In Venezuela, teacher assessment has been always based on the amount of students who pass or fail subjects, but is that a serious teacher performance assessment? Teacher assessment can permit to rethink teacher training and teacher performance, that is, from an analytical perspective that can allow teachers to enhance and improve their skills, capacities and knowledge. In a few words, the objective of this research paper is to demonstrate the importance of evaluating TEFL quality in Venezuela from the pre-service teacher’s perspective to the in-service teacher’s perspective. Therefore, the results of a research done by the author of this paper will be shown in order to demonstrate how important is to evaluate college graduates in TEFL in order to see the strengths and weaknesses of teacher training. This research was done to 14 students of the university UPEL in Maracay, the TEFL Bachelor’s degree, and also to 14 students of the same career and university but in Maturin. This study is based on a field study, which is merely descriptive. Due to this characteristic, the results of the research permitted to analyze the root of the problem of teacher training in ELT at UPEL Maturin.

1. Venezuela Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
Instituto Universitario de Tecnología Superior de Oriente
VenTESOL Region 3 (Anzoátegui, Nueva Esparta, Sucre)

2. Objectives
 To define teacher assessment.
 To describe teacher assesment at Venezuelan
educational institutions.
 To prove the importance of teacher assessment in ELT.
 To present the foundations, standards and different
ways of teacher assessment.
 To show the results of a research based on the
assessment of EFL teacher trainees.

3. Assessment or Evaluation?
 Assessment is classroom research to provide useful
feedback for the improvement of teaching and
learning. Assessment is feedback from the student to
the instructor about the student’s learning.
 Evaluation uses methods and measures to judge
student learning and understanding of the material
for purposes of grading and reporting. Evaluation is
feedback from the instructor to the student about the
student’s learning.

4. Assessment
 Assessment is an ongoing process that encompasses a
much wider domain. Whenever a student responds to
a question, offers a comment, or tries out a new word
or structure, the teacher subconsciously makes an
assessment of the student's performance. (H. D.
Brown, 2003).
 Teacher assessment: the core purpose of teacher
assessment should be to strengthen the knowledge,
skills, dispositions, and classroom practices of
professional educators. (National Education
Association, 2003)

5. Venezuelan Case
 Schools and high schools.
 Universities.
 Language schools.

7. Why Teacher Assessment?

8. Benefits of Teacher Assessment
 Reflection on teacher performance.
 Improvement of teacher performance.
 Improvement of their students’ learning.
 It permits teachers to learn from their colleagues
(Teachers helping teachers).
 It permits teachers to learn from their students.

9. Types of Teacher Assessment
 Observation.
 Surveys.
 Tests.
 File.
 Self-Assessment.

10. Modality
 Summative Assessment: aims to measure, or
summarize, what a student has grasped, and typically
occurs at the end of a course or unit of instruction. (H.
D. Brown, 2003).
 Formative assessment: evaluating students in the
process of forming their competencies and skills with
the goal of helping them to continue that growth
process. (H. D. Brown. 2003).

11. What to Assess?
Teacher Assessment
Teaching Capacity Emotionality Responsibility Interpersonal
communication
Teacher Performance

12. Capacities
 Teaching capacity: knowledge about the language or
subject, knowledge and practice of their teaching such
as planning, assessment, use of resources, etc.
 Emotionality: professional vocation, self-steem,
level satisfaction with their labors, etc.
 Responsibility: attendance and puctuality.
 Interpersonal communication: level of concern
about their students’ problems and learning,
communication with their co-workers.

13. What’s the best way?
 Certainly it has to be formative assessment.
Ways of Formative Teacher Asssessment
Class recording Study groups Surveys by
colleagues and
students
Peer
observation

14. Class recording

15. Study groups

16. Surveys

17. Peer Observation
Shaping the Way We Teach English Module 13, Peer
Observation in Teaching Practices[1].wmv

18. Peer Observation

19. Personal Experiences at IUTSO
Peer observation has been an effective experience of
sharing knowledge. I have had the chance to be given
the commitment as a colleague to expand the passion
for teaching and learning EFL. Definitely, I have been
able to see my improvement and it is confirmed by the
most challenging audience (my students). I am so
grateful and I share the passion. Karly Lozada, July
2014.

20. Teacher Training and Teacher
Assessment

21. Research
 Title: Evaluación de los Aprendizajes en la Enseñanza
del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera (Assessment in
TEFL).
 The problem:
1. Poor EFL assessment practice.
2. Poor knowledge of how to use assessment
instruments.
3. Lack of validity and realibity.
4. Poor teacher training on assessment.

22. Research
 Objectives:
General Objective: To measure the basic theoretical
knowledges of students of EFL on assessment at Instituto
Pedagógico de Maturín (IPM).
Specific objectives:
1. To grade EFL students’ performance at IPM on
theoretical knowledges about EFL assessment.
2. To demonstrate the perspectives of IPM EFL teachers
about EFL teacher training on assessment.
3. To give recommendations addressed to improving
teacher training on EFL assessment.

23. Research
 Methodology:
1. Descriptive and field research.
2. Population: EFL students at UPEL-IPM.
3. Sample: 14 students and 8 teachers
4. Instruments: a test and a survey.
- Test: a test of 20 questions (multiple choice).

24. The Results (UPEL Maturín)
Grades Frequency %
14 1 7.1
12 1 7.1
10 1 7.1
8 4 28.6
7 5 35.7
6 2 14.3
Average: 8 out of 20 pts.

25. The Results (UPEL Maracay)
Grades Frequency %
19 1 7.14
18 2 14.28
14 2 14.28
13 2 14.28
10 2 14.28
9 1 7.14
8 1 7.14
6 2 14.28
2 1 7.14
Average: 11,4 out of 20 pts.

26. Why?
UPEL Maracay EFL students have a good teacher
training on EFL assessment:
- MEPILE I.
- MEPILE II.
UPEL Maturín EFL students have a poor teacher
training on EFL asessment:
- Methodology and Evaluation:
Content taught: 80% on methodology and 20% on
assessment, but most of the time 100 % methodology
and 0% on assessment.

27. Assessment on Teacher Training
 Teacher assessment does not only allow teachers in
service to improve or develop their skills, capacities or
competences, it also allows to improve the teacher
training of pre-service teachers (teacher trainees) .
It provides data that can be considered in order to
evaluate the curriculum of the career or the syllabus of
a subject.

28. Conclusions
 To allow teacher development is important to assess
teacher performance in a way that is meaningful, that
is, formative assessment.
 Teachers must look for different alternatives of teacher
assessment despite the system does not provide them
one.
 Teacher assesment also permits to analyze and
evaluate the curriculumof EFL teacher training.
 Teacher assessment is a good way of reflection.
 If teachers develop their performance, their student
will or may improve theirs, too.

29. Quotes to Ponder
 “More can be done to improve education by improving
the effectiveness of teachers than by any other single
factor.”Wright, Horn and Sanders, 1997.
 “We all need people who give us feedback, that’s how
we improve.” Bill Gates.

30. Thanks for your attention!
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