Teacher evaluation

Two new reports  on teacher evaluation were launched this week. The first is a global literature review of teacher evaluation, which examines different ways of evaluating teachers and makes recommendations for teacher evaluation in  ELT.  One interesting insight from this report is that while the literature on teacher evaluation is vast, detailed accounts of its implementation in state sector ELT contexts is limited. What happens on the ground, then, remains somewhat of a mystery (in some cases, even to teachers themselves!).

The second report is an analysis of teacher evaluation in India. It provides an overview of some of the approaches to teacher evaluation which exist in the country and discusses the factors that need to be in place to make teacher evaluation work effectively in this context.

This attention to teacher evaluation in ELT is timely. Teacher quality affects learning outcomes and so improving teachers is key to improving learning. However, we cannot really help teachers improve without some sense of their current levels of competence, which is where teacher evaluation comes in.  The challenge is to make teacher evaluation a positive and motivating experience for teachers and to use it in a way that both provides quality assurance and helps teachers improve.

 

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2 Responses to Teacher evaluation

  1. Abdul says:

    I think the issue of teacher evaluation as a bridge to teaching quality improvement will remain quite complicated. Teachers regional understanding of the nature and results of evaluation will be an important factor which requires specific scrutiny to understand each context as a case standing on its own..

    • Simon Borg says:

      Thanks Abdul. The report discusses the link between teacher quality and teacher evaluation and I hope you find it useful. The key is to ensure that teacher evaluation serves a formative and not just a summative purpose.

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