While the nationwide teacher competence test has
been poorly administered, removing the test and trusting teachers, as suggested
by Setiono Sugiharto (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 4, 2012) may mean overestimating
our teachers’ capability to take command of their teaching quality and enhance
their professional development.
It is true
that some teachers are highly committed and dedicated to their profession. Such
teachers are intrinsically driven to be engaged in the continuous improvement
of their teaching practices and student learning. Those teachers would be
misrepresented in an inappropriately designed and poorly administered competence
test. A multiple-choice format competence test would not be adequate to assess
and reveal the merits of those teachers.
Without any
proper teacher-evaluation system however, performance assessment and
professional learning will be neglected. Good teachers will likely improve
their skills, but mediocre and poor teachers will continue their bad habits and
will do no good for our students. An effective teacher evaluation system should
have a clearly-defined purpose, set appropriate priorities and be wedded to a
comprehensive approach.
The
competence test was launched and was said to map the quality of teachers
nationwide, review the quality of all certified teachers and justify extra pay
on a quarterly basis. All these objectives have marred and confused the purpose
of teacher assessment.
To map the
quality of teachers should not require that all teachers be tested. An
appropriate sampling should be adequate and more than efficient.
Justifying
additional pay for teachers may be part of the political process between the
Education and Culture Ministry and the House of Representatives. Thus, it
should not be resolved by administering such a large-scale test. Should the
competence test really aim to review the quality of certified teachers, further
questions will arise.
To what end
does the competence test lead teachers? Is the goal to promote student learning
or merely to review teachers’ quality? What aspects of high-quality teaching
does it assess?
Any program
or activity in the education system should eventually aim at promoting student
learning. Scoring high on the multiple choice test does not directly translate
into improved teacher practices and student learning. When the education system
clearly and consistently pursues assessment and growth for every teacher,
teachers will stay focused on their own growth as well as that of their
students.
An
effective teacher-performance-assessment system includes continuous
professional development, peer coaching, principal involvement and leadership
at the school level.
At the end
of the day, a serious teacher evaluation system requires the authority to take
tough decisions in relation to rewarding the good teachers, improving the
not-so-good teachers or dismissing the bad ones. This system is founded on the
assumption that “all teachers can and want to learn” until on a case-by-case
basis, some teachers prove unwilling or unable to do so.
Should the
teacher assessment really aim at promoting student learning, it requires a
comprehensive approach. Improving teachers’ qualities, which then leads to
student learning, goes beyond the results of multiple-choice competence tests.
The growth
of teachers needs to be assessed on a day-to-day basis. This means principals
have to systematically conduct their supervision responsibility. While the
official supervisors at the district education level rarely perform their
duties properly, few principals carry out the classroom observation tasks or
design a system of mentoring, peer-observation and supervision in their
schools. Consequently, few school leaders have developed adequate supervision
skills and thus teachers are left to sink or swim throughout their teaching
careers.
A nation
that is serious about improving the learning of its children should start by
appointing education executives who are consistent enough to make teacher’s
growth one of the highest priorities of education development.
The recent
teachers’ competence test may be positively regarded as a good start in
enhancing teachers’ growth, but unfortunately the test remains far from an
appropriately designed model of teacher evaluation. To enhance student
learning, more thought and effort should be integrated into an effective
teacher performance assessment system.
Anita Lie
A
Professor at Widya Mandala Catholic University, Surabaya
JAKARTA
POST, 11 Agustus 2012
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