Teacher and headteacher assessment, feedback, and continuing professional development: the Mexican case

Figures & data

Table 1. Five dimensions of the professional profiles for primary teachers and headteachers.

	Teachers	Headteachers
Dimension 1	A teacher that knows their students knows how they learn and what they must learn.	A headteacher that knows the school, teaching in the classroom, and the organisation and functions of the school to ensure all students learn.
Dimension 2	A teacher that organises and evaluates the educational work and makes appropriate didactic interventions.	A headteacher that manages the school efficiently to improve classroom work and school educational results.
Dimension 3	A teacher that self-recognises as a professional who continuously improves to help their students to learn.	A headteacher that self-recognises as a professional who improves continuously to ensure a quality educational service.
Dimension 4	A teacher that takes the legal and ethical responsibilities inherent to their profession for the good of the students.	A headteacher that assumes and promotes ethical principles and legal foundations of their function, ensuring the students’ right to quality education.
Dimension 5	A teacher that participates in the school’s efficient functioning and fosters a link with the community to ensure that all the students succeed.	A headteacher that recognises the socio-cultural context of the school and establishes relationships with the community, the school district and other instances to enrich education.

Source: (SEP, 2017).

Table 2. Phases of the new staff evaluation system.

	Teachers	Headteachers
Phase 1. Report regarding professional responsibilities.	The headteacher, or superintendent, issues a report about the teacher’s work in the school, including the attention given to their students, the promotion of harmonious environments, their collaborative work with the school and their peer-teachers, and how they integrate parents.	Two questionnaires with equivalent items are administered to the headteacher and their immediately above authority, e.g. the superintendent. This phase seeks to gain insight into strengths and areas of improvement regarding the headteacher’s accomplishment of the professional profile.
Phase 2. Written assignment concerning a selection of students’ learning productions (portfolio). School management project for headteachers only.	The teacher collects a portfolio sample of the students’ schoolwork as evidence of their teaching; they analyse it and explain it reflectively. The evaluation focuses on the context of the school and the students, the curriculum content, the learning activities, and their results on students and the teacher’s practice.	The school management project includes a working plan, implementation and reflexions headteachers make about their practice. The focus is on their planning, organising, coordinating, leading, managing, evaluating and reflecting.
Phase 3. Standardised multi-choice exam.	Based on hypothetical teaching scenarios, the exam evaluates the teacher’s knowledge and didactic competences utilised for student learning, collaboration in the school, and its relationship with the parents and the community.	This phase is meant for the headteacher to demonstrate curricular knowledge and regulatory policies necessary to address different situations regarding their profession.
Phase 4. Written assignment on a teacher’s lesson plan.	The teacher develops a lesson plan and a text to set out the purpose, the structure, the content, and expected outcomes from such a plan. They reflect on what to expect from the students to learn and evaluate it.	N/A

Source: (INEE, n.d. ., pp. 12–13; SEP, 2018).

Table 3. Questionnaire items related to the feedback report and additional professional development.

Questionnaire item	Examples of responses	Item response options
Regarding your feedback report, please rate how informative each evaluation instrument is concerning your areas for improvement:	Student portfolio School management project Exam Lesson plan	Likert-type scale (nothing; little; moderate; much).
Regarding your feedback report, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?	Weaknesses Strengths CPD needed for improvement	Likert-type scale (strongly disagree; disagree; neither agree nor disagree; agree; strongly agree).
What CPD do you need regardless of your results in the assessment?	Student assessment practices Teaching in multicultural settings See all options in Table 7	Unrestricted multi-choice item (yes/no for each item)

Table 4. Data collection instruments and sample: a summary.

Research phase	Method of data collection	Sampling method	Number and percentage of participants
Quantitative	Online self-administered questionnaire.	A convenience, non-probability sample.	n=122 participants in the national teacher assessments in 2015 and 2016. Their results in the assessments were as follows:
			Teachers (n=69)	Insufficient	2.9%
				Sufficient	20.3%
				Good	46.4%
				Outstanding	30.4%
			Headteachers (n=53)	Non-proficient	13.2%
				Proficient	86.8%
			Note: percentages correspond to proportions within each group, i.e. teachers or headteachers.
Qualitative	Semi-structured interviews.	Maximum variation sampling (purposive).	n=8 teachers (2 insufficient; 2 sufficient; 2 good; and 2 outstanding). n=2 headteachers (1 proficient; 1 non-proficient). n=3 policymakers*.

*Policymakers worked at any of the following. The Secretariat of Public Education (SEP); the National Institute of Educational Evaluation (INEE); and the primary teachers’ union (SNTE).

Table 5. Evaluation sections and perceived informativeness about areas for improvement.

	Teachers (n=69)	Headteachers (n=53)
Lesson plan	63.8	N/A
School management project	N/A	54.7
Student portfolio	62.3	N/A
Exam	52.2	60.4

Note: Percentages of teachers and headteachers who reported that the section of the feedback report was of moderate or much informativeness.

Table 6. Perceptions on the identification of strengths, weaknesses and further CPD.

	Teachers (n=69)	Headteachers (n=53)
My feedback provides detailed information concerning my weaknesses.	46.4	49.0
My feedback provides detailed information concerning my strengths.	44.9	47.2
My feedback facilitates decision-making about what CPD I need to improve my teaching/leadership weaknesses.	40.6	43.4

Note: Percentages of teachers and headteachers who agreed or strongly agreed that the feedback report informed them about the above items.

Table 7. Areas of professional development most needed after the assessments.

	Teachers (n=69)	Headteachers (n=53)
Teaching students with Special Education Needs (SEN)	53.6	64.1
Characteristics of the most recent curriculum	46.4	49.0
Student psychological development	44.9	43.4
School administration & management	40.6	45.3
Teaching in multicultural settings	37.7	43.4
Student discipline and behaviour problems	39.1	32.1
Student assessment practices	34.8	35.8
Pedagogy/instruction of the curriculum in primary education	24.6	35.8
ICT skills for teaching and learning	33.3	22.6
Student counselling (e.g. future studies/career)	21.7	32.1
Academic content knowledge of my school grade	15.9	13.2

Note: Percentages of teachers and headteacher who stated a need for additional CPD (yes/no). Response options are not mutually exclusive.

Source: example shared with the research team by an anonymous participant of Mexico’s National Teacher Evaluation (2016).

SEP. (2017). Perfil, Parametros e Indicadores Para Docentes Y Técnicos Docentes En Educación Básica. Secretaría de Educación Pública, México. http://www.sev.gob.mx/servicio-profesional-docente/files/2017/01/PPI_INGRESO_EB_2017_2018.pdf

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INEE. (n.d.). Consideraciones sobre la validez y la justicia en las evaluaciones del desempeño docente. Instituto Nacional para la Evaluación de la Educación. https://www.inee.edu.mx/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Validez_y_Justicia_.pdf

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SEP. (2018). Etapas, aspectos, métodos e instrumentos. Proceso de Evaluación del Desempeño del Personal con funciones de Dirección y de Supervisión. https://www.academia.edu/37500939/Etapas_aspectos_m%C3%A9todos_e_instrumentos_Proceso_de_Evaluaci%C3%B3n_del_Desempe%C3%B1o_del_Personal_con_funciones_de

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