Evaluating Teachers’ Performance: A Need for Effective Teaching

This article reports a study, which aims to evaluate the EFL teachers’ performance of teaching in the English Education Department of Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang (Unimus). The study was conducted to find out how competent the English lecturers/university teachers in the Department are in conducting their English Language Teaching ((ELT) program in the classroom. A case study was employed to five teachers who taught the fifth-semester students in the Academic Year of 2017/2018. Through an observation during their teaching and learning process by involving four observers and through a questionnaire distributed to the 13 students in the fifth semester. The study shows the different results of teachers’ performance from both the teachers’ and students’ perspectives. Based on observation, it is revealed that the teachers’ performance in ELT program does not show a satisfactory result yet. The teachers tend to use unvarying methods and focus on certain students without knowing that some of them have learning problems. Meanwhile, from the questionnaire distributed to the students, it shows that the teachers have good competencies in conducting an ELT program in the classroom in which one of the indicators is seen from the personality of the teachers.


INTRODUCTION
Teachers' performance has an important role in determining the quality of teaching. The quality of teaching is also influenced by the existence of good teachers in managing and handling the teaching and learning process in a classroom so that it creates effective teaching. There are some previous studies about teachers' performance conducted by researchers. First, Ndungu, et al. (2015) and Jones (1998) found that the success of teachers' performance is determined by lesson preparation prepared by the teachers before performing in the class which also determines the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process in the classroom. Meanwhile, other studies were conducted to know the qualification of good teachers from the students' perception. The research results Arnon & Reichel, 2007;Beishuizen et al., 2001;Bullock, n.d;Ida, 2017 revealed that most students Effective Teaching https://doi.org/10.24167/celt.v19i1; ISSN: 1412-3320 (print); ISSN: 2502-4914 (online); Accredited; DOAJ believe that good teachers are seen and considered from the teachers' personalities rather than teaching competences.
This study aims to evaluate the teachers' performance of the teaching and learning process in the classroom, with regards which kinds of qualities and competencies of the teachers in ELT program, particularly in Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang, are the best. The evaluation is needed in order to create effective teaching that is important for building the quality of education.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Teachers are critical in raising the standard of education (Santiago & Benavides, 2009;Shukla, 2014;Syahruddin, et al., 2013) because knowledge, skills, and experiences are important elements in determining whether or not the teachers are categorized as good and/or professional teachers (Arnon & Reichel, 2007). Without having those elements, the teachers cannot counter with the problems of teaching and learning in the classroom. The problems that usually emerge in the classroom, for example, are the 1)tendency to focusing on the activity rather than on the students' needs, 2) communicating in inappropriate levels, 3) teaching on what students do not really need to learn, 4) having inadequate preparation, 5) racing through the textbook, and 6) providing little communication in class.
There are some views to measure and describe the teachers' skills which viewed from whether the teachers are trained or untrained, and whether they are novice or experienced teachers (Richards, 2001). For the qualification of an experienced teacher, the judgment lies in the teaching and learning process, which covers of not only how to prepare the needs for teaching materials that are based on students' needs, but also on how to face the obstacles of learning from both the teacher and the students, so they may cope with the problems that arise.
Experienced teachers are generally those who are categorized as good teachers can compensate for deficiencies in the curriculum, materials, or sources they make for the betterment of their teaching (Richards, 2001). Thus, teachers need to address the learning goals in which they need to analyze, modify, and enact curriculum materials for effective teaching (Schwarz, et al., 2007).
According to Catano & Harvey (2011) , there are nine competencies  for  effective  teaching  covering  availability,  communication,  conscientiousness, creativity, feedback, individual consideration, professionalism, problem-solving, and social awareness. Those competencies could not be separated from the teachers' needs in teaching, because those are required by the teachers to create effective ELT teaching in the classroom. Thereby, to achieve the goal of effective teaching, Shian-yun (2012) mentions that in teaching English as a foreign language, an EFL teacher must have good teaching skills, know quite a lot about the English language systems including how the English language works and how people learn and use it, and have good English proficiency. Without having them, the goal of learning could not be achieved well. Therefore, in order to measure effective teaching, the teachers' performance in the classroom needs to be evaluated. The evaluation is required to measure what the teachers do in the classroom rather than how well the teachers will do in the classroom (Darling-Hammond, 2009;Goe, et al., 2008). In the process of evaluation, Jabbarifar (2009) proposes some aspects of teaching and learning that need to be considered. Those are the use of textbooks and instructional materials, student achievement, and the whole of the instruction programs.
Evaluating teachers' performance in which it is also a part of effective teaching could be seen from three different dimensions: measurement of inputs, processes, and outputs. Inputs refer to teacher quality covering background, beliefs, expectations, experience, and pedagogical and content knowledge. Processes focus on the interaction that occurs in a classroom between teachers and students. Outputs represent the results of classroom processes, such as the impact on student achievement, graduation rates, student behavior, engagement, attitudes, and social-emotional well-being (Goe, et al., 2008). The evaluation of the teachers' performance is essential to know the strengths of the teachers and the aspects of their practice which could be further developed.

METHODOLOGY
A case study was employed in this study by involving five teachers who taught in the fifth-semester students of the English Education Department of Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang in the Academic Year of 2017/2018. There were four observers who were involved in this study. In observing the teachers' performance of teaching, observation checklist adapted from Brown Effective Teaching https://doi.org/10.24167/celt.v19i1; ISSN: 1412-3320 (print); ISSN: 2502-4914 (online); Accredited; DOAJ (1994) cited in Richards (2001) was prepared to cover five elements to be observed: preparation, presentation, execution/methods, personal characteristics, and teacher/student interaction in which each element contained some aspects to be evaluated by the observers. The range of the Likert-type scale used was to make the observers easier in rating the teachers' performance of teaching on a scale point of 1 to 4 with the category 1.unsatisfactory, 2.-average, 3.-above average, and 4.-excellent.
To support the data, the questionnaire which was adapted from Murdoch (1997) cited in Richards (2001) was also distributed to 13 students in the fifth semester. However, only nine students participated and returned the questionnaire. The questionnaire was about the qualities and the competencies of a good English teacher which contained the aspects of ELT competencies and general teaching competencies. The criteria of Likert-type scale in the category of 1 to 5 were also used in order the students who could rate their teachers' performance with the most closely reflected reaction to the statements. The data from both the observation and the questionnaire were then analyzed quantitatively. The numerical data were presented in the tables to see the result of the evaluation from both the observers, and the students and they were supported with the explanation of representing each elements of the instruments used.

A. Teachers' performance of teaching
To know and evaluate the teachers' performance, there are some common views of teaching which could be seen from whether the teachers are trained or untrained, and whether they are novice or experienced ones (Richards, 2001). Novice and experienced teachers could be seen from the classroom experience they have in ELT program. It could not only be seen from how long they have experienced in classroom teaching, but also in how relates to the competencies that have to be mastered including pedagogical, professional, personal, and social (The Regulation of the Minister of National Education No. 6 Year 2007).
Pedagogical competence that must be mastered by the teachers to support their performance of teaching and learning process needs to be built through teaching practices in the classroom by facing students' learning problems with different characteristics (Aimah, et al., 2017). To measure their pedagogical competence, it could be seen from their ability in managing teaching and learning process from planning to evaluation stages (Syahruddin, et al., 2013). According to Brown (1994) cited in Richards (2001), to evaluate the teachers' performance in conducting ELT program, it could be considered from some aspects: preparation, presentation, execution of methods, personal characteristics, and teacher/student interaction in which each aspect are comprised with certain indicators. The following is the result of the observation of the teachers' performance of teaching in the classroom. Based on Table 1, it shows that the teachers' performance of teaching is not satisfactory yet. It could be seen from five aspects observed (preparation, presentation, execution/methods, personal characteristic, and teacherstudent interaction) where the average of 2.54 is within the category of fair. From the five aspects observed, the lowest score is on the aspect of presentation (2.40). There are some criteria used for the aspect of it. It relates to the way of the teachers in explaining the materials, the clear directions given to the students, the teachers' ability in answering the students' questions, the appropriate methods chosen based on the students' ability, the teachers' ability in understanding the students' problems of learning, the ability of the teachers in simplifying the materials, and the teachers' enthusiasm and interests in teaching (Richards, 2001).
Based on the observation during teaching and learning process in the classroom, among five teachers (four females and one male), in the aspect of the presentation, the male teacher has the lowest score with the amount of 2.0 (fair). The way he explained the materials to the students was not supported by simple analogies to help the students' understanding. From here it learned that it becomes an important point for the teachers to Effective Teaching https://doi.org/10.24167/celt.v19i1; ISSN: 1412-3320 (print); ISSN: 2502-4914 (online); Accredited; DOAJ simplify the materials and give the analogies needed to achieve the success of teaching and learning. Even during teaching and learning, he did not know that some of his students had some problems in understanding the materials. Asking the students whether or not they have difficulties in comprehending the materials by moving around to them is actually effective for the teacher in understanding learning problems. In choosing the methods of teaching, the tendency to use the monotonous method enables the students to become bored and not enthusiastic for joining the class.
This condition is contrasted with the female teachers in which the average score of their presentation is around 2.5 to 2.7 which is within the category of good. It reveals that female teachers tended to prepare their teaching well by choosing and simplifying the materials to be delivered to the students. Giving some examples to support the materials was chosen in order to help their students' understanding. Besides that, female teachers tended to be creative in using a different simple method of teaching to be presented to them. The method used-even though was not optimum yet-made the students more excited in joining the teaching and learning process in the classroom rather than the male teacher did. Through the selected method used, it has enabled the teachers to make sure whether or not the students had learning problems in the classroom and or to give appraisal to them. Female teachers were also more enthusiastic for teaching the students in the classroom. It could be seen from the directions given, which were clear and concise so that the students did not find difficulties in understanding them.
The second-lowest score from the observation is the execution/methods in which the average score is 2.44 with the category of fair. In this aspect, it relates to the way of the teachers in making the students understand the materials through some methods and equipment used in teaching. It is in line with Syahruddin (2009), who believes that activities/methods in the classroom refer to the ways in which materials and equipment are used. He also believed that how the content is to be taught of what the students are doing; how the students are grouped; and how the activities are organized in the classroom. In the study, it is found that some teachers unfortunately did not involve the students maximally in the activity of teaching and learning in the classroom because the class was centered on the teacher. Lecturing still became their choice to convey the material given even though the rest tried to offer other methods of engaging them to be active, for example group discussion. The use of lecturing model potentially made them stuck in a certain place without moving around to all the students because they only focused on their own explanation to the students. Furthermore, with the varying knowledge and ability that the teachers have, the result of the observation shows that some of the teachers were not able to adapt to the unanticipated situations in the classroom. For example, when there was a student who asked a question that was out of the context of the material, the teacher showed her objection expression rather than answered the question.
Preparation aspect also has a low average score in the teachers' performance of teaching. It could be seen that the average of it is 2.54. Only three components used for evaluating the aspect of preparation. They are the teachers' readiness in preparing and organizing the class, reviewing the previous materials, and determining learning goals/objectives of learning (Brown (1994) cited in Richards, 2001). From three components used, the tendency of the teachers in starting their class was reviewing the previous materials and looking ahead to new material. It is understandable by considering the students' ability and knowledge made the teachers would do that in order to help them comprehend the material given. However, the teachers were not ready with their lesson plan including to determine the learning objectives and design the pedagogical activities based on the students' needs (knowledge, problem, learning style, etc.). That is why it made the observers difficult in observing the lesson plan that they have prepared with the activities of teaching and learning in the classroom and knowing the learning objectives to be reached.
Meanwhile, the aspects of personal characteristics and teacher-student interaction get the average scores of 2.62 and 2.8 which is within the category good. Generally, the teachers did not have the problem with a personal characteristic and the interaction with the students. In the aspect of personal characteristic, each teacher got a good result. The criteria used to measure the personal characteristics are patience in eliciting students' response; clarity, tone, and audibility of voice; personal appearance; initiative, resourcefulness, and creativity; pronunciation, intonation, fluency, and appropriate and acceptable use of language (Brown (1994) cited in Richards, 2001). The same view comes from Ida (2017) who mentions that the basic personal characteristics that should be had by the teachers are unconditional acceptance, self-acceptance, and empathy, full attention to the student, emotional sensitivity, and credibility.
In the aspect of teacher/student interaction, each teacher also gets a good category as well. It is supported with the average score of teacher/student interaction achieves 2.68. Teacher/student interaction is Effective Teaching https://doi.org/10.24167/celt.v19i1; ISSN: 1412-3320 (print); ISSN: 2502-4914 (online); Accredited; DOAJ important to build the harmonious atmosphere because it could influence the students' motivation, engagement, and performance in the classroom (Hughes, 2011). It is also related to the role of the teachers to the functioning of them in a social group and social responsibility (Ciascai & Vlad, 2014). It means that the teachers need to encourage the students to be involved actively in the teaching and learning process in the classroom. The lecturers need to know what the students' learning problems are and how to cope with (Arnon & Reichel, 2007). It should be done in order for the teachers could optimally keep the interaction with the students. Therefore, giving a chance to the students for asking some questions, expressing their own opinions, conveying their objection also was parts of the components to be observed by the observers during teaching and learning process in the classroom. Even though some teachers focused on their own lecturing model which enabled the class to be centered on the teacher, they tried to invite the students to be active through the activities built in the classroom. Yet, only some students who participated actively in the classroom. Some of them-even though had been appointed to participate-tried to avoid the teachers' question. It happened because of the different background knowledge that they had in which not all of them felt comfortable and relaxed atmosphere to have the question. Some of them were also afraid to make some mistakes. To anticipate this condition, the teacher should not shame or blame the students when they make errors (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016) because it will influence their next performance.

B. Qualities and competencies of a good English teacher
According to Beishuizen et al. (2011) skills, knowledge, and experience of teachers as crucial factors in good teaching. Good teaching needs not only to motivate the students to learn, but also to teach them how to learn in a manner that is relevant, meaningful and memorable (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016). The teachers' ability in explaining the subject matter well, giving many examples to support their explanation, improvising their teaching, adapting their explanation to the students' needs, and understanding the students' learning problems become the important points for the achieving the criterion. To support good teaching, it is needed two important components: professional knowledge and an appropriate personality. It means that the teachers have to master the subject matter that they would like to teach and they become good models for the students in terms of patience, modesty and politeness, simplicity, punctuality, paying attention to the students, being warm to the students, and providing good relation to the others (Arnon & Reichel, 2007). It is in line with Bullock (n.d) mentions that an experienced teacher put more emphasis on personal characteristics.
To present the extent to which the qualities and the competencies of the English teachers of Unimus, the questionnaire was distributed to the students of the fifth semester. The result of the questionnaire could be seen in Table 2. There are two aspects used to measure the competencies of the teachers in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Those aspects are ELT competencies and general competencies of teaching covering pedagogical, professional, social, and personal domains. In the aspect of ELT competencies, the average score is 4.00. It is contrasted with the result of the observation done by the observers during the teaching and learning process in the classroom in which the average score is 2.54 with the category fair. It means that between the observers and the students have different perception in evaluating the teachers' performance.
The students admitted that the teachers have good qualities and competencies in ELT program. Based on their viewpoint, their teachers' performance is excellent. It could be seen from the elements rated covering the clarity in using language, the varying techniques used during the class, setting up the students in group activities, providing activities to develop language skills, giving sufficient time to respond the questions, encouraging the students to ask questions, being a good model for the students, making the students to self-correct mistakes, and maintaining a dialogue with the students. As stated by Catano & Harvey (2011), teachers serve as role models inspiring their students and stimulating their intellectual curiosity by engaging them in and out of the classroom to develop intellectual intelligence. They set goals and expectations for their students and motivate them to meet those challenges. Referring to that point, most students gave the range of 4-5 for filling the questionnaire. It means that the students Effective Teaching https://doi.org/10.24167/celt.v19i1; ISSN: 1412-3320 (print); ISSN: 2502-4914 (online); Accredited; DOAJ admitted the teachers' competencies. Thus, it is not surprising that the average of ELT competencies is 4.00, is within the category excellent.
It is not much different from the result of general competencies in which the average score gets 3.65 (excellent). For general competencies, there are some criteria used including pedagogical and personal competencies. Those competencies are really needed by the teachers for supporting their ability in conducting ELT program in the classroom. Without having them, the teachers will have some obstacles in facing learning problems from either the students or themselves.
From both aspects measured, the average score of the qualities and the competencies of a good English teacher is 3.82. It means that the teachers' competencies in conducting ELT program could be categorized as excellent. It is totally different from the evaluation of teachers' performance done by the observers in which the score is 2.54 (fair).
The different point between them happened because the teachers were not ready yet so that the observers saw the process of ELT program as unnatural. The condition caused some obstacles of learning in the classroom which influenced the teachers not to perform optimally. Meanwhile, the students who filled the questionnaire about teachers' competencies was not only evaluating on the same day the observers observed their ELT program. Students were evaluating their teachers' performance from the first halfsemester. That is why the students' and the observers' judgment did not match because different conditions and considerations were applied. Furthermore, there are some different points of view dealing with the indicators used to evaluate them. The observers who are the teachers' own colleagues and whose background knowledge is at the same level as the teachers had different perceptions in evaluating their performance of the teachers' observed. The indicators that the observers emphasized the teachers' performance were based on the pedagogical competence and experience of teaching in the classroom rather than personal characters. The teachers' ability in designing their lesson plan including the way they choose the method and the media, simplify the materials, improvise their teaching, communicate with the students becomes the main point of consideration. Whereas, for the students, they were evaluating based on what they consider as good teachers with good personality.
A good personality is considered as an important characteristic of an "ideal teacher", but teaching competencies, the importance lies more on the increase of professional knowledge that is experienced in the classroom (Arnon & Reichel, 2007). While the students looked at ideal teacher having the characteristics of being patient, helpful, humor, kind, which is in line with Beizhuizen, et al. (2001). The observers were instead evaluating on the teachers' knowledge or ability in increasing the students' competence. Thus, as informed above, the conditions for evaluation were not a perfect match.

CONCLUSION
This article reported a research that has dealt with the teachers' performance of ELT program in the classroom seen from a different perspective from both the teachers and the students. From the teacher observers' perspective, the emphasis is laid on the elements that should be owned by the teachers covering good knowledge and skills of delivering their teaching materials, as well as showing a teaching experience of being openminded for discussion when teaching students. Meanwhile the students tend to emphasize on the teachers' personal characteristics.
Dealing with those points, the teachers' performance under observation in teaching their students, thus shows an unsatisfactory result. From five aspects rated, i.e. in presentation, execution of methods, and preparation; the teachers under observation received the lowest score. Among the teachers observed, four female teachers are actually well-prepared and well-organized rather than one male teacher. However, most of them tend to use a teacher-centered learning in which it does not give much chance for the students to be active in the classroom. Seen from their personal character and teacher-student interaction, like evaluated by the students through a questionnaire, the teachers evaluated for the research got good result.