I. Background
a. Overall context. Teachers have a critical role in ensuring better outcomes for student learning. Good teacher preparation enables the teacher to develop an effective style of instruction, based on the pupil's background knowledge, experience, and environment, as well as learning goals set by the student and teacher. Also, developing teachers into effective instructors requires addressing pre-service and in-service training as a continuum. Teacher-training programs in India to date have not had this focus, which, along with teachers’ lack of subject matter knowledge and understanding of teaching methods, has led to lower quality classroom teaching.
India’s recently enacted Right to Education Act (RTE) makes availability of quality education a fundamental right of every child in the age group 6-14 years. The demand for teachers has reached an all-time high and teacher education has taken on a special urgency as India seeks to simultaneously raise the quality and the quantity of its teaching force. At the same time, teachers need to become more accountable for student achievement. Thus, a new competency-based, accountability-driven system of education is needed.
One of the biggest challenges in fulfilling the RTE mandate is to position the required number of trained teachers in each school. There are approximately 900,000 untrained teachers currently employed in India’s public school system. Another million will be recruited to meet the pupil teacher ratio (PTR) requirements of RTE, a substantial number of whom will be untrained. Both practicing and new teachers need to be trained within five years (2015) to meet requirements of the RTE. However, because of their numbers, and/or because they are already deployed in schools, new and untrained teachers cannot be trained in the traditional face-to-face mode without loss of teaching time in schools. Also, trained teachers within the system need substantial capacity-building to achieve the desired improvement in the quality of elementary education.
b. Background for In-STEP. The teacher preparation and development system in India requires substantial strengthening to meet the urgent demand for large numbers of qualified teachers in elementary education. There are important weaknesses in the current system, especially with respect to the following:
- Output of teacher training institutions and physical infrastructure in existing institutions;
- Quality of training faculty, curriculum, training materials, and methodology;
- Delivery channels, including effective alternatives to face-to-face training;
- Continuous professional support to practicing teachers, such as mentoring;
- Incentives to improve teacher performance and system accountability;
- Regular appraisals of teacher quality in the classroom; and
- Capacity of regulatory bodies and professional development institutions to provide oversight.
To address the qualitative challenge, In-STEP will demonstrate a competency-based teacher training and certification system. Based on a modular approach with pre-assigned credits, In-STEP will allow teachers to train at their own pace and enable practicing teachers to train while continuing to teach. To address the quantitative challenge, major portions of the curriculum will be delivered through alternative, distance modes using state-of-the-art technologies. In-STEP will demonstrate this new approach to training with both practicing teachers as well as pre-service trainees, thereby addressing the entire continuum of teacher preparation and development.
In-STEP will help institutionalize an appraisal system that will require student teachers, as well as new and practicing teachers to be appraised against a variety of robust competencies as they move towards certification.
II. In-STEP Purpose, Intermediate Results, and Illustrative Activities
a. Purpose: In-STEP’s purpose is to demonstrate a comprehensive innovative approach to address the challenge of quality teacher development, starting with a selected district in Bihar State. Through a new and improved teacher certification system, In-STEP will improve the professional capacity of teachers to teach effectively in Grades 1-8. Once In-STEP has demonstrated success, the model would be scaled up with GOI resources to other districts in the state.
The higher level indicator for In-STEP is enhanced professional capacity of teachers in Grades 1-8 in a target district in Bihar, as measured by: 1) increased teacher competence and 2) greater learning among students.
b. Intermediate Results. To achieve increased teacher competence and, over five years, improved learning among students, In-STEP will focus on attaining the intermediate result of an increased number of teachers who are certified through a competency-based teacher preparation and development program. Achieving this intermediate result will require that:
1. Teacher competency standards are defined and a modular competency-based curriculum is developed, through a participatory process
2. State-of-the-Art distance learning materials are developed to train the large number of practicing teachers;
3. Relevant contextual support materials are developed for classroom-based training;
4. Mentor-trainers are trained to support teachers in achieving competencies for various levels of certification;
5. Transparent appraisal, feedback and incentive systems are established to promote accountability and motivation; and
6. Teachers in the system are trained and certified in the new competency-based curriculum.
Each of these results is expected to be scalable by the GOI to other districts and states.
Illustrative Activities: Five inter-related sets of illustrative activities are planned:
1. Competency-based Curriculum Development: Clear, measurable and achievable teacher competencies with related curriculum and materials will be developed under In-STEP, under the leadership of the State Council for Education Research and Training (SCERT), and submitted to the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) for approval. These will be developed through a participatory process involving technical experts, teachers, and teacher trainers, teacher unions and subject associations. Teacher competencies will address subject matter knowledge as well as pedagogical skills. These will also address special challenges of classrooms in India, such as presence of multi-grades, large class sizes, limited access to learning aids, gender issues, and diversity among students.
2. Training of Mentor-Trainers on the certification standards: Teacher trainers will be equipped to train, appraise and support teachers for the new certification process. A cadre of mentor-trainers, including staff of District Institutes for Education and Training (DIETs), teacher training colleges, block and cluster resource centers, head-teachers and expert teachers, will be developed with knowledge and understanding of the new competency standards and to mentor teachers and appraise their progress towards achieving the competencies.
3. Appropriate technologies and materials for training large numbers of teachers: A blended approach, emphasizing distance education, will be used to deliver the curriculum. Contextual training materials, including print, technology tools and teaching aids, will be developed according to the delivery mode and in line with the competencies. Affordable, accessible, user-friendly technologies, such as on-line, mobile, video, audio, and satellite, will reach larger numbers of teachers. The capacity of relevant institutions will be built for effective teacher preparation and development, especially through partnerships, coalitions, and consortia of stakeholders. This activity may also include, subject to further design and approval, an innovation fund to promote technology-based teacher support. Efforts will be made to bring private sector expertise and experience into this component.
4. Appraisal, feedback and incentive system for promoting accountability and motivation: Teachers undergoing the certification process will be continuously assessed to measure progress towards achieving the specified competencies. A set of competencies will also be developed for other key stakeholders, including mentor trainers, material designers/developers, and institutions. Systemic incentives will be developed to motivate mentor-trainers to participate in the certification process and ensure that certified teachers apply their newly acquired skills and knowledge in the classroom. Through analytical studies, In-STEP will identify international and domestic best practices in this area for the state government to consider and implement.
5. Institution Strengthening: In order to achieve the intended results, it is expected that the capacity of the following institutions will be strengthened under In-Step: (1) the SCERT; (2) the DIETs and other teacher education institutes; (3) the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and Nalanda Open University; and (4) the NCTE. Local and community-based institutions, such as Block and Cluster Resource Centers, as well as school-based management committees and head teachers will also need to be strengthened to provide adequate support to practicing teachers, and to augment performance monitoring and accountability of teachers at the community level.
In-STEP will also incorporate relevant research activities, including initial baseline studies. A support group consisting of key stakeholders, including donor organizations, will be formed to help USAID respond to a changing environment and incorporate the latest thinking in this subject area. With limited funds, In-STEP will require a focused and targeted approach that can act as a catalyst for developing an effective and extensive teacher preparation and development program that will have the potential, over time, to have significant impact on student learning.
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