GRADING OF TEACHERS
THE DOMINION SCHEME
SOME OF ITS FEATURES
The Dominion grading scheme for teachers, ono of the most important of recent reforms in the education system of New Zealand, is the subject of a report which is being issued by tho Education Department. Tho report is intended for tho information or teachers and others interested in educational matters, and it explains and illustrates many points iu connection with the grading list, which wa3 published in tho Gazette last June. Tho compilation of a graded list of certificated teachers was authorised by the. Education Act of 1914, but the scheme was not carried into effect until this year, when tho necessary regulations wero issued by the present Minister of Education (Hon. J. A. Hanan). Tho preparation of the list, on the basis of the inspectors' reports, was in the hands of the Assistant-Dirccior of Education (Mr. J. Caughloy). The grading scheme provided that all the certificated teachers in the service of the various education boards, numbering some 3800 men and women, should be divided provisionally into six groups, A, B, 0, D, E, and i', according to their salaries and status, which in turn wero determined by the nature of their work and the sizs of their schools. Group A was the lowest and Group E the highest, and the teachers belonging to tho various groups were to receive quotas of marks as follow:— A 10 marks, B 20 marks, C 30 marks, D 40 marks, IC 50 marks, and P GO marks. The toachers having been divided into these groups, the inspectors were to allocate marks on the following basis:—
r Maximum marks Skill ill teaching . 40 Personality and discipline ... 15 Organisation and management 15 Environment 5 Academic attainments 15 Service 10
Total ' 100 The number of marks received under these headings, pins the quota, determined the positions of tho teachers on the grading list.
Objections Reviewed. Replying to some of tho objections raised against this schema, the report points out that tlui formation of the groups was necessary in order that teachers might be compared according to the class of work tliey were performing and their length of service. The salaries indicate the grado of work in which individual teachers arc engaged and eo provide a reasonable basis for tho preliminary classification. There remains then a range of 100 marks in each group by which to distinguish the good teachers, tho indifferent teachers, and the had teachers. Tho quotas have not had the offect of giving an advantage to the poor teachers.
"l'f tho quota principle were eliminated," savs the report, "over 3800 certificated teachers would have to be graded in direct comparison from the top to the bottom, within a ranpe of marks of probably 200. This would he utterly impracticable. Tf, say. 80 marks were the maximum for teaching efficiency, it would bo almost impossible to compare under this heading a head teacher of the highest typo with a junior assistant of one or two years' service. Each teacher might receive SO marks, hut this apparent, equality would bo due to a complete disregard of tho difference betweon tho six different types of work which form tho basis of the quotas." The report proceeds to quote illustrations to show that the quotas have not prevented good teachers from rising higher in tho grading list than some of the teachers in the groups above them. Without taking extreme cases, 282 teachers in Grout) A. with a quota of only 10, are graded equal to or above 251 teachers with a quota of 20 marks, and equal to or above 25 teachers with .a quota of 30 marks. Even allowing for a margin of error, the good teacher who is wrongly grouped 'will rise to the top of his group and so secure earlv promotion, while tho poor teacher will fall to tho bottom of his group and be overtaken by the better men and women below him.
Tho report defends the degree of importance attached, to educational attainments in tho grading scheme, arguing" that of two teachers of enual natural ability, the better man from an educational standpoint is tho one with the highest education. Tt also states that mere length of service cannot be as a guarantee of efficiency. deferring to women teachers, ' tlia report points out that the proportion of women of mature years in the profession is relatively small, and this fact has a bearing upon the failure of the women to secure what they regard as a fair proportion of the higher positions in the grading list. Moreover, 17 per cent, of the men and only 4 per cent, of the women hold A and B certificates (B.A. and 31.A. degrees), while of thoso who hold certificates lower than C, 496 are men and 1312 aro women. The majority of the teachers at the bottom of the profession aro women, and most of these will not bo teaching ten years hence, their places being filled by other contingents of short-service teachers. The range of higher positions open to' women haft been limited, and the women teachers have been graded on what they liavo done, not on what they might do if given tho chance.
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Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2875, 13 September 1916, Page 6
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872GRADING OF TEACHERS Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2875, 13 September 1916, Page 6
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