ACER eNews


Recognising accomplished teachers In an Australian Journal of Education article, ACER Principal Research Fellow Dr Lawrence Ingvarson looks at efforts since the 1970s to strengthen the teaching profession by making teaching a more attractive career, lifting the quality of teacher training, retaining and rewarding quality teachers, promoting effective professional learning and supporting workforce mobility. There are two main purposes for teacher evaluation. One is for all teachers to meet basic standards of professional performance. The other is to provide high standards of professional accomplishment and incentives for teachers to attain them, usually through professional certification. In 2008 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to a set of reforms focused on teacher quality. COAG agreed to the development of a nationally agreed professional standards framework for teachers with four career stages: graduate teacher, competent (that is, registered) teacher, highly accomplished teacher and lead teacher – and a system for the assessment and certification of teachers who meet those standards at each stage. The Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) was established in late 2009, replacing Teaching Australia. A high priority for this new body must be to have the profession on board. Teaching’s most highly regarded practitioners must be centrally involved in developing and operating the certification system. The best way to achieve this would be for AITSL to build on the work of Teaching Australia and the professional associations to establish one national and profession-wide system for professional certification, not a plethora of different systems operated by government, Catholic and independent school employing authorities in each state and territory, potentially 24 different certification systems. Australia has made several attempts over several decades to develop a system for identifying and rewarding accomplished teachers. The COAG agreement has the potential to revolutionise professional learning for teachers and school leaders and to create a much more effective system. The reforms will only be successful if a national certification system is valid, reliable and fair, and the rewards for high standards of performance substantial. Recognising accomplished teachers in Australia: Where have we been? Where are we heading? appears in the Australian Journal of Education, Volume 54, Number 1 published this month. Further information about the AJE is available from http://www.acer.edu.au/press/aje « Back to eNews
Copyright © Australian Council for Educational Research 2013 All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia and subsequent amendments, no part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written permission. Please address any requests to reproduce information to communications@acer.edu.au Subscribe Unsubscribe Australian Council for Educational Research Private Bag 55, Camberwell, Victoria Australia 3124 Tel: + 61 3 9277 5555 Fax: + 61 3 9277 5500 Web: www.acer.edu.au

In an Australian Journal of Education article, ACER Principal Research Fellow Dr Lawrence Ingvarson looks at efforts since the 1970s to strengthen the teaching profession by making teaching a more attractive career, lifting the quality of teacher training, retaining and rewarding quality teachers, promoting effective professional learning and supporting workforce mobility.

There are two main purposes for teacher evaluation. One is for all teachers to meet basic standards of professional performance. The other is to provide high standards of professional accomplishment and incentives for teachers to attain them, usually through professional certification.

In 2008 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to a set of reforms focused on teacher quality. COAG agreed to the development of a nationally agreed professional standards framework for teachers with four career stages: graduate teacher, competent (that is, registered) teacher, highly accomplished teacher and lead teacher – and a system for the assessment and certification of teachers who meet those standards at each stage.

The Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) was established in late 2009, replacing Teaching Australia. A high priority for this new body must be to have the profession on board. Teaching’s most highly regarded practitioners must be centrally involved in developing and operating the certification system. The best way to achieve this would be for AITSL to build on the work of Teaching Australia and the professional associations to establish one national and profession-wide system for professional certification, not a plethora of different systems operated by government, Catholic and independent school employing authorities in each state and territory, potentially 24 different certification systems.

Australia has made several attempts over several decades to develop a system for identifying and rewarding accomplished teachers. The COAG agreement has the potential to revolutionise professional learning for teachers and school leaders and to create a much more effective system. The reforms will only be successful if a national certification system is valid, reliable and fair, and the rewards for high standards of performance substantial.

Recognising accomplished teachers in Australia: Where have we been? Where are we heading? appears in the Australian Journal of Education, Volume 54, Number 1 published this month. Further information about the AJE is available from http://www.acer.edu.au/press/aje