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José Luis Guzmán (El Salvador) – jlgmartell@gmail

Effective Teacher Training Policies to Ensure Effective Schools A Perspective from Central America and the Dominican Republic. José Luis Guzmán (El Salvador) – jlgmartell@gmail.com Melba Castillo (Nicaragua) – mcastillo@ciases.org.ni Jorge Lavarreda (Guatemala) – jlavarre@cien.org.gt

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José Luis Guzmán (El Salvador) – jlgmartell@gmail

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  1. Effective Teacher Training Policies to Ensure Effective SchoolsA Perspective from Central America and the Dominican Republic José Luis Guzmán (El Salvador) – jlgmartell@gmail.com Melba Castillo (Nicaragua) – mcastillo@ciases.org.ni Jorge Lavarreda (Guatemala) – jlavarre@cien.org.gt Radhamés Mejía (República Dominicana) – radhames20@gmail.com PREAL’sWorkingGroup on the TeachingProfession (www.preal.org) Discussant: Jorge Sequeira (Director OREALC/UNESCO) ICSEI 2013 – Symposium 1.7 Santiago, Chile – January 3-6, 2013

  2. Introduction José Luis Guzmán jlgmartell@gmail.com Coordinator (2011-2012) of PREAL’s Working Group on the Teaching Profession Central America & Dominican Rep. Chapter ICSEI 2013 Santiago, Chile – January 3-6, 2013

  3. SymposiumMethodology • Introduction (J.L. Guzmán) • Country cases: • Guatemala (J. Lavarreda) • Nicaragua (M. Castillo) • DominicanRepublic (R. Mejía) • Discussant: J. Sequeira (OREALC/UNESCO, Santiago) • Questions and comments • Closingremarks

  4. Central America and the Caribbean DominicanRepublic Guatemala Nicaragua

  5. Focus of thissymposium Teacher training policies as a key to enhance school effectiveness… and student learning • Analysis and recommendations of the recent UNESCO report on teacher policies in Latin America and the Caribbean (2012) - http://www.politicasdocentesalc.com/ • Review of available research and studies on teacher policies • Challenges faced by Central American countries (particularly Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic) • Challenges as linked to policy recommendations for researchers, policy makers and practitioners

  6. LowLearningOutcomes of Children • In Central America and the Dominican Republic, many children enrolled in primary and secondary schools have shown low learning outcomes when measured by national and international tests. • Outcomes are more disappointing for those disadvantaged children. • Access to secondary education remains low

  7. Percentage of 6th Grade StudentswithLowReading Performance (Level I orLess, SERCE 2008) Aftertheirprimaryeducation, manychildrenhavelimitedreadingcompetencies Urban Rural Desempeño de Nivel uno o menor Fuente: Segundo Estudio Regional Comparativo y Explicativo (SERCE, 2008) de América Latina y el Caribe. UNESCO/LLECE. Pruebas aplicadas entre 2006 y 2007

  8. High Number of ChildrenwithLowLearningOutcomes (SERCE 2008) Percentage of 3rd-grade children with low perfomance (level I or less) in international tests Source: OREALC/UNESCO. (2008). Second Regional Explicative and Comparative Study . Santiago, Chile

  9. Access toEducationBeyondPrimaryEducation? (Grossenrolmentrates in secondaryeducation: grades 7 to 12) Fuente: UNESCO InstituteforStatistics. Online Data Base: http://stats.uis.unesco.org

  10. PolicyFramework for TeacherTraining • Initial teacher training • Continuing teacher training Broad teacher policy framework (Systemic approach) Teachercompetencies and performance Enhancedstudentlearningoutcomes Ouside-in Story (seeFullan, 2000) Schooleffectiveness

  11. PolicyIssues for InitialTeacherTraining (OREALC, 2012) • Low previous academic achievement of those who enter pre-service training programs • Weak quality of pre-service training programs • Training do not prepare for working with vulnerable children • Insufficient regulation of teacher training programs

  12. PolicyIssues for ContinuingTeacherTraining (OREALC, 2012) • Poor relevance of and lack of articulation between programs • Low impact on teaching practices and student learning in the classroom • Lack of consideration to teacher heterogeneity • Little attention to schools’ conditions and to collaborative learning between teachers • Weak or none regulation of programs, especially postgraduate ones and those offered by private providers

  13. The challengetotrainteacherstoimproveschooleffectiveness in Central America and the DominicanRepublic Increase consistently the impact of teacher training policies (pre-service/in-service) to: • Reduce learning gaps between students • Increase overall student learning

  14. GUATEMALA Jorge Lavarreda jlavarre@cien.org.gt Vice President & CEO at the Centro de Investigaciones Económicas Nacionales (CIEN, Guatemala) and PREAL’spartner ICSEI 2013 Santiago, Chile – January 3-6, 2013

  15. Guatemalan Context • An internal armed conflict claimed more than 200,000 lives during a thirty-year period that ended in 1996. • Guatemala has an estimated population of 15 million people (61% under 25 years of age). • The official language is Spanish but there are also 23 Mayan languages, Xinca and Garífuna. • In 2011, 54% of the population was considered poor and 13% extremely poor. • In 2009, 50% of children between 3 and 59 months suffered chronic malnutrition.

  16. GUATEMALA Some Basic Facts (1) • Teacher policies have had the framework of an education reform which started after the Peace Accords. • Primary level teachers are graduates of normal schools that provide 3-4 years of high school-level instruction. • There is no admission exam to enter the normal school. • In 2011 there were 614 normal schools (86% were private). • From 2004 to 2009 there were 91,225 primary school teachers graduates but only 25,248 were hired as teachers.

  17. GUATEMALA Some Basic Facts (2) • 20% of the normal school graduates achieved a satisfactory level in language and 4% in math. • In 2011, 40% of the teachers that sought work in the public sector schools achieved the expected performance level in math and 45% in reading. • The workload of teachers in the public sector is 5 hours a day (this allows them to work also at the private sector). • In service training has been done mainly through isolated programs and there is absence of regulations for these programs.

  18. GUATEMALA Some Basic Facts (3) • To raise the enrollment rate, many small schools were built in remote areas where a teacher teaches several grades at the same time, sometimes up to 6, in a multi-grade appoach. • Regarding classroom processes in a sample of rural schools, the predominant activity was student seatwork (40% of all time), divided into copying instructions and working on procedural exercises individually (Marshall & Sorto, 2012).

  19. GUATEMALA Some Basic Facts (4) • There is some evidence that teachers’ access to university courses is associated with higher levels of common and specialized content knowledge in mathematics. This supports ongoing efforts in countries like Guatemala to upgrade teacher training levels (Marshall & Sorto, 2012).

  20. GUATEMALA Main Teacher Training Policies • In 2003, it was attempted to raise the normal schools to the university level but was abolished in 2004 as unconstitutional. • In 2007 the curriculum of initial training was changed but was again amended in 2009. • From 2013 it will be required that, to become a primary level teacher, the candidate completes a three year program at an university (decision facing legal action). • In 2010 started a two year program, executed by the public university, for preprimary and primary public in service teachers (2,543 teachers graduated in first cohort).

  21. GUATEMALA Main Challenges (1) • Teacher training (both initial and in-service) is not aligned with other elements that are expected to impact on education quality. • Selection processes to enter initial training programs are not rigorous; therefore, the best candidates are not attracted to the teaching profession. • After initial training, few teachers manage appropriate competencies to teach well. Related to this situation is the low professional level of teacher educators and the lack of relevance of the teacher training curriculum. • Teacher training policies lack of institutionalization.

  22. GUATEMALA Main Challenges (2) • Continuing teacher training is insufficient in terms of coverage and quality. Current problems include: administrative centralization, inappropriate mechanisms for communication, weakness of some program coordinators, insufficient advisors who, in addition, have blurred functions while giving support to teacher training. • Teacher training policies are not sustainable over time.

  23. GUATEMALA Critical Nodes Identified by Caballeros (2012) Initial Teacher Training Continuing Teacher Training Little relevance and articulation of training. Low impact of actions taken. Unawareness of teacher heterogeneity. Expansion of supply in an unregulated way. Little consideration of the reality of schools and collaborative learning. Difficulties of regulation and relevance of graduate programs supply. • Low level of education of those entering teaching studies. • Weak quality of training programs. • Insufficient regulation. • Tension between teaching approaches. • Undifferentiated universalist training for disadvantaged groups. • Lack of standards and exit evaluation. • Formation of non-teachers as an alternative to teacher training.

  24. NICARAGUA Melba Castillo mcastillo@ciases.org.ni Researcherat the Centro de Investigación y Acción Educativa Social (CIASES) and PREAL partner ICSEI 2013 Santiago, Chile – January 3-6, 2013

  25. Nicaraguan Context • Nicaragua's population is 5.5 million. About 60% is under 25 years and 38% is under 15 years. • The official language is Spanish. However, 5.7% of the population belong to an ethnic group (Miskitos, Mayagnas, Garifunas) which speak their own language, and 9.7 % is considered African descendent whose native language is Creole. • 44.7% of the population is considered below the general poverty line and 9.2% are in extreme poverty.

  26. NICARAGUA Some Basic Facts • 20% of primary school teachers and 35% of secondary education teachers do not hold a diploma certifying them to teach. • Low teacher salaries are one of the aspects influencing the low interest of youth in the teaching profession, forcing the MINED to continue hiring unqualified teachers and to hope they complete their training while in service.

  27. NICARAGUA Some Basic Facts (2) • Both initial teacher training and teacher professional development receive limited public resources. The amount of the budget allocated to teacher training doesn’t reach 2% of MINED’s budget. • In 2009, the budget allocation to the MINED was 3.53% of Gross Domestic Product and 11.3 % of total government expenditure. The annual averages of per student investments are US$197 and US$118 in primary and secondary education respectively.

  28. NICARAGUA SomeBasic Facts (3) • Nicaraguan teacher salaries are the lowest in comparison with those of their counterparts in Central America. • The average salary of primary school teachers in Central America is US $ 450. In Nicaragua, it reaches US$ 200, thanks to a recently awarded bonus.

  29. NICARAGUA Initial Teacher Training: Challenges (1) • Initial teacher training in Nicaragua faces major challenges, similar to those found in other Latin American countries (see Terigi, 2010; Vaillant & Rossel, 2006). • Low level of education of those entering the teaching profession. Most students of escuelasnormalescome from low-income families, were formed in low-quality schools, grew in homes with limited ´cultural capital´ and have low expectations with regard to being successful in a profession that, in addition, society assigns little social and economic value.

  30. NICARAGUA Initial Teacher Training: Challenges (2) • Students who begin teacher training have major learning gaps in key areas like: reading comprehension, logical thinking, mathematical skills, and methods of processing and organizing information. • Along with the low academic achievement of candidates who enroll in initial teacher training, programs demand a low number of years for graduation.

  31. NICARAGUA Initial Teacher Training: Challenges (3) • Initial training for primary school teachers remains at Nicaragua’s secondary education level. In most of Latin America, however, a requirement to enter initial teacher training is to have completed 12 years of formal education. • The teacher training curriculum is focused on general, theoretical contents, instead of preparing to develop appropriate skills; teachers complain that there is a need for training in the discipline itself: for instance, in core subjects like reading and math.

  32. NICARAGUA Initial Teacher Training: Challenges(4) • Students of escuelasnormalesexperience ineffective school practice insofar as mentoring, supervision and support are poor. • MINED regulates escuelasnormales. However there is no regulation on teacher education programs provided by higher education institutions. • Furthermore, admission tests are not required to enter the teaching profession.

  33. NICARAGUA Continuing Teacher Training: Main Challenges (1) • In-service teachers complain about the lack of training to manage the new curriculum. • There are no induction programs ensuring consistent monitoring and support from senior mentors to new teachers who start working in the school system. • In this sense, it would be desirable to study successful local experiences currently being developed by private schools. • International experience, particularly the case of Singapore, shows the importance of this aspect for improving the quality of teaching. (A.Lin Goodwin, in Darling-Hammond and Liberman, 2012, 38-39).

  34. NICARAGUA Continuing Teacher Training: Main Challenges (2) • In a matter as important as the initial training and professional development of teachers, the MINED implements relevant changes without consultation of key national stakeholders. • There is no evaluation of teachers’ performance, and there is no accountability to the community about the students’ learning.

  35. NICARAGUA Continuing Teacher Training: Main Challenges (3) • It is necessary to emphasize the need to ensure teachers their right to lifelong and pertinent learning, focused on student learning and school needs. • But above all, if the teaching profession does not become worthy – economically and socially valued – it will be difficult for Nicaraguan teachers to improve the quality of teaching and thereby enhance student learning and school effectiveness.

  36. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Radhamés Mejía radhames20@gmail.com President at the Universidad APEC (Dominican Republic) and PREAL’s partner ICSEI 2013 Santiago, Chile – January 3-6, 2013

  37. DominicanRepublicContext • Population: 11.5 million • Located in an island in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic shares territory with Haiti. • Percentage of population in poverty conditions moved from 54% in 2004 to 41% in 2009 • Since 2008, the Dominican Republic Government is implementing its third Ten-Year Education Plan • Current initiatives to improve the education system have the broad framework of the National Strategy for Development 2010-2030

  38. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Basic Facts (1) • Initial teacher training is provided by 25 higher education institutions: 2 are public and 23 are private. • As a result of implementing the 1997 General Law of Education, about 85% of in-service teachers currently hold at least a licenciatura degree • In 2010, an inter-institutional commission found that there were 89 programs for teacher training.

  39. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Basic Facts (2) • Despite the investment and advances in training teachers at the tertiary level, children enrolled in primary schools had the lowest learning scores in Latin America (SERCE 2008) • In response to this situation, the Dominican Government, with the involvement of higher education institutions, is seeking the implementation of significant measures to reform teacher training

  40. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Basic Facts (3) Main Government’s priorities for teacher policies include: • Strengthen programs though hiring full time teacher educators • Promoting online teacher networks and implementing standards • Upgrade the profile of candidates who wish to enter teacher programs • Promote internationalization of teacher training; • Implement accreditation of teacher training programs, and • Stimulate teachers’ involvement in research within the classroom

  41. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MainChallenges (1) • Improve performance of teacher educators • Ensure implementation of and compliance with new standards for higher education institutions providing initial teacher training. • Increase impact of in-service training on classroom practices and student learning • Articulate pre servicewith in serviceteacher training.

  42. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MainChallenges (2) • Establish collaboration between higher education institutions and schools • Promote sustainability of current in service teacher training

  43. Thankyou!

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