Reforms in the field of education are a topic for active discussion. Among the popular areas of activity of the legislator related to this industry is the introduction of the institution of the conclusion of effective labor contracts. For the educational sector, such an initiative is rather unusual - mainly due to the fact that it is supposed to evaluate the work of school teachers on the basis of certain objective criteria. What is an effective contract? How difficult can its implementation be in Russian schools?
Focus on learning quality
The main proclaimed goals of Russian lawmakers, who coined the term “effective education contract”, are to increase the income level of educational workers, as well as improve the quality of teaching subjects in schools. Moreover, according to many experts, the authorities decided to focus on the second goal, since the income of teachers as a whole over the past few years has grown. In the same way as, in particular, the infrastructure of institutions has improved - due to increased budget financing. Now, next in line, as the legislator probably believes, is improving the effectiveness of training.
The essence of an effective contract
The main idea, for the implementation of which an effective contract in education appeared, is to link economic indicators (i.e. the teacher's salary) to the quality criteria of the work he performs. It is about drafting an employment contract with an appropriate structure and conditions that are transparent and understandable to each teacher.
The evolution of new practices
For the first time, the idea that it makes sense to make a teacher’s salary dependent on the quality of his work became known to the general public in the late 2000s. In 2012, one of the first stages of the program was launched, the basic principles of which were formed in the presidential decree "On measures for the implementation of state social policy."
At first, target criteria were developed for evaluating the effectiveness of work, primarily for school employees in leadership positions. At this stage, the structure of effective contracts is being worked out in educational institutions in accordance with the specifics of fulfilling the labor functions of all specialists. At the third stage of the program's implementation, it is assumed that an effective teacher contract will be massively introduced into labor practice. The estimated date by which this task should be completed is 2018. In some regions of Russia, schools and other budgetary educational institutions have begun developing reflective of the process of transition to new standards of road maps. In accordance with them, an effective contract system in education will be introduced.
Legislative aspect
The term “effective contract”, however, still does not appear in Russian law. It is found in the media, in some departmental recommendations, but has not yet received any consolidation at the level of federal legal acts. Thus, according to some experts, the meaning of such an phenomenon as an effective contract in education is to structure the labor contract (the content of which, in turn, is regulated by the relevant Code) so that, based on its text, it is clear what the relationship between teacher salaries and quality of teaching.
The essence of the initiative
But if the law does not say what an effective contract is in education, then what are its possible signs, based on the essence of the program initiative, which was discussed above? Experts believe that the distinctive nature of employment contracts under the new system may be characterized by the following features.
- Firstly, each educational institution should have guidelines in the aspect of performance targets at the level of the state task (which is formulated in a form that is correct and understandable for a particular institution) by a higher authority.
- Secondly, the form of an effective contract in education should be drawn up in a logical and structured manner. So that each teacher sees what specific criteria for his topic of activity exist and what standards he should adhere to in the educational process. Adapted to the program, new labor contracts should fully reflect the responsibilities of the school employee, the criteria for evaluating and remunerating him.
- Thirdly, the schools must have the resources necessary for teachers to perform work of the required quality. That is, if we are talking about an in-depth study of geography, then classrooms should be equipped with appropriate maps or have access to appropriate quality electronic resources. If it is necessary to study literature on the example of rare works, then such books should be available in the school library.
Expectations
What, in fact, does the legislator expect when introducing an effective labor contract in education? According to some experts, the goals of the authorities can be associated not only with increasing the efficiency of remuneration, but also with giving the teaching profession a special appeal, especially for young professionals. Who want to see prospects in the choice of a particular field of activity.
An effective labor contract with its competent preparation and, importantly, with proven practice of its effectiveness, can play a positive role in attracting attention from promising specialists.
Main problems
A practical transition to a correlation system between the quality of education and the remuneration of school staff can be hampered by the lack of standardization in approaches to assessing teacher performance. The criteria for an effective contract in education as a whole are quite framework. Pay standards, according to many experts, even now are sometimes not set quite objectively. There are precedents when teachers with an incomparable level of professional training have the same salary. Or very different with comparable qualifications.
The criteria for an effective contract in education is not the only problematic aspect of introducing innovations. The fact is that not all teachers themselves want change. Even those that, due to the bias of their estimates, may have lower salaries than they could. The point here is that they believe that the profession of a teacher is not one of those that are subject to some kind of measurement in rational units or other criteria in relation to indicators. School teachers believe that a lot is given to students outside the main context of the lessons - such things as attention, education, sharing experience in solving some problems. An effective contract in education cannot be held responsible for this.
Another group of possible problems during the implementation of innovations is the risks associated with excessive bureaucracy. The fact is that when implementing the program for transferring teachers to an effective contract, we are talking about the distribution, first of all, of budget financing. Supervisory structures under the Ministry of Education and municipal sectoral structures are likely to wish to monitor the effectiveness of the utilization of funds from the treasury. This, most likely, will be accompanied by the need to compile numerous reporting documents - and teachers themselves will probably do this. Most likely during working hours. And it may well turn out that the teacher may be more motivated to make a beautiful report than to prepare for the lesson in a quality manner.
Guidelines
We have already said above that the standardized (adopted at the level of federal legislation) criteria that should be contained in labor contracts have not yet been developed. There are only recommended guidelines. We list some of them.
1. The form of an effective contract in education should be drawn up in such a way that performance indicators are generally mutually balanced. That is, it is undesirable in drawing up the relevant criteria to make a bias towards some specific ones. Because the teacher, delving into the work aimed at meeting them, may lose sight of other important tasks. Key performance criteria should be developed based on their equal importance.
2. Performance indicators should be concretized, and not sound abstract. These are not necessarily some numbers - moreover, being too keen on quantitative characteristics, as some experts believe, is not always advisable. You should not set an indicator of effectiveness, for example, the number of ratings is "excellent" per quarter. The teacher can, if he so wishes, put as many as they like. However, the criteria should be formulated so that upon the teacher's completion of such and such work, it is clearly defined as effective. For example, it may be work to ensure the full completion of homework in the literature. Efficiency criterion - as an option, the absence of twos for unworked homework in diaries.
3. Verifiability of quality indicators. That is, they, as well as relevant criteria, must be of such a property that the school management uniquely identifies their reliability. For example, not the best quality indicator is conducting lessons in a friendly atmosphere, but it is quite acceptable to use the methods of psychophysical unloading at the end of classes 3 times a week.
Among experts, there are two points of view that reflect the attitude in the arrangement of emphasis in the development of the criteria in question. In accordance with the first, the school should approach the determination of quality parameters as locally as possible, taking into account the specifics of the tasks assigned to a particular educational institution. Another point of view suggests that excessive localization will make it difficult, first of all, to interact with inspection bodies, as a result of which the very risk of bureaucracy can only grow - departments will pay more attention to such educational institutions. Therefore, it may make sense to be guided by the standards set at the level of founders of state and municipal schools.
Drafting an effective contract
Let’s try to study the nuances of the practical implementation of such an element as an effective contract in education in the school’s workflow. A sample of filling must meet the criteria of the Labor Code, because hiring employees for permanent work is possible with exceptional compliance of contracts with the norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The next nuance, which should contain an effective contract in education, the sample of which will be implemented in the school, is, in fact, the criteria. Some strict legislative guidelines, as we have said above, are not provided here. However, we can take as a basis a number of methodological recommendations based on departmental letters of the Ministry of Education.
So, the introduction of an effective contract in education, the sample of which we are currently studying, should include quality indicators, as well as criteria by which the correspondence of the work of the school employee to the set goals is evaluated. From the point of view of documentation, the sources of the relevant parameters may look like an appendix to the employment contract.
Take the option in which the task is to determine the effectiveness of the work of leading specialists, since the relevant methodological recommendations have so far been developed not only in theory, they have been put into practice in many Russian schools as part of the first stage of the program. The directors of almost all schools in Russia know what an effective education contract is simply because they have already signed it. They have real experience in meeting key quality parameters. In turn, if we need to draw up an effective contract for education adapted for a teacher’s position, such a model will contain too many theoretical formulations.
Quality criteria
Among the quality indicators set forth in the letters of the Ministry of Education and Science developed for school leaders, the following can be distinguished.
Firstly, it is the compliance of the educational institution with relevant legislation. What criteria can be in the assessment of the corresponding indicator? The ministry highlights the following:
- the absence (or decrease in dynamics) of regulations by supervisory authorities;
- there are no complaints from any inspection authorities;
- the state or municipal task has been completed in full;
- By September 1, the school is ready for the new school year.
Secondly, it is the satisfaction of the parents and the students themselves with the quality of the educational services provided by the school. Criteria:
- the percentage of students and parents who gave a positive assessment of the school's activity at the end of the year or a quarter (based on data from anonymous surveys, for example);
- lack of complaints at meetings.
Thirdly, it may be the informational transparency of an educational institution. Criteria:
- the functioning of the school website;
- publication of key information of the accounting and financial-economic profile;
- informing parents about ongoing activities and school performance in key areas of work.
Fourth, an indicator of quality may be the involvement of young professionals. The criteria are here:
- the percentage of young professionals in the school;
- a well-developed mechanism to stimulate the effective work of teachers who have just arrived at an educational institution;
- the presence of an internal mentoring program.
This is a very conditional example of an effective education contract in terms of quality indicators and related criteria. It reflects, as we have said above, the specifics of the school leadership. But an approximate guideline mainly in terms of the structure of the relevant contract we received.
Document Requirements
So, if we draw up an effective contract in education, the sample for filling out this document will have to meet the following basic requirements.
1. The key provisions of the contract should fully reflect the requirements of the Labor Code. This is the main part of the contract.
2. Quality indicators and criteria should be prescribed, on the basis of which an assessment is made of the conformity of the work of the school employee to their official duties. This is a duly executed annex to the employment contract.
Among the sources of law that are most useful for employees of Russian schools that can help examine in more detail an effective contract in education (what it is, what it is, what will hold back), you can specify the letters of the Ministry of Education and Science.
According to a number of experts, those standards that are supposed to be published by the time mass transfer of school specialists to work according to new criteria can be applied not only to secondary schools, but also to other types of educational institutions. So, effective contracts in preschool education may well be implemented, despite the fact that the specifics of kindergartens, of course, make the work of their employees quite dissimilar to the goals and objectives that teachers face.
Also, as some experts note, effectiveness should become the basis for the provision of educational services not only at the level of state and municipal schools, but also in private educational institutions. As well as those which, by virtue of their profile, are related to institutions of additional education. For the work of specialists employed in such educational institutions, the preparation of specialized labor contracts may also be required. An effective teacher contract for continuing education is likely to be characterized by other criteria than that for a high school employee.
Criticism
We noted above that not all teachers are satisfied with the initiative of the legislator regarding the transfer of work to an effective basis. What are the reasons for such moods? One of the reasons we called is the unwillingness of many teachers to divide the work into one that is subject to rational assessment, and one that is done outside of specific quantities, but, as expected, to the benefit of the educational process.
Another point of disagreement on this issue is the proportionality of the tasks assigned to teachers and the amount of required resources in terms of labor and time.Many teachers believe that new standards will be more demanding in terms of labor investments with virtually the same pay. This may discourage young professionals from working in this area, who may find a more effective way of fulfilling their talents in terms of compensation.
Another point that does not suit some teachers is that it is not clear how the teacher’s experience will be taken into account in the new scheme. As you know, this value is difficult to measure. Moreover, it is not always obvious how specifically a resource in the form of experience can manifest itself, since in many cases it is an instrument of local application. Effective contracts, in turn, require constant reproduction of techniques, which may not be directly related to the level of experience of a particular teacher.