The annual performance review is a widely used performance management tool required by universities for administrative staff. Many supervisors and employees across all industries are dissatisfied with the conventional annual performance review, and it has been criticized for being resource-consuming and wasteful, potentially damaging to professional relationships, and even counter-productive to improving performance. This qualitative study examines the use of a novel, text-messaging-based technology to initiate light touch check-ins about performance among 28 employees and supervisors volunteers from three higher education institutions. This study assesses the impact of a new performance appraisal system and how to apply this new knowledge towards designing a more effective performance appraisal system. The results of this study indicate overall positive impressions using this alternative system, called TEAMMATES. However, study participants also make several important recommendations for enhancements to enable more flexibility and customization to produce a viable alternative or complement to the conventional annual performance review commonly in practice today.

According to Ramey and Ramey (2004), School readiness and school achievement are at the forefront of our country’s domestic social policy concerns. And the need to help America’s children truly succeed in school and life as a well-educated citizenry is vital to keep our nation economically strong and productive democracy. (p. 472) Campbell et al. (2014) stated, “High-quality early childhood programs have been shown to have substantial benefits in reducing crime, raising earnings, and promoting education.” The State of California established the California Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 (SB1381) and the genesis of Transitional Kindergarten (TK). The Act intended for TK to provide an additional year of early education with the goal of promoting school readiness through Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) (AIR, 2015). DAP promotes physical, social emotional, cognitive, and cultural competencies for the students. My study examined the TK teachers’ beliefs and their classroom practices in relation to school readiness and DAP. This qualitative study, therefore, interviewed and observed TK teachers’ interpretations (i.e., beliefs and practices) of a developmentally appropriate curriculum in its TK classes. These six TK teachers were from two school districts in Northern California. There is potential for improved teaching when teachers are able to reflect on how their beliefs align with their practices.