Teacher employment Testing Policy in South Korea

초록

With the enactment of the No Child Left Behind law, teacher education institutions are pressured with preparing highly qualified teachers who can provide quality education for students. As a way to strengthen the certification/licensure process, most of the states require teacher candidates to pass Praxis or test developed by each state. Although state testing assumes that it serves as a valid measure of teacher candidates’ competency, it is not clear whether the scores are a valid representation of teacher candidates’ knowledge, skills, teaching performance, and dispositions. As a way to examine the limitations and issues regarding state testing, an examination of testing policy in other country that includes written test as well as teaching performance evaluation and skill test can provide insights to the U.S. system. The purpose of this presentation is to provide information on the teacher testing system in South Korea and discuss similarities and differences between two systems. First, we will provide general overview of physical education teacher education system in South Korea and provide contextual-specific information to facilitate understanding of Korean policy. Second, we will share information on the Professional Teaching Standards. Third, the physical education teacher testing policy will be discussed in terms of: (a) written-test, (b) essay exam, (c) lesson plan and teaching performance evaluation, and (d) skill test. The presenters will share specific examples of test items and provide rationales behind the each component of the test. Finally, the issues and challenges regarding teacher testing will be discussed in light of: (a) challenges in implementation, (b) relationship between testing score and teaching performance, and (c) alignment between teacher testing and teacher education programs.