The reform of the educational system in Ecuador has been a goal of the current government, and now it has its sights on the performance of the public school teachers across the country. The executive branch has signed a new law (.pdf doc) requiring all teachers to be evaluated during the week of May 25. However, the National Teacher's Union [es] (UNE for its initials in Spanish) is resisting and has openly defied the order saying that it is not clear whether or not such testing is legal. Only a small percentage of the teaching ranks showed up to complete the evaluation, and now it has opened up discussion about how to make sure that the children are getting the best quality education from the nation's teachers. Unionized teachers marching for a salary increase on the streets of Machala, province of El Oro, Ecuador. Photo used under permission by http://www.diariocorreo.com.ec Many groups of the Teacher's Union are expressing themselves about the evaluation. The UNE of Carchi [es], for example, have started a protest in support of those schools that refused to be evaluated [es]. David Guamba of Ecuador Noticias [es] explains what the evaluation consists of and wonders what the teachers are afraid of: Según el Ministro del ramo, Raul Vallejo, se aplicarán dos tipos de evaluaciones: interna y externa. La interna la realizan colegas, directivos, estudiantes, padres y madres, y el mismo maestro (autoevaluación); además se realiza la observación de una hora de clase. Todas estas evaluaciones internas suman el 50 por ciento de la calificación. Por otra parte está la evaluación externa, que consiste en la aplicación de pruebas sobre conocimientos específicos que tendrán un peso del 30 por ciento, prueba de conocimientos pedagógicos que tendrá un peso del 10 por ciento y prueba de habilidades didácticas que tendrá un peso del 10 por ciento de la calificación total. Los docentes que obtengan una evaluación final mayor a 90 por ciento (excelente) accederán a becas o pasantías, serán maestros en programas de capacitación, y recibirán un estímulo económico de 1.200 dólares cada año, hasta la nueva evaluación, que será después de cuatro años. According to the minister, Raul Vallejo, there will be two types of evaluations: internal and external. The internal will be performed by colleagues, supervisors, students, parents, and the teachers themselves (self-evaluation), and it also includes an observation of one hour of class. All these evaluations account for 50 percent of the rating. There is also an external evaluation, which involves testing on specific knowledge that will have a weight of 30 percent, evidence of pedagogical skills that will weigh 10 percent, and a teaching skills test that will have a weight of 10 percent of the total score. Teachers who obtain a final assessment more than 90 per cent (excellent) will have access to scholarships or internships, they will be instructors in teaching training programs, and will receive an economic stimulus of $ 1,200 each year until the new assessment takes place, which will be after four years . Teachers that do not pass the first evaluation will be required to take a year of training after which they will be given the opportunity to re-take the evaluation. Only then, if he or she does not pass, will the teacher be terminated from the teaching post. Belem Proaño of Temas Para Debatir [es] agrees that refusing to be evaluated has a negative impact on the teachers and that this resistence is being seen as resistence to change, which is something that the country is going through: La educación es un tema muy sensible dentro de una sociedad porque tiene relación con su futuro. Si los maestros se niegan a ser evaluados, más bien presionados por su sindicato, se enfrentan a una imagen mediocre frente a los ciudadanos. Este es un tema muy comentado en el país pero todo se ha quedado prácticamente en la polémica. Personalmente pienso que ningún profesional debería tener miedo a una evaluación porque las evaluaciones no son represiones sino un instrumento que permite conocer la realidad de la educación. Con ello las medidas que se tomen o las planificaciones que se realicen serán más exactas o menos propensas al error. Education is a very sensitive topic within the society because it is related to their future. If the teachers refuse to be evaluated, as pressured by their union, they face a mediocre image in front of their fellow citizens. This is a subject much talked about in the country, but everything has remained controversial. Personally, I think that no professional should be afraid of evaluation because evaluations are not repressions, but rather an instrument that allows for knowing the reality of education.