مفهوم تقييم المعلمين لدى مديري ومديرات المدارس الابتدائية في جهاز التعليم العربي

Abstract

The research aimed to: (1) Describe the gap between potential theoretical uses of a teacher assessment system and perceptions and applications of this tool by elementary school principals in the Arab sector, and to (2) Identify variables, contexts and aspects, influencing the principals' application of this tool and professional, political and personal contexts that block their ability or willingness to use the assessment process as an effective managerial and leadership tool.

The research questions were therefore:

• Do teachers in the Arab sector perceive teacher assessment as a useful tool to improve teaching and learning results, and to what extent do they use this tool effectively?
• What blockages hinder the application of this tool by elementary Arab school principals?

Ten elementary school principals from the Arab sector in Northern and Central Israel were interviewed to examine their perceptions concerning the role of teacher assessment and their use of this tool in practice.

From the analysis of the in-depth interviews, it emerged that Arab elementary school principals have a limited perception of the essentiality, importance and effectiveness of teacher assessment as a professional, managerial and leadership tool, and its instrumental use relating to learning results and system applications is usually limited. Principals had differing levels of sophistication, knowledge and ability to identify the full range of applications for the teacher assessment process tool. Nevertheless, some recognize the formative role of the assessment system (a leadership tool enabling the principal to transmit messages using 'the ideal teacher' as an assessment model) and the instrumental role (results-oriented) as a means to improve the level of teaching and (feedback processes and teachers' personal development) and as a tool to improve pupils' achievements (improved teaching level should be expressed by improved pupils' achievements). Professionally, a lack of uniformity is obvious in the standards, criteria, norms and tools used for teacher assessment.

Principals are aware of the 'political' context of teacher assessment, especially dilemmas arising from the assessment process expressing tension between colleagues and authority, between fairness towards pupils as service receivers and concern towards colleague teachers.

To conclude: this study of the perceptions of elementary school teachers towards assessment processes exposes several dilemmas and considerations. It suggests factors that block application of a valid, reliable teacher assessment process at three levels: socio-cultural - variables connected with school culture and the Arab culture. Perceptual - the principal's personal view of the assessment role as a manager or as an educational leader transmitting messages, developing teaching staff and leading the school to improved teaching quality and learning results. Personal professional – principal's ability to construct an assessment tool, operate an assessment system, analyze data and provide professional feedback. The complex work of maintaining these professional standards occurs in varied contexts, with varying levels of motivation, and when flawed, damages the entire assessment process.

Some school principals believe that they can engender change in their teachers' teaching quality and pupils' achievements using an assessment system to promote school dialog concerning this subject. However not all the principals have the knowledge, resources and tools to conduct an assessment complying with professional standards. The need to comply with the Ministry of Education policies and field needs also necessitate dialog and allocation of resources.