Tracking of teachers’ performance for quality teaching learning process is one of the most wanted agenda for the educationists across the ages since when the schools came into existence. In recent years several strategies and tools were emerged as a result of search for tracking teachers’ performance. These are like writing Annual Confidential Reports by immediate superiors, conducting Teachers’ Performance Appraisal and Classroom Observation by monitoring personnel, etc. However, none of the tools and strategies proved reliable to track teachers’ performance in all aspects as expected. In the context, ADEPTS is an attempt made recently in India to track teachers’ performance and the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India is persuading every state for the implementation of ADEPTS from current academic session. It is the new development in the school monitoring and supervision system in India.
ADEPTS is the acronym of Advancement of Educational Performance Through Teacher Supports which strives on tracking teachers’ performances by using standard performance indicators. These standard teachers’ performance indicators were prepared by conducting various workshops across the nation, in the initiation of MHRD, Government of India and UNICEF in the year 2006 & 2007, involving academicians, pedagogues, educational administrators, college lecturers from various states and UTs of India. Before devising these indicators, the assumptions were made about teachers who need to achieve particular standards within the enabling conditions. The enabling conditions mentioned here are the facilities supporting teachers to conduct teaching activities like functional school building, classrooms with blackboard, teachers with acceptable Pupil Teacher Ratio, textbooks, curriculum, toilet, drinking water, etc. The assumptions were also made that the teachers are conducting teaching activities in a multi-level situations taking the children with diversity of background, levels, paces and styles of learning. This means that the standards have lot of spaces to accommodate all the situations that prevail in the Indian schools. However, the single teacher schools were not taken into account while devising these standards.
The Teachers Performance Standards prepared under ADEPTS programme cover four dimensions of school processes viz. Physical Dimension, Cognitive Dimension, Social Dimension and Organizational Dimension in four-step-ladder system. The steps of the ladder are 1, 2, 3 and 4 wherein 1 is the lowest and 4 is the highest which means a teacher who falls in ‘Step 1’ is the teacher with lowest performance standards and so on. For example, let’s take a performance statement –‘Teacher understands children’ and make Performance standards in four steps, it would be like this:
| Teacher understands children | |||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Understands background of children as well as their different academic levels. | Understands /identifies children’s individual strengths / weaknesses and talents [cultural and social issues emerging from their backgrounds]. | Understands /identifies children’s individual strengths / weaknesses and talents [cultural and social issues emerging from their backgrounds], how different children learn / individual differences in learning. | Understands /identifies children’s individual strengths / weaknesses and talents, [cultural and social issues emerging from their backgrounds], how different children learn / individual differences in learning and how different children prefer to learn. |
The standards indicated in the table above on ‘Teacher understands children’ show step-by-step sequence starting from step 1 to step 4 and the complexity of performance increases when we go up from ‘1’ to ‘2’, ‘2’ to ‘3’ and like-wise.
When we talk of teachers’ performance statements, I think it would be better to give a gist of dimension-wise performance statements as well for the reader which will definitely help them to understand more about ADEPTS standards of teachers’ performance. It is given in the list form below:
A. Physical Dimension
1. The teacher facilitates a clean environment
2. The teacher creates a conducive environment
B. Cognitive Dimension
1. The teacher understands children and relates with them
2. The teacher understands curriculum, content and prepares accordingly
3. The teacher generates effective learning experiences (Uses contemporary methods, with a focus on relationships and diversity)
4. The teacher uses materials effectively
5. The teacher ensures learning for ALL/Creates a classroom for ALL
6. The teacher communicates effectively
7. The teacher collaborates with children
8. The teacher creates conducive learning environment / relates with children
9. The teacher plans for enabling learning (Manages / organizes classroom to optimize learning)
10. The teacher undertakes assessment and evaluation, and uses outcomes to improve learning
C. Social Dimension
1. The teacher values Children, their cultural context, and relates with them in a non-discriminatory manner
2. The teacher promotes development of values and enables overall development of children
3. The teacher promotes Democratic processes
4. The teacher relates and works with colleagues and community
D. Organizational Dimension
1. The teacher displays Professional commitment/accountability
2. The teacher develops herself professionally (individually and as member of a team)
3. The teacher works with colleagues as a team, optimizes resources
4. The teacher undertakes Reflective practice
5. The teacher participates in Management and implementation
Every performance statement given above has more than one performance indicators in all four steps.
These standards are really helpful for supervising/monitoring officials (school heads and others), teacher trainers and teacher education institutes to diagnose the specific problem which is actually hindering a teacher’s performance and enable them to provide exact remedial treatment which ultimately leads to enhancement of teachers’ effectiveness. These standards help the monitoring officials and educational administrators as well to segregate the teachers in four categories on the basis of their competencies, identify the nature of academic supports required for each category of teachers and make rationale in recommending the teachers for Commendation, State and National Awards. ADEPTS standards are also helpful for the teacher themselves to know their own level where they stand and what are the scope of improvements.
The ADEPTS programme will definitely bring changes in school system and teacher effectiveness framework if it is implemented with proper planning. However, the State or UTs has to modify these indicators in state specific perspective before its implementation in the state. It is suggested to undertake following preliminary activities before implementing ADEPTS Teachers Performance Indicators in the state:
1. Formation of State and District ADEPTS Core Teams
2. Orientation of these Teams and distribution of available literatures to these teams
3. Identification and listing of state specific Teacher Performance Indicators from among the indicators focused upon by the MHRD for SSA and segregation of these indicators into 4 (four) levels. This will be used as base materials for field level consultancy meetings [this part may be done merging with Sl. No. 2]
4. Initiate participatory activities to make personnel from different levels well versed with these indicators - Hold consultation meetings with and orient key stakeholders, institutions resource groups, Block Resource Centre Coordinators (BRCCs), Cluster Resource Centre Coordinators (CRCCs), school heads, teachers, on the identified performance indicators [these meetings may refine/review these indicators]
5. Preparation of support materials like Enabling Tools, Observation Tools, Booklet/ manual for Teachers, CRCCs, BRCCs and DIETs, instructions for District Teams, etc.
6. Conduct survey to understand the status of Block Resource Centres (BRCs), Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs) and review of present/existing standards of teachers
7. Plan for the implementation of ADEPTS – selection or phasing of Indicators out of already identified list of indicators giving specific timeline, strategies for its achievement and tools for its monitoring.
It is expected that this new strategy will definitely brings differences in Teachers’ Performance Tracking and helps in starting new era of quality school monitoring.
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