 
  • Provide timely feedback
  • Reinforce good practice
  • Provide direction for improvement
  • As appropriate, clarify needs for professional development
  • Promote professionalism, including self-evaluation
  • Promote improved organizational effectiveness through the evaluatee’s improved performance
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

U2  Defined Uses
  • Reference and address clear evaluation purposes
  • Document the authorized users
  • Reference clear understandings with the authorized users about the evaluation’s intended uses
  • Note and justify the targeted evaluation questions
  • Show how the employed evaluative criteria fit the evaluation questions
  • Show how the evaluation methods and information fit the evaluation questions and intended uses
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

U3  Evaluator Credibilty 
  • Engage an evaluator with the requisite training, skills, sensitivity, and authorization
  • Assure that the evaluator is trained in the institution’s specific evaluation policies and procedures
  • Clearly define the evaluator’s authority and responsibility
  • Be conducted professionally
  • Promote and assist improvement
  • Include justification of the evaluator’s data, conclusions, and recommendations 
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

U4  Functional Reporting
  • Issue clear reports
  • Issue timely reports, including interim reports
  • Issue accurate reports
  • Issue germane reports focused on the evaluation’s purposes and the employee’s duties
  • Reflect documented strengths and weaknesses
  • Provide the evaluatee opportunities for response, appeal, and use of findings to improve performance 
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

U5  Follow-Up and Impact
  • Encourage and assist application of the findings
  • Help the evaluatee understand the results
  • Review strengths and weaknesses
  • Reinforce outstanding performance
  • Assist the development of professional growth plans
  • Assist the termination of a hopelessly incompetent or irresponsible evaluatee 
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

SCORING THE EVALUATION FOR UTILITY:
Add the following:
Number of Excellent ratings (0-5)
____
x 4 =
 ____
Number of Very Good ratings (0-5)
____
x 3 =
 ____
Number of Good ratings (0-5)
____
x 2 =
 ____
Number of Fair ratings (0-5)
____
x 1 =
 ____
     Total Score
=
 ____
Strength of the Evaluation's provisions for Utility:
19 (95%) to 20  Excellent
14 (70%) to 18  Very Good
10 (50%) to 13  Good
5 (25%) to 9  Fair
0 (0%) to 4  Poor
TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS FOR FEASIBILITY, PERSONNEL EVALUATIONS SHOULD:
F1 Practical Procedures
  • Specify procedural steps in direct and familiar language
  • Employ efficient procedures
  • Provide useful feedback without impeding staff performance
  • Minimize disruption to the organization
  • Minimize cost
  • Avoid collecting new information that duplicates existing information
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

F2  Political Viability
  • Provide a common focus and set of directives applicable to all of the subject evaluatees
  • Employ personnel evaluation policies and procedures that were developed collaboratively
  • Employ personnel evaluation policies and procedures that the evaluatees understand and accept
  • Employ personnel evaluation policies and procedures that have the backing of the relevant policy board
  • Faithfully carry out the established personnel evaluation policies and procedures
  • Provide for appeals and steps to rectify mistakes promptly
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor
F3 Fiscal Viability
  • Allocate adequate time for assessment, reporting, and follow-up
  • Allocate adequate resources for assessment, reporting, and follow-up
  • Use resources effectively
  • Use resources efficiently
  • Use the evaluatees' time efficiently
  • Employ findings to help the evaluatee be more effective and efficient
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

F4 Legal Viability
  • Take into account those legal provisions that pertain to the local context
  • Engage, as needed, expert legal advice
  • Adhere to the vast body of applicable legal mandates
  • Adhere to the other standards in this set
  • Follow a legally defensible substantive due process, including definition of role and performance standards
  • Follow a legally defensible procedural due process, giving the evaluatee the right to respond and be heard
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

SCORING THE EVALUATION FOR FEASIBILITY:
Add the following:
Number of Excellent ratings (0-4)
____
x 4 =
 ____
Number of Very Good ratings (0-4)
____
x 3 =
 ____
Number of Good ratings (0-4)
____
x 2 =
 ____
Number of Fair ratings (0-4)
____
x 1 =
 ____
     Total Score
=
 ____
Strength of the Evaluation's provisions for Propriety:
15 (94%) to 16: Excellent
11 (69%) to 14: Very Good
8 (50%) to 10: Good
4 (25%) to 7:  Fair
0 (0%) to 3: Poor
TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCURACY, PERSONNEL EVALUATIONS SHOULD:
A1  Defined Role
  • Reference a clearly defined role and set of responsibilities for the evaluatee
  • Reference the needed qualifications for fulfilling the evaluatee’s role
  • Reference clear performance objectives for the evaluatee
  • Confirm that all parties to the evaluation have mutually understood the position’s requirements
  • Deliberate to clarify any disagreements about performance expectations before evaluating
  • Employ performance indicators that validly reflect the evaluatee’s responsibilities
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

A2  Work Environment
  • Identify, describe, and record environmental influences on the evaluatee’s job performance
  • Consider the availability of relevant resources when evaluating the incumbent’s performance
  • Consider administrative support and effectiveness when assessing the incumbent’s performance
  • Consider organizational climate when evaluating the incumbent’s performance
  • Consider the difficulties associated with serving the evaluatee’s particular clients
  • Take into account relevant societal dynamics when evaluating the incumbent’s performance
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

A3  Documentation of Procedures
  • Document the plan for evaluating the incumbent
  • Document the evaluator’s qualifications
  • Invite the evaluatee and other stakeholders to evaluate the evaluation plan
  • Monitor and record the evaluation process
  • Document the evidence used to reach evaluative conclusions
  • Show that due process requirements were met
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

A4 Valid Measurement
  • Choose measurement procedures based on the described role and intended use
  • Assemble and make available evidence on the validity of the measurement procedure
  • Verify that inferences about the evaluatee are drawn from the obtained measurements
  • Include a representative sample of job tasks in the measurement content
  • Emphasize and demonstrate that validity is the single most important issue in personnel evaluation
  • Employ the term measurement in the broadest sense of evaluating an individual’s qualifications, performance, and/or effectiveness
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

A5  Reliable Measurement
  • Employ procedures that provide consistent measurements of the evaluatee’s performance
  • Train and calibrate observers, raters, and other data collectors
  • Attain and demonstrate consistency across different measures of the same criterion
  • Attain and demonstrate consistency across different observers of the same behavior
  • Attain and demonstrate consistency across different occasions on which a behavior is observed
  • Document the steps to secure acceptable reliability
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

A6  Systematic Data Control
  • Monitor and control the collection of information
  • Train evaluation personnel in scoring, coding, data entry, and analysis
  • Check for accuracy at every stage of the collection, storage, and retrieval of the information
  • Maintain security of the obtained information
  • Exercise careful oversight regarding access to and retrieval of the personnel evaluation information
  • Keep the data and supporting documentation confidential
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

A7  Bias Control
  • Recognize and guard against the constant potential for intrusion of bias in the evaluation
  • Base evaluation solely on criteria and information relevant to the evaluatee’s job
  • Involve the evaluatee in designing, reviewing, and strengthening the evaluation plan
  • Gather information from multiple sources
  • Avoid conclusions that are not grounded in valid information
  • Provide review and appeal channels
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

A8  Monitoring Evaluation Systems
  • Employ an evaluation procedure that has been subject to systematic review and validation
  • Professionally investigate and appropriately follow up any complaints by the evaluatee about the evaluation
  • Assess the evaluation against the full set of standards referenced in this checklist
  • Assess the actual evaluation against the evaluation plan
  • Assess the extent to which the evaluation achieved its purposes
  • Follow up to assess and, where possible, improve the evaluation’s consequences
6 = Excellent
5 = Very Good 4 = Good  2-3 = Fair 0-1 = Poor

SCORING THE EVALUATION FOR ACCURACY:
Add the following:
Number of Excellent ratings (0-8)
____
x 4 =
 ____
Number of Very Good ratings (0-8)
____
x 3 =
 ____
Number of Good ratings (0-8)
____
x 2 =
 ____
Number of Fair ratings (0-8)
____
x 1 =
 ____
     Total Score
=
 ____
Strength of the Evaluation's provisions for Accuracy:
30 (94%) to 32: Excellent
22 (69%) to 29: Very Good
16 (50%) to 21: Good
8 (25%) to 15: Fair
0 (0%) to 7:  Poor

 
 
This checklist is being provided as a free service to the user. The provider of the checklist has not modified or adapted the checklist to fit the specific needs of the user and the user is executing his or her own discretion and judgment in using the checklist. The provider of the checklist makes no representations or warranties that this checklist is fit for the particular purpose contemplated by user and specifically disclaims any such warranties or representations.