Today, World Bank Education South Asia Practice Manager, Dr. Cristian Aedo, and World Bank Education Analyst, Tracy Wilichowski, are speaking with Dr. Matthew Kraft, Associate Professor of Education at Brown University, and Dr. Murad Raas, Provincial Minister of Punjab for School Education, about supporting teachers through high-quality feedback and lessons from Punjab's model.
A few years ago, the government of Punjab, under the guidance and leadership of Dr. Raas, introduced a large package of education reforms. These reforms included the introduction of a new classroom observation tool (based on the World Bank's Teach tool), allowing policymakers to track and assess the quality of teaching in the classroom. Teacher mentors regularly observe practice in the classroom and provide tailored feedback on instructional practice. To improve the classroom practices of teachers, the Punjab government has acknowledged mere observations are not enough. As such, they have also developed a video-based mobile course for school mentors and teachers to upgrade their skills (ITSP).
Teacher coaching has emerged as a promising alternative to traditional models of professional development. Often, teacher evaluation reforms have been motivated by the belief that these new systems would promote teacher development through high-quality feedback. Dr. Kraft's recent paper, Can Teacher Evaluation Systems Produce High-Quality Feedback? illustrates the challenges of using evaluation systems as engines for professional growth when administrators lack the time and skill necessary to provide frequent, high-quality feedback.
The World Bank has recently launched our new program Coach, which is focused on helping countries improve in-service teacher professional development. Coach includes a series of tools and resources, focused on giving guidance to stakeholders on the best ways to design, develop, implement and evaluate effective in-service teacher professional development programs and policies. These tools and resources are currently out for consultation, and we strongly welcome listeners to share their feedback with us at coach@worldbank.org.