Competency test in Moscow. It is technologically simple and does not distract the teacher

​No, perhaps, there is no such a teacher who is not interested in competency test. And it is incontrovertible fact that marginal majority of teachers strive to get a qualification category.

But passing of competency test in the memory of many teachers is a complicated and torturing process, one should prepare for it many months in advance. Now it is very difficult to imagine, but 6-7 years ago a teacher had to collect huge folders with documents and wait when school administration had time to certify these documents and then instead of having rest during summer holiday he or she had to go along the city with these folders, stand in a queue in order to hand in an application for competency test. A true quest!However, like everything in our life, approaches to teacher competency test, and the procedure itself, is constantly changing.After issue of the new order of competency test in Moscow, a new model of carrying out the competency test for qualification category was developed and introduced. In September 2014 an electronic module «Competency Test» was launched; it allows a teacher to apply for qualification category being at home or at class. Entry to the module is performed from electronic journal and in fact a teacher has to click his or her mouse twice for City Competency Test Committee to get his application.And what about the content of the folders that was by force of habit collected and stored by many teachers? How will the Committee get to know about the results of a teacher’s work?The module «Competency test» is made so that a teacher while applying just chooses the category he or she is going to apply for competency test. All the results of professional activity are recorded in the city information systems. A person who is responsible for competency test support uses them to form summary data about the teacher. The teacher checks their correctness, confirms it or asks a responsible person to add information that is not yet published openly. After that a teacher sends an application for approval of Competency Test Committee.The teacher will know the results of competency test from the module too. On the day of Committee sitting, information on the results of his or her competency test will be available in his or her online account.Moscow model of competency test during three years of its work has revealed itself as a technologically simple system allowing a teacher to get a category without distracting from his or her main task – training and upbringing of children.Except the electronic module that allows to be tested by «clicking twice», the teacher,s who make contribution in education results of Moscow pupils, have other opportunities to get a qualification category from the city. Thus, for example, a teacher, who actively works at the city mega-project «Moscow Electronic School» and prepares a set of electronic plans of lessons, get not only a grant, but automatically also a qualification category.It is indisputable that the procedure of competency test is aimed at giving a deserving evaluation of every teacher’s work. But in Moscow it also gives a teacher an opportunity to solve education tasks, to achieve high results without distracting to going through the quest «Pass the competency test».Marianna TELEGINA, art teacher of gymnasium №1636 «NIKA»:- I passed competency test online in March 2017. For registration for competency test I need to do two things in my online account: click one button to apply and click once more to send the application. All the other documents were prepared by my colleague who is responsible for that. He listed links of my publications, wrote results of my work, I mean, results of my pupils, and noted my participation in professional contests.Some years ago the applications were accepted centrally from all Moscow at certain time. Then I had to bring the application not right next door, but also to take a heavy folder with the results with me, the so-called portfolio. That took ages!And in that is, I think, the main change in the teacher competency test system: electronic system is always available and applying for the test takes only several minutes, everything can be done distantly without distraction from my work. I must add that my competency test for the highest category was passed successfully, on the day of committee I saw a remark about setting the category in my online account, and in several days the order appeared on the web-site. It is also very convenient, you don’t need to call and go to take the competency test document.Juliana Tarasova,Head of Certification Department of MCQE