Philippine E-Journals

The impact of the Indonesian teacher certification law on teachers’ self efficacy, beliefs, and classroom performance: A structural equation model

L. K. Marince Sitohang | Allan B. De Guzman

Discipline: Education, Law

 

Abstract:

The impact of teacher certification on teacher performance has been discussed across the globe for several decades; however, the National Teacher Certification In Indonesia, known as the “Law for Teacher and Lecture No. 14/2005” became a huge issue on the government education policy. Objective: The central aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the National Certification on Indonesian teachers’ self-efficacy, beliefs and classroom performance using the data (2005 – 2009) gathered from a select group of teachers (n=143) representing the elementary, middle and high school levels from Charitas Schools in Indonesia, namely: Cilandak (Jakarta), Belitang (South of Sumatera) and Batam (Riau Islands). Method: Data were gathered through a survey questionnaire and treated in-depth through descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Regression tests indicated that teacher certification had no direct effect on the 3 domains of teacher self-efficacy (TSE): personal (β = -0.64), outcome (β = -0.34) and teaching efficacy (β = -0.73), and personal beliefs about teaching (β = -0.04), beliefs on students (β = 0.15) and beliefs on parent (β = 0.11). However, regression estimated that teacher certification has impact on teachers’ classroom performance, namely: initial classroom performance on teachers with 4 year preparation (β = 7.92), and teachers with 2 or 3 year preparation (β = 8.37); and growth rate the classroom performance of teachers with 4 year preparation (β = .013) while teachers with 2 or 3 year preparation (β = .020). Further, regression test indicated that teachers with low initial performance are expected to have higher growth rate, whereas those who had high initial performance are not expected to have higher growth rate. Using t-test for paired samples, results showed significant differences in teachers’ self-efficacy (TSE) and teachers’ classroom performance (CP). Conclusion: Teacher certification had impact on teachers’ classroom performance; however, certification had no direct effect on teachers’ self-efficacy and teachers’ beliefs, which were influenced by teacher preparation and professional development activities. Overall, teachers’ portfolio assessments show the evidence of the effect of the teacher certification on teacher improvement in initial performance and growth rate performance. Findings of this study offer a number of implications on the crucial role of teacher preparation and teacher professional development programs on the Indonesian Government policy for teacher certification.