The Performance of Elementary School Teachers who Graduated From Universitas Terbuka

By 2008, the number of graduates of the in-service teacher training bachelor' s programs at Universitas Terbuka (UT) was about 500,000. Some people have questioned the quality of these graduates. There fore, evaluation on the performance of the graduates of this program are regularly conducted. The evaluation study reported herein describes (1) the performance of the graduates, (2) the positions and roles of the graduates in their own regions, and (3) the profiles of the graduates who have succeeded in achieving teaching certificates. This evaluation study included an initial survey, classroom observations, document analyses, and interviews. Two hundred teachers from 12 UT regional offices who graduated between 2002 and 2008 were surveyed. Of these, 21 were selected for the in-depth analysis that included classroom observations, document analyses, and interviews. The Teacher Performance Assessment Instrument was used for classroom observations and interview protocol. The results indicate that (1) the ability of the elementary teachers who graduated from UT in preparing and implementing lesson plans increased positively, (2) the elementary teachers who graduated from UT play an important role in education and social activities in their region, and (3) the graduates with the bachelor' s degrees and teaching certificates showed improvement in their attitudes and teaching proficiency. These finding indicate that the primary education program at UT has a positive impact on the performance of elementary school teachers as a whole.