Evaluating the effectiveness of support for teachers' professional development programs based on the automated monitoring system

Abstract

Introduction. The article presents a study on the problem of developing and implementing support interventions for teachers’ professional development programs based on an automated monitoring system. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the effectiveness of supporting teacher professional development programs based on an automated monitoring system. Materials and Methods. The study was structured within the framework of a descriptive model of supporting teachers’ professional development programs based on an automated monitoring system, as it is aimed at evaluation the effectiveness of support. The research tasks were solved by means of applying a set of complementary theoretical methods, such as analysis of Russian and international educational theory and practice in the field of designing support for teachers’ professional development; modeling, comparison and generalization. The empirical methods included assessment tools, statistical processing and expert assessment procedures. The study was based on data obtained during the assessment of professional competencies of 3,375 teachers from 48 municipal departments of education in the Republic of Bashkortostan (the Russian Federation). The data were subjected to comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis according to the evaluation criteria developed according to the types of teachers’ professional activities. Results. The authors have identified the components within the model of supporting teachers’ professional development based on an automated monitoring system. Technological aspects of implementation were adjusted, and the effectiveness of support was evaluated. It has been established that a system-forming component in the design and implementation of support for teachers’ professional development programs is assessment, which allows to identify professional deficits and determine a set of forms of educational events that contribute to teachers’ professional development. Modern assessment system of professional competencies should be characterized by validity and objectiveness; also it should follow the principles of confidentiality, competence, responsibility, systematic nature, informing participants about the goals and results of the evaluation procedure. The authors emphasize that automated systems allow to conduct valid assessment procedures, as well as to build a system for tracking the effectiveness of supporting teachers’ professional development in one or a range of educational settings. Conclusions. The article concludes that the use of the proposed model of supporting teachers’ professional development programs based on an automated monitoring system will allow each teacher to identify and eliminate professional deficits in conditions of constantly increasing requirements for teachers’ competence, which corresponds to the concept of continuing education of teachers. The authors emphasize that designing teachers’ professional development programs based on the automated monitoring system ensures the development of teachers’ subjective position, allowing them to build an individual educational route independently or under the guidance of a mentor, and also stimulates the development of variability in the content and technologies of the professional development system, which corresponds to the trends in the development of the system of continuing education. The presented practical experience of the implementation of the proposed model can be used in planning methodological activities in educational institutions of various levels.