Teacher appraisal

Abstract

In Mexico, teacher appraisal is comprehensive and consists of a range of components covering the different stages of a teacher’s career. Access to a permanent post is regulated through the National Teaching Post Competition which, at present, is based on a standardised examination: the National Examination of Teaching Knowledge and Skills. While in service the teacher can be appraised, on a voluntary basis, in three different situations: to access a promotion to a management post through the Vertical Promotion System; to access salary progression within each rank of the Vertical Promotion System through the National Teacher Career Programme; and to access collective and individual monetary stimuli based on student standardised assessments results through the Incentives Programme for Teacher Quality. In addition, the government is currently in the process of implementing a mandatory process of teacher appraisal covering all teachers, which is more formative in nature, the Universal Evaluation System. Particularly positive features of teacher appraisal include the general consensus about the need for teacher appraisal; the variety of mechanisms to appraise teachers and recognise good teacher performance; the efforts undertaken thus far to develop teaching standards; the introduction of the National Teaching Post Competition; and the existence of informal teacher appraisal practices in schools. However, the development of teacher appraisal is faced with a number of challenges. These include the lack of established teaching standards; the complexity and fragmentation of the overall framework for teacher appraisal; the improvement of teaching quality not being at the centre of teacher appraisal; the concerns raised by the use of student standardised assessments as an instrument; teacher appraisal not offering the same opportunities for all teachers; the absence of a clearly defined teacher career structure; the missing links between teacher appraisal, professional development and school development; and the limited involvement of state educational authorities and school leadership.