Quality Assurance and Teachers Policy Külli All

What makes schools successful PISA, TALIS, PIAAC etc Student performance is associated with various characteristics of individual schools and of school system. How pupils/students are selected and/or grouped between different programs, schools, educational levels finances, goverment, human and time resources , schools/teachers autonomy, learning environment

Teachers and educational quality Teachers are the essential resource for learning – the quality of school system can not exceed the quality of it’s teachers. Attracting , developing and retaining of effective teachers is a priority for public policy. Researchers have pointed out that teacher quality is one of the most important school-related factors in student achievement and that a teacher’s mastery of the subject content and classroom practices strongly influence what students learn.

Quality and teachers It’s clear that teachers at all levels of education must be appropriately trained and qualified, so as to achieve any form of quality teaching. The teaching and learning environment should be designed in such a way that it supports teachers and education employees in their missions. Soome!

Quality and teachers Teachers should maintain high professional standards and should be accountable to society. Professional standards should be established with the full involvement of the teaching profession, so that teachers feel confident that both their professional standards and their professional development are relevant to their teaching.

Status of teaching profession The status of the teaching profession is on a steady decline in many countries , Only a small number of high-performing college students are attracted into the teaching career due to the availability of other career options with more attractive pay and working conditions.

PISA 2012 and teachers Teacher pre-service training, requirements for the teaching professioon, profile and qualification Student-teacher ratio Teacher shortages Teachers’ professional development

Teachers salaries Represent the largest single cost in expenditure on education Lower secondary teachers salaries in OECD countries are of 124% per capita GDP, upper sec 129 % In all systems, teachers salaries rise during the course of a career, although the rate of rate difference greatly.

Requiremetns to enter teaching profession Competitive examination (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxemburg) A licence additional to diploma to enter the profession (UK, Germany, US etc) –a teaching practicum needed Teachers’ registers Compulsory continuing education

Teacher profile and qualifications Fully certified/ only part of teachers fully certified In OECD countries 85% of teachers have university – level education Some studies have shown limited or no relationship between teacher educational attainment, teacher qualifications and student outcomes (Buddin and Zamarro, 2009; Croninger et al., 2007; Harris and Sass, 2011; Larsen, 2010). Other studies and reviews have shown positive relationships between initial education (either in terms of its level or its content) or the process of obtaining teacher certification and teaching effectiveness (Clotfelter, Ladd and Vigdor, 2007, 2010; Darling-Hammond et al., 2005; Monk, 1994; Ronfeldt and Reininger, 2012). For example, Ronfeldt and Reininger (2012) found that the quality (rather than the duration) of the practical component of teacher education programmes can have positive impacts on select outcomes of pre-service teachers, such as their perception of preparedness, their efficacy and their career plans

Teacher training The system of initial and continuing training for teachers is a key factor Lack of new teachers, this concerns bringing both young teachers and practitioners with professional experience to schools – legislation amendments ?

Some Estonian experience Competence profiles of teachers/teacher education programs Self-assesment/perfomance analyse Flexible pathways to enter the profession No state-level perfomance assessment No to formally regulated complimentary training courses VET teachers – practice periood in companies

Few questions VET teachers – masters? Flexible pathways to teaching profession? Pedagogical competences ? Andragogical competencies? Self-evaluation/self-analyse+ peer evaluation?

„Finland has vastly improved in reading, math and science literacy over the past decade in large part because its teachers are trusted to do whatever it takes to turn young lives around“. Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful- 49859555/#SUV3GE3OhDS1Ih6w.99 Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

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