Teachers, Teacher Education, and Professional Development
Teacher Education Specific to Reading
The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) stipulates that teachers must hold a bachelor’s degree in the specialty required with a minimum grade of “good” and a relevant teaching qualification.6 Teachers who are not Emirati nationals also must have at least two years of teaching experience.
Requirements for Ongoing Professional Development in Reading for Teachers
ADEC is committed to strengthening the professional development and excellence of school staff through the process of performance development, management, and professional growth and evaluation. Through the collaborative efforts of divisions within the preprimary to Grade 12 (P–12) sector, the school operations sector, and the Office of Planning and Strategic Affairs, the Performance Appraisal System was developed.7 This system aims to maintain and promote ethical professional standards in accordance with ADEC P–12 policy. ADEC seeks to ensure that high performance standards are maintained by providing teachers and educational leaders with a professional growth and evaluation tool that helps them evaluate school site employees against a clear set of professional standards that are designed to support professional growth and ethical behavior.8 This system operationalizes the professional standards for each position at the school site that form the basis of the school staffs’ performance evaluation. With the goal of creating a developmental system that will help to improve performance, the appraisal system is built on the belief that student outcomes are improved with the professional growth and development of school site employees. The appraisal system applies to all school site employees identified on ADEC’s organizational structure for schools. Each position on the chart has job specific standards that form the basis of their performance appraisal. Employees who have completed their probationary period are evaluated annually under the Performance Appraisal System.9