I am an Evaluator. What is my role?

The role of the evaluator is to both assess a provisionally registered teacher as meeting the requirements to transition to (full) registration, and to provide provisionally registered teachers with mentorship and guidance.

Most provisionally registered teachers are new graduates.  As part of their Initial Teacher Education (ITE) course they will have been assessed as meeting the Graduate level of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers  (APST).  It is reasonable to expect they will need some time in the classroom before they are ready to start collecting their evidence, and once they start that this may take some time for them to be able to demonstrate all 7 Standards.  Part of your role is to support them as they enter and develop in the profession.

To act as an evaluator, you must yourself hold (full) registration, and have a line-management responsibility for the teacher.  You should have a knowledge of the teacher’s practice and be willing to support them through the transition process.

You must not have a conflict of interest in your evaluation, so you should not be evaluating the transition of anyone who could be considered a friend or family member.

The requirements a provisionally registered teacher must fulfill to transition to (full) registration are provided here .  As part of this collaborative process you should:

• Establish a schedule with the teacher about when they should be providing you with evidence, and in what form (hard copy, e-portal, email etc).
• Provide constructive feedback on the teacher’s evidence.  It may be appropriate for you to ask the teacher to modify their evidence if you don’t feel they have developed to the Proficient level.  There is no timeframe for this, a teacher may need to make several adjustments to their teaching practice before they are ready to transition.
• Undertake at least one observation of the teacher’s classroom practice.  You may need to do more than one of these as the teacher develops in proficiency.
• Communicate clearly to the teacher where their evidence does not meet the Proficient level and offer support and suggestions for them to improve their practice.

The evaluation period should go for no less than a month, but it is not unusually for a teacher to take a semester, or a year or more to supply sufficient evidence for their evaluation to be completed.

What do I do if I don’t feel a teacher can transition?

Is important that the teacher has had clear feedback throughout their evaluation period regarding their progress.  If you do not feel that are ready to transition it is important that you do not complete their approval.  You may wish to speak to your site’s leader to see if they can offer advice or support; or speak to the teacher.

Please also contact the Teachers Registration Board, so that the Board is aware of this teacher’s progress.

Evaluating Temporary Relief Teachers (TRTs)

It is important the teachers who are working as TRTs have the opportunity to transition.  If a teacher is working regularly at your site they should be able to complete the evaluation the same as every other teacher, and they are expected to meet the same standards.

Completing the application form

The Application to Transition from Provisional to (full) Registration is available on the Teachers Registration Board’s site.  It is important the teacher has the most up-to-date version of this form.  The applying teacher completes the first page.

As evaluator, on pages 2 and 3 you should confirm that you have seen evidence at the Proficient level for all of the APSTs.  Page 4 is where you sign-off on the teacher’s transition.  Please read this page to make sure all sections are completed.  If parts of this page are incomplete the Board may need to contact you for clarification, or the form may be returned to the teacher.

Page 5 is the endorsement page.  This should be completed by the Principal/Director.  If you are not your site’s Principal/Director you may be able to sign this page.  Each site has different delegations regarding who is authorised to complete this page. If you are not certain, please check with your Principal/Director.  If this page is incomplete or signed by someone without delegation it may need to be returned to the teacher.