Chapter 3Teacher evaluation and com

Chapter 3

Teacher evaluation and compensation



Teacher evaluation is essential for improving the individual performance of teachers and the collective performance of education systems. Designing teacher-appraisal methods is not easy, and requires the objectives of accountability and improvement to be carefully balanced. A crucial feature is what criteria teachers are appraised against, including, but not limited to, student performance. Also important are the degree to which teachers improve their professional skills and, crucially, the part they play in improving the school and system as a whole. In this way, evaluation and appraisal need to be well aligned with the process of system change. However, it is not enough to appraise the right things; the ways in which appraisal is followed through will determine its impact. At present, many teachers feel that appraisal has no or little consequence. School leaders need to become more skilled at using it intelligently, and evaluation needs to be more closely connected with career development and diversity. A specific issue is the extent and style of links between assessed performance, career advancement, and compensation. Whatever system is chosen, it must be well understood and transparently applied.







33©OECD2011
Building a High-Quality Teaching Profession: Lessons from Around the World


Chapter 3

Te a ch e r E va l u a t i o n a n d C o m p e n s a t i o n


In search of an effective teacher appraisal system

Teacher appraisal is advancing from checking whether teachers are doing their job to helping them improve.

The role of teacher appraisal has changed in recent years. Historically, in most countries it focused on monitoring to ensure adherence to centrally established procedures, policies and practices. In most education systems the focus has now shifted to how teacher appraisal affects learning outcomes (see Box 3.2).

New approaches to teacher appraisal seek to improve learning outcomes through fostering and targeting teacher professional development and holding teachers accountable…

Retaining effective teachers implies not only that all teachers have the opportunities, support and incentives to continue to improve and perform at high levels, but also that ineffective teachers do not remain in the profession. Some groups in public discussion want to focus mainly on the latter issue, to the detriment of the image and achievements of the large majority of teachers. Others do not want to acknowledge that this is a real problem.

Effective teacher appraisal can help to improve teachers’ practices by identifying strengths and weaknesses for further professional development – the improvement function. This involves helping teachers learn about, reflect on, and adjust their practice. Teacher appraisal can also help to hold teachers accountable for their performance in enhancing student learning – the accountability function. This typically entails performance-based career advancement and/or salaries, bonus pay and, in some countries, the possibility of sanctions for underperformance. It also usually involves evaluating performance at nodal points in a teacher’s career.

…but achieving both these aims simultaneously is challenging...

Combining the improvement and accountability functions into a single teacher-appraisal process raises many challenges, and comparative research on the effectiveness of different models is just beginning to emerge. For example, when evaluation is oriented towards improving practice within schools, teachers are typically willing to reveal their weaknesses, in the expectation that conveying that information will lead to more effective decisions on developmental needs and teacher education. However, when teachers are confronted with potential consequences of evaluation on their career and salary, they are less inclined to reveal weaknesses in their performance, and the improvement function, which builds on trust in the relationship between appraiser and the appraised, may be jeopardized. In practice, countries usually use some combination of these approaches that integrates multiple purposes and methodologies.

…and careful implementation.

Any teacher-appraisal system needs to be implemented with care. This involves reconciling the diverging interests of stakeholders, carefully analyzing policy alternatives and their likely impact, and discussing them with stakeholders to aim towards consensus. Teachers can and do see appraisal and feedback in positive terms. For example, 80% of teachers in the TALIS survey reported that it was helpful in developing their work as teachers; and almost half of teachers reported that it led to a teacher-development or training plan to improve their teaching.28 One way of ensuring that teachers see such evaluation in positive terms is to involve them in school evaluations, in particular by organizing school self-evaluations as a collective process in which teachers take responsibility.

Effective appraisal requires the development of considerable expertise in the system, including training evaluators, establishing evaluation processes and aligning broader school reforms, such as professional development opportunities, with evaluation and assessment strategies. All of these require considerable resources, including time. 34©OECD2011

Building a High-Quality Teaching Profession: Lessons from Around the World


Chapter 3

Te a ch e r E va l u a t i o n a n d C o m p e n s a t i o n


Figure 3.1

Percentage of teachers without appraisal in the last 18 months

Results (Vietnamese) 1:

Chapter 3Teacher evaluation and compensationTeacher evaluation is essential for improving the individual performance of teachers and the collective performance of education systems. Designing teacher-appraisal methods is not easy, and requires the objectives of accountability and improvement to be carefully balanced. A crucial feature is what criteria teachers are appraised against, including, but not limited to, student performance. Also important are the degree to which teachers improve their professional skills and, crucially, the part they play in improving the school and system as a whole. In this way, evaluation and appraisal need to be well aligned with the process of system change. However, it is not enough to appraise the right things; the ways in which appraisal is followed through will determine its impact. At present, many teachers feel that appraisal has no or little consequence. School leaders need to become more skilled at using it intelligently, and evaluation needs to be more closely connected with career development and diversity. A specific issue is the extent and style of links between assessed performance, career advancement, and compensation. Whatever system is chosen, it must be well understood and transparently applied. 33©OECD2011 Building a High-Quality Teaching Profession: Lessons from Around the World Chapter 3Te a ch e r E va l u a t i o n a n d C o m p e n s a t i o nIn search of an effective teacher appraisal systemTeacher appraisal is advancing from checking whether teachers are doing their job to helping them improve.The role of teacher appraisal has changed in recent years. Historically, in most countries it focused on monitoring to ensure adherence to centrally established procedures, policies and practices. In most education systems the focus has now shifted to how teacher appraisal affects learning outcomes (see Box 3.2).New approaches to teacher appraisal seek to improve learning outcomes through fostering and targeting teacher professional development and holding teachers accountable…Retaining effective teachers implies not only that all teachers have the opportunities, support and incentives to continue to improve and perform at high levels, but also that ineffective teachers do not remain in the profession. Some groups in public discussion want to focus mainly on the latter issue, to the detriment of the image and achievements of the large majority of teachers. Others do not want to acknowledge that this is a real problem.Effective teacher appraisal can help to improve teachers’ practices by identifying strengths and weaknesses for further professional development – the improvement function. This involves helping teachers learn about, reflect on, and adjust their practice. Teacher appraisal can also help to hold teachers accountable for their performance in enhancing student learning – the accountability function. This typically entails performance-based career advancement and/or salaries, bonus pay and, in some countries, the possibility of sanctions for underperformance. It also usually involves evaluating performance at nodal points in a teacher’s career.…but achieving both these aims simultaneously is challenging...Kết hợp các chức năng cải tiến và trách nhiệm vào một quá trình thẩm định giáo viên duy nhất tăng nhiều thách thức, và các nghiên cứu so sánh về hiệu quả của mô hình khác nhau chỉ mới bắt đầu nổi lên. Ví dụ, khi đánh giá là định hướng theo hướng cải thiện thực hành trong các trường học, giáo viên được thường sẵn sàng để lộ ra điểm yếu của họ, trong những kỳ vọng rằng truyền đạt thông tin sẽ dẫn đến hiệu quả hơn các quyết định trên các nhu cầu phát triển của giáo viên giáo dục. Tuy nhiên, khi giáo viên đang phải đối mặt với những hậu quả tiềm năng của việc đánh giá về nghề nghiệp và tiền lương của họ, họ có ít nghiêng để tiết lộ điểm yếu trong hiệu suất của chúng, và các chức năng cải tiến, xây dựng trên sự tin tưởng trong mối quan hệ giữa định giá và các thẩm định, có thể được jeopardized. Trong thực tế, nước thường sử dụng một số sự kết hợp của các phương pháp tiếp cận tích hợp nhiều mục đích và phương pháp... .và cẩn thận thực hiện.Any teacher-appraisal system needs to be implemented with care. This involves reconciling the diverging interests of stakeholders, carefully analyzing policy alternatives and their likely impact, and discussing them with stakeholders to aim towards consensus. Teachers can and do see appraisal and feedback in positive terms. For example, 80% of teachers in the TALIS survey reported that it was helpful in developing their work as teachers; and almost half of teachers reported that it led to a teacher-development or training plan to improve their teaching.28 One way of ensuring that teachers see such evaluation in positive terms is to involve them in school evaluations, in particular by organizing school self-evaluations as a collective process in which teachers take responsibility.Effective appraisal requires the development of considerable expertise in the system, including training evaluators, establishing evaluation processes and aligning broader school reforms, such as professional development opportunities, with evaluation and assessment strategies. All of these require considerable resources, including time. 34©OECD2011 Building a High-Quality Teaching Profession: Lessons from Around the World Chapter 3Te a ch e r E va l u a t i o n a n d C o m p e n s a t i o nFigure 3.1Percentage of teachers without appraisal in the last 18 months