Reform rollback: Teacher performance reviews - SHELVED

gandalf

The government is now even rolling back on reforms that they had already committed on doing.

It appears they are absolute free fall and are unable to deliver on decisions that might mean they have to stand up to the unions.

Is this the beginning of the end, if they cannot push through on decisions they have already made then what hope is there that they can govern effectively from now onwards.

I think the writing is on the wall at this stage.

Department shelves plan for teacher performance reviews

The Department of Education says it has no intention of conducting regular performance reviews of teachers and principals, despite admitting in internal documents that such a move would boost the quality of teaching.

In a briefing document prepared for Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan last July, department officials listed creating a system of teacher and principal appraisal under “priorities and main activities” for the period of 2014-2016 .

It noted: “Outside of the probationary period and cases where teachers experience professional difficulties, there is no procedure in the Irish school system whereby the competence and/or the standard of an individual teacher’s work are regularly and systematically evaluated within the school.”

Such a system was recommended by the OECD which has produced evidence suggesting “that appraisal systems for teachers and principals, strongly focussed on improvement and professional development, can play a beneficial role in strengthening teaching and learning in schools”.

However, in a statement this week the department said it had “no plans at present to introduce an appraisal system for teachers and principals”.

The proposal is understood to have been taken off the table until industrial relations improve between teachers and the department over the junior cycle reforms.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/department-shelves-plan-for-teacher-performance-reviews-1.2010479

jank

A carrot for the Unions in a hope that they adopt the new Junior Cert reforms and call off their strike? Never!

Who losses out? The tax payer and children who have to put up with below standard teachers.

nice_guy80

the OECD have said teacher reviews are not needed

it is not best practice in many other countries