Revista Española de Educación Comparada

Monograph: Assessment of teachers´teaching quality

Coordinators:

Carmen-María Fernández- García (Universidad de Oviedo)

Mercedes Inda-Caro (Universidad de Oviedo)

Ridwan Maulana (Universidad de Groningen)

In the 21st century, education is unarguably a cornerstone in the idea of a prosperous, more equitable, developed society. Achieving quality education is therefore one of the sustainable development goals established by the United Nations in its 2030 Agenda. Many different agents are involved in the education process, and analysing the results students achieve through those processes is complex, as they are affected by numerous factors. There is no doubt that students’ backgrounds, as well as various individual and environmental elements, along with organizational elements related to their schools, must be considered in order to properly interpret their achievements, difficulties, and learning.

Focusing specifically on what happens in the classroom in all stages of the formal education system, we can say that teachers’ initial and ongoing training may be more or less adequate in terms of mastery of the competencies they need to properly plan their various subjects, control their classrooms, and analyse the relationships that arise in them. To be a good teacher, therefore, it is not enough to know the subject one is teaching, one must also master the strategies to ensure that knowledge reaches the students in the best way possible (Darling – Hammond & Sykes, 2003; Kaplan & Owings, 2002; Maulana et al., 2023a; Reoyo et al., 2017). Throughout their working lives, teachers may need help and support (Conway & Clark, 2003; Kini & Podolsky, 2016; Panayiotis et al., 2011; Verástegui et al., 2022), be that from specialists or from colleagues, with whom they can develop strategies to effectively cope with the challenges that they face every day in the classroom.

Making the most realistic possible assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in teaching competence, not to punish but rather to educate, is an interesting way of providing this support to teachers and their professional development. It is also an interesting dimension to consider as a reference in teachers’ initial and continued training, providing them with a disciplinary background against which they can consider their own teaching practice.

Various different models and instruments have attempted to identify the teaching dimensions, in various educational settings, that may serve as a basis for this professional development and for reflection and evaluation of teaching quality (Maulana et al., 2023a). However, there is no consensus about how best to do this assessment, nor about the most relevant procedures for evaluating teaching activity. Some cases have opted for quantitative approaches (checklists, various types of questionnaire), others more qualitative (observation, group discussion, self-analysis diaries); some have used students as informants, others have used the teachers’ own opinions, those of the educational authorities, or student results as a reference. It is also open to question whether the results of these evaluations should have any kind of impact on professional promotion, salary, or choice of teaching post in some education systems. Although these evaluation systems are commonly used in some contexts (e.g. the USA, Singapore), in Spain—at least outside the university system—it is hard to find systematic evaluation procedures formally undertaken by competent authorities or recognised educational organizations with the aim of assessing teaching quality and evaluating teachers. There is no doubt, however, that proper assessment of teaching quality along with provision of sufficient resources and support from the social and educational policy arena will allow improvement of teaching-learning processes and achievement of much-desired quality education for all.

Hence, suggested questions for the monograph include:

• What transnational, international, national, and local policies are there in relation to assessing teaching quality? How do educational policies determine teaching effectiveness and quality?
• What impact can evaluating teaching quality and effectiveness have on improving modern education?
• What differences are there at international and intranational level in relation to the different models for assessing teaching quality and effectiveness?
• What dimensions of teaching activity are considered for assessing teaching quality and effectiveness? What other dimensions may be important that are not sufficiently included?
• What cultural and contextual variables allow us to understand the approach and effects of these different models for assessing teaching quality and effectiveness?

Articles for this monograph may make overall or partial comparison of elements (or all) of teaching quality assessment between different countries (international comparison), within a single country (intranational comparison), or between groups of countries (supranational comparison) referring to any educational stage.

Papers are also welcome that are based on a theoretical or epistemological perspective on the concept of evaluation of teaching quality itself, or the state of the subject from a local (initiatives undertaken by local or regional educational authorities), national (policies enacted by education ministries or departments), or international perspective (European Union, UNESCO, Organization of Ibero-American States, etc.).