The Federal Government has announced all new teachers will need to pass a performance test before they can graduate in 2018.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham said universities and education experts in partnership with the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) would outline how they would assess teaching students against new standards the government was implementing.
Minister Birmingham said all new teachers would need to pass a teacher performance assessment before they could graduate.
“These new assessments will ensure teachers are ‘classroom ready’,” Minister Birmingham said.
“To get the best outcomes for students we need the best quality teachers in classrooms.
“While much public discussion has been solely focussed on funding, we’ve been getting on with the job of delivering a quality reform agenda in teaching education.”
Minister Birmingham said the Teacher Performance Assessment project delivers on the recommendations of the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group and builds on its reforms to date to strengthen accreditation standards.
“Graduate teachers deserve to know that they have the skills to succeed in the classroom just as students, parents and principals deserve to know that new teachers have been given the best possible skills.”
Minister Birmingham said from 2018 final year assessments would need to evaluate graduate teachers’ classroom practices and how they meet the Graduate Teacher Standards the Coalition had worked with AITSL to develop.
Phillip Spratt, the president of the Australian Council of State School Organisations, told News Corp:
“We hear that engaging with parents can be a beginning teacher’s greatest fear: teachers have to have the practical skills and confidence to work in partnership with parents.”
“Pre-service training should provide real-world practical professional experience elements in the working school environment; this is the perfect time to hone these essential skills through real experience, together with an appreciation of the value of family engagement.’
“All parents would rightly assume that a graduate teacher is at the required standard and confident to take their place in a school when they enter the profession; what is of greater concern is that beginning teachers must receive the ongoing mentoring support and professional learning to allow them to be the best they can be.’’
