Although teacher evaluation is well established in other English-speaking countries, it has only recently become a significant educational issue in Great Britain. In 1984 the School of Education at Great Britain's Open University began research on pioneering efforts in teacher evaluation among the country's individual schools. The first stage of this research, reported in this paper, focused on gathering and classifying information on the teacher evaluation programs. Using information volunteered by 56 schools, the researchers prepared a database and sent each school its own entry for verification. The teacher evaluation systems tended to share the following features: (1) appraisal was routine and ongoing; (2) the system was explicit rather than implicit; (3) the methodology was discernable and understood by the teachers; and (4) followup was provided in the form of faculty development. Four approaches to appraisal were identified, and appraisal methods used in these approaches included observation, interviews, use of documents, consultation with other individuals, and self-evaluation. Although the primary purpose of these independently developed programs appeared to be formative, with faculty development the central goal, the government is now advocating nationwide adoption of the kind of summative evaluation program in which the schools have shown little interest. (PGD)