Approaches to Defining and Measuring Quality of Education

Quality Education: Defining and Measuring Quality of Teachers The concept of quality education has been a subject of debate for a long time, with numerous changes being made and improved programs being introduced in the education sector with the aim of delivering to students high quality education. Alongside this debate is the yardstick that needs to be used to measure what a quality teacher is and what he needs to do within the school setting and the type of interaction with the students that he needs to maintain.

This paper will highlight the significance of defining and measuring the quality of teachers in relations to setting standards. Effective teaching or quality education can be defined as engagement in activities that will promote student learning. Quality education hence extends to many aspects that work together to ensure that student achieves the learning goals or objectives. These activities include course and curriculum development, supervision of students in the process of their research, advising and also classroom performance evaluation.

Bearing such a wide spectrum, there is no single approach to measuring quality education but use of self-reviews, student ratings, peer evaluations as well as objective criteria are all valued tools that are used in the measuring of the quality of teachers and education (UCLA Office of Instructional Development, 2013).

The well structured definition of what constitutes a quality teacher is bound to help in directing the school leaders in understanding the need to lead from an ethical center and still being aware of the other perspectives surrounding him like the views of the numerous stake holders. The teachers are a significant part of the administration of schools and are inherently tied to the decision making process.

Having proper definition of quality of teachers will also help give the teachers the ethical framework that will help them empathize with the students and the people affected by their decisions.

The definition and measuring of the characteristics that make one be considered a quality teacher will help the teachers as leaders in various departments in the school to have requisite team-building skills that will help them engage colleagues and staff members in planning, strategizing, problem solving and implementation of programs hence a more efficient system within the school (Cranston J. & Kusanovich K., 2014). The good qualities of a teacher do not just end in class or administrative work but goes further even in sports within the school context.

A good administrator or teacher will strive to instill the ethical conscious among the students even in areas like sports. Ethical approach to activities like sports will shape the character of the students within the school and even in the times after the schooling process. The ethical standards set will instill fairness, integrity, responsibility and respect among the students participating in the sports. These are desirable qualities that are needed in students even when they go back into the academic context.

The understanding of the rules of the game and the importance of these rules in ensuring the observance of requisite respect among the players will push the players to do their best in the game. This understanding of the set standards in the games students play out of the class is paralleled with the class scenario where there are equally stringent rules and high standards.

It means hence that the ethical sportsmanship of the students still falls under the provision of quality education to the students since education is not only about completing the class curriculum and the academic.