Using Competency-Based Evaluation to Drive Teacher Excellence

The Singapore competency model for teaching
consists of one core competency, “Nurturing the
Whole Child,” and four other major competency
clusters, “Cultivating Knowledge,” “Winning Hearts
and Minds,” “Working with Others,” and “Knowing
Self and Others.” 32 Each cluster has two to four
competencies. For example, “Cultivating Knowledge”
has four key competencies: subject mastery,
analytical thinking, initiative, and teaching creatively
(see Figure 3). The competencies are broken
down further into progressive levels of more effective
behaviors based on the high-performer interviews,
and these are used as rating scales. Each level includes
descriptions of the specific behaviors a teacher should
demonstrate at a particular level of mastery. We did
not have access to the competencies for all of the
teaching roles the MOE offers, but Table 2 shows
the competencies distinguishing beginning teachers
from master teachers.
This teaching competency model forms the bedrock
of Singapore’s Enhanced Performance Management
System (EPMS). Recognizing that the quality
of its teaching force is vital to its success, the Ministry
of Education developed this system to promote
increasingly high levels of performance, even from
teachers who are already excellent. Ministry officials
responsible for hiring and school leaders responsible
for leading teachers use the competency model in
conjunction with the achievement of performance
goals at each stage of employment to:
Hire and train aspiring teachers;
Set annual competency achievement targets;
Evaluate competency levels throughout the year;
Match each teacher to a career path; and
Determine annual bonuses.
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