International Journal of Educational Management

Total teacher effectiveness: new conception and improvement

Yin Cheong Cheng
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 Total teacher effectiveness: new conception and
improvement
Based on the traditional
conception of teacher
effectiveness, proposes three
strategies for improving it:
short-term, long-term and
dynamic strategies. Argues
that the dynamic strategy is
preferable, but that all of
them have strong limitations
because they ignore the
Downloaded by Erciyes University At 22:53 08 January 2015 (PT)
complexity of teacher
effectiveness and narrow the
concept to the individual
teacher, particularly in a
classroom context. Proposes
a new conceptual framework
of total teacher effectiveness,
whereby the total quality of
the teacher competence layer
contributes to the total
quality of the teacher
performance layer and the
latter contributes to the total
quality of the student learning
experience layer and then to
the quality of the student
learning outcomes layer.
Explains that the framework
suggests a holistic approach
to improving teacher
effectiveness with the
emphasis on the improvement
of whole layers of teacher
competence and performance
instead of fragmentary
improvement of teaching
behaviour. Advises that in
order to ensure total layer
quality and maximize teacher
effectiveness, a congruence
development cycle should be
established within the teacher
layers to ensure congruence
and pursue total teacher
effectiveness. Suggests that
the proposed conceptual
framework can provide a new
direction for studying and
improving teacher effective-
ness in particular and school
effectiveness in general.
International Journal of
Educational Management
10/6 [1996] 7–17
© MCB University Press
[ISSN 0951-354X]
Yin Cheong Cheng
Centre for Research and Development, The Hong Kong Institute of Education,
Hong Kong
Kwok Tung Tsui
Centre for Research and Development, The Hong Kong Institute of Education,
Hong Kong
Teacher effectiveness is often a major issue in
current movements of education reform and
school improvement. No matter which wave
of reform we are riding on, it is generally
agreed that the teacher is the key element for
the success of school education[1-3]. Tradi-
tional studies on teacher effectiveness focus
largely on the performance of individual
teachers in classrooms. This narrow concep-
tion of teacher effectiveness has its limita-
tions and can no longer meet the needs of
changing school environments, particularly
when parents and the public are demanding
high quality in school education.
In the last two decades, in order to improve
the performance of teachers, policy-makers,
teacher training institutions and schools
have designed and implemented a great
number of innovations in teaching tech-
niques, methodologies and supervision. In
Hong Kong, although a huge amount of
resources had been invested into
educational reforms initiated by a number of
educational policies in the past decade[4],
the performance of students as a whole was
declining at a significant rate. The policy-
makers and the public began to be aware of
the importance of teacher performance stu-
dents’ educational outcomes and tried to
make policy efforts for improving teacher
quality and effectiveness[3]. Inevitably, there
is an urgent need to understand the complex
nature of teacher effectiveness and to
develop new strategies to improve it if we
wish to achieve better student learning
outcomes. Therefore, this paper aims to
establish a framework for understanding
the nature and development of teacher effec-
tiveness.
This paper will first review and identify
the strategies and their limitations for
improving teacher effectiveness that are
based on traditional concepts. Then it will
develop a framework of total teacher
effectiveness, for understanding the
process and development of teacher
effectiveness, including multi-levels and
multi-domains, to understand the complex
nature of teacher effectiveness in school
organization. It is hoped that this framework
can bring a holistic approach to studying
and improving teacher effectiveness.
Traditional concepts of teacher
effectiveness
In recent decades, the topic of teacher
effectiveness has continued to attract the
attention of researchers, educators and pro-
fessional organizations. However, Ornstein[5]
points out that the literature on teaching
effectiveness, or teacher effectiveness, is a
morass of ill-defined and changing concepts.
To different people, the definition of teacher
effectiveness could be very different.
Approaches to presenting this concept are
also very different. Some researchers focus
on teacher personalities, traits, behaviours,
attitudes, values, abilities, competences and
many other personal characteristics. Some
other researchers are more concerned with
the teaching process (including factors such
as teaching styles, teacher-student interac-
tions and classroom climate, etc.) or the
teaching outcomes (including factors such as
students’ academic achievements, personal
development and learning experiences, etc.).
Despite thousands of studies conducted in the
last 50 years, it is difficult, if not impossible,
to arrive at generally accepted conclusions.
Few powerful generalizations concerning
teacher effectiveness have been estab-
lished[6,7]. In different times during the past
decades, the studies might emphasize differ-
ent aspects of teacher effectiveness[8,9]. Some
scholars have given criticisms on the underly-
ing philosophy, methodologies and findings in
these studies of teacher effectiveness. They
suggested that the existing perspectives of
teacher effectiveness, such as the teacher
trait perspective, the teacher behaviour
perspective and the process-product of
teaching perspective could not be successful
in explaining or analysing the complexity of
teacher effectiveness[8-10].
Some key traditional concepts of teacher
effectiveness can be summarized and
discussed before strategies for improving
teacher effectiveness are reviewed. As
suggested by Anderson[11], effective teachers
are those who achieve the goals they set by
themselves or the goals set for them by others
such as school principles, education adminis-
trators and parents. According to
Ornstein[5], effective teachers must have a
[7]
 Yin Cheong Cheng and
Kwok Tung Tsui
Total teacher effectiveness:
new conception and
improvement
International Journal of
Educational Management
10/6 [1996] 7–17
Downloaded by Erciyes University At 22:53 08 January 2015 (PT)
[8]
body of knowledge essential for teaching, and
know how to apply it. By integrating these
two conceptions, effective teachers may be
assumed to be those who possess the relevant
competence (including necessary pro-
fessional knowledge, skills and attitudes) and
use the competence appropriately to achieve
their set goals. From this line of thinking, the
understanding of teacher effectiveness must
be based on the linkages between teacher
competence, teacher performance and set
goals or expected educational outcomes.
Structure of teacher effectiveness
Medley’s[12] structure of teacher effective-
ness is a very comprehensive framework
which can integrate the teacher trait perspec-
tive, the teacher behaviour perspective and
the process-product of teaching perspective to
explain the relationships between teacher
competence, teacher performance, student
learning experience and educational out-
comes. He explained that:
The term “teacher effectiveness” will be
used to refer to the results a teacher gets or
to the amount of progress the pupils make
toward some specified goals of education.
One implication of this definition is that
teacher effectiveness must be defined, and
can only be assessed, in terms of behaviours
of pupils, not behaviours of teachers. For
this reason, and because the amount that
pupils learn is strongly affected by factors
not under the teacher’s control, teacher
effectiveness will be regarded not as a stable
characteristic of the teacher as an individ-
ual but as a product of the interaction
between certain teacher characteristics and
other factors that vary according to the
situation in which the teacher works…
According to this conception, Medley[12]
proposed that the structure of teacher effec-
tiveness should include nine important com-
ponents:
1 Pre-existing teacher characteristics – the
knowledge, abilities and beliefs that a
teacher possesses on entering into the
teacher training programme).
2 Teacher competence – the set of know-
ledge, abilities and beliefs that a teacher
possesses and brings to the actual teaching
environment on completion of the teacher
training programme.
3 Teacher performance – the behaviour of a
teacher when teaching that may change
when the teaching environment is
changed.
4 Student learning experience – the
experience from interactions between
teacher and the students in the process of
teaching and learning.
5 Student behaviour or learning outcomes –
the progress students make towards a
defined educational goal.
6 Teacher training – for building up teacher
competence.
7 External teaching context – including
school organizational structure,
management, culture, teaching facilities,
resources, curriculum, school goal and
mission, etc.
8 Internal teaching context – including class
size and composition, pupil abilities, class-
room climate, teacher-pupil
relationship, etc.
9 Individual student characteristics –
individual students’ previous learning
experience, physical and intellectual
abilities, learning styles and other per-
sonal characteristics.
Cheng[9] further developed Medley’s[12]
structure by the inclusion of two more com-
ponents, namely teacher evaluation and pro-
fessional development, as shown in Figure 1.
The structure indicates the procedural inter-
relationships among the components of
teacher effectiveness:
1 Student learning outcomes are the product
of the interaction between students’
learning experience and individual
characteristics.
2 Student learning experience is affected by
both teacher performance and internal
teaching context.
3 Teacher performance is determined by the
interaction between teacher competence
and external teaching context.
4 Teacher training and pre-existing teacher
characteristics can contribute to teacher
competence.
5 Teacher evaluation activities that
are based on the information from
teacher performance, student learning
experience and learning outcomes can
facilitate the development of teacher
competence.
6 Professional development activities which
are supported by the characteristics of
external and internal teaching context,
teacher performance, students’ individual
characteristics, learning experience and
outcomes can contribute to development
of teacher competence and teacher
education.
All the components of the structure can
directly or indirectly relate to teacher
effectiveness.
 Yin Cheong Cheng and
Kwok Tung Tsui
Total teacher effectiveness:
new conception and
improvement
International Journal of
Educational Management
10/6 [1996] 7–17
Downloaded by Erciyes University At 22:53 08 January 2015 (PT)
Figure 1
Structure of teacher effectiveness
Pre-existing Teacher Teacher
teacher competence performance
characteristics
External
Teacher teaching
education context
Source: adapted from Medley [12] and Cheng [9]
Strategies for improving teacher
effectiveness
From the above structure of teacher effective-
ness, Cheng[13] suggested there may be three
different strategies which can be used to
improve or enhance teacher effectiveness: the
short-term strategy, the long-term strategy
and the dynamic strategy.
The short-term strategy
The short-term strategy is the traditional and
most commonly-used strategy for improving
teacher effectiveness. It focuses on changing
overt teacher performance (mainly in terms
of teaching behaviours) to adapt to the teach-
ing context. Short-term training or piecemeal
practical advice are used to correct teachers’
weaknesses and undesirable behaviours. The
strategy is based on three assumptions. First,
teaching context is something “given” and
not alterable. In order to achieve a good qual-
ity of student learning outcomes, teachers
must accommodate or adjust their behav-
iours to the internal teaching context.
Second, teacher behaviour in classrooms
must be corrected or changed if unsatisfac-
tory student learning experience and out-
come are identified. Third, some straightfor-
ward prescriptions such as standard teaching
behaviours and methods could readily be
used by all teachers: curriculum planners
and teacher trainers often develop and
introduce a great number of standard
teaching behaviours to schoolteachers.
School inspectors and administrators give
practical advice on teaching behaviours to
Teacher evaluation
activities
Student Student
learning learning
experience outcomes
Internal Individual
teaching student
context characteristics
Professional
development
activities
teachers during school inspections and
teacher assessment. This strategy assumes
that the teacher is an implementer, subject to
being improved for better educational out-
come and, inevitably, the role of teacher is
very passive and externally managed. To a
certain extent, some fragmentary, superficial
and tangible effects may be achieved by cor-
recting certain teacher behaviours in the
classroom. However, the effects often cannot
be internalized and the usefulness of this
traditional strategy is quite limited. It may
not successfully induce any long-term and
systematic improvement in teacher effective-
ness because it ignores the importance of
teacher competence to teacher performance
in the classroom. Without development in
teacher competence, persistent and effective
change in teaching behaviour is almost
impossible.
The long-term strategy
The long-term strategy focuses on strength-
ening teacher competence so that teachers
can have sufficient professional knowledge,
techniques and confidence to develop their
own teaching styles, adapt to the external and
internal teaching contexts and perform effec-
tively in the classroom. Strengthening
teacher competence is a continuous long-
term process involving systematic learning
and reflection. As shown in Figure 1, estab-
lishment of the teacher evaluation system
and the professional development system is
necessary for developing teacher competence
and building up long-term teacher effective-
ness. Through summative, formative and
[9]
 Yin Cheong Cheng and
Kwok Tung Tsui
Total teacher effectiveness:
new conception and
improvement
International Journal of
Educational Management
10/6 [1996] 7–17
Downloaded by Erciyes University At 22:53 08 January 2015 (PT)
[ 10 ]
diagnostic teacher evaluation, teachers may
learn continuously and develop repertoires of
professional competence which can be used
to adapt to different teaching contexts and
carry out teaching tasks effectively[14].
Through systematic professional develop-
ment teachers can grow and develop to
acquire new knowledge, skills and attitudes
which in turn promote or improve their
teaching performance at different stages of
their careers. Obviously, this strategy is
much better than the short-term strategy
because it may have long-term, systematic
and internalized effects on teachers’ compe-
tence and performance. But the strategy still
has limitations. Similar to the short-term
strategy, it assumes that the external and
internal contexts of teaching are “givens”
and static. Teachers are considered as devel-
oping implementers, and they need to adapt
their teaching behaviours to teaching con-
texts. To some extent, the role of the teacher
is passive and moderately externally man-
aged. Therefore, this strategy does not expect
the active role of teachers in changing the
internal and external contexts of teaching
and creating an improved environment for
teaching and learning. In other words,
teacher effectiveness may not be maximized.
The dynamic strategy
In view of the limitations of short-term and
long-term strategies, a dynamic strategy can
be proposed for improving teacher effective-
ness. It assumes that most of the components
associated with the structure of teacher
effectiveness (Figure 1) can be altered. In
order to maximize teacher effectiveness, both
teachers’ competence and performance and
teaching contexts should be changed. Also,
teachers should not only adapt to the teach-
ing contexts but also adopt the role of change
agent. Therefore, this strategy aims at
empowering teachers as change agents,
educational leaders and professional
implementers, such that they can play an
active role in improving both external and
internal teaching contexts and maximizing
their effectiveness at both organizational
level and classroom level. The activities of
professional development and teacher evalua-
tion should be further developed and
strengthened to help teachers to develop not
only knowledge, skills and attitudes but also
critical minds and self-reflection and self-
management skills[15]. Following this line of
thinking, the concept of teacher effectiveness
should not be confined to teacher behaviour
or performance in the classroom. It should be
extended to incorporate organizational
aspects such as teacher involvement and
leadership in curriculum changes and
education reforms. In other words, improving
teacher effectiveness should be a long-term
and dynamic process involving not only
teachers’ professional growth and also
schools’ continuous change and development.
The effects of this strategy on teachers and
schools are long term, systematic and can be
internalized and institutionalized.
Based on the above discussions, the charac-
teristics of the short-term, long-term and
dynamic strategies are summarized in
Table I. Of the three, the dynamic strategy
appears to be preferable.
Limitations of the traditional
concepts and strategies
Since all the above strategies are based on the
traditional concepts of teacher effectiveness,
with the focus primarily on individual teach-
ers, particularly in a classroom context,
inevitably there is a serious conceptual
barrier limiting the effectiveness of these
strategies, even the dynamic strategy.
Traditionally, the teaching process is often
assumed to happen only at the individual
level. That is, individual teachers perform
teaching and individual students receive
teachers’ instruction and learn. This simplis-
tic approach is reflected in most studies on
teacher effectiveness, which examine teacher
effectiveness mainly at an individual level.
However, this narrow conception of teacher
effectiveness is changing, owing to the induc-
tion of broader concepts of educational
processes[16,17]. First, school education is
usually planned and implemented at the
programme level or the whole school level.
Currently, school management reforms and
effective school movements emphasize the
whole school approach to the improvement of
school performance and student learning
outcomes[18-20]. It assumes that students are
taught not only by individual teachers but
also by groups of teachers or by whole school
teachers. In order to maximize school effec-
tiveness, more attention should be paid to
overall teacher effectiveness at group and
school levels. Second, based on our previous
discussion, a successful teacher effectiveness
programme relies on a staff development
programme which brings about not only
individual teacher development but also
group and school development[21]. Therefore,
teacher effectiveness should not be studied
solely at the individual level but also at the
group, programme and school levels. Obvi-
ously, the strategies based on the traditional
concept at the individual level have limita-
tions and are not sufficient to enhance
teacher effectiveness at the group and school
 Downloaded by Erciyes University At 22:53 08 January 2015 (PT)

Table I
improvement
Kwok Tung Tsui

10/6 [1996] 7–17

new conception and
Yin Cheong Cheng and

International Journal of

The characteristics of
Educational Management

teaching effectiveness
strategies for improving
Total teacher effectiveness:

Characteristics Short-term strategy Long-term strategy Dynamic strategy

Concerns Change teacher performance Strengthen teacher competence so that teacher Develop teacher competence so that teacher can
performance is improved improve teaching contexts and maximize
effectiveness

Assumption about teaching context External and internal context are “givens” External and internal context are “givens” External and internal contexts are alterable and
and static and static dynamic

Design Discrete, piecemeal Systematic, long-term planning Systematic and dynamic, long-term planning
Focus on overt performance Facilitate professional development Aims at long-term dynamic professional

Means Provide short-term training or piecemeal Establish teacher evaluation system Develop teacher evaluation system
practical advice Facilitate professional development Enhance professional development

Implementation Focus on weakness Focus on increasing competence Ensure professional development

Correct undesirable behaviours Develop personal repertoire Develop and empower to act as change agent
Prescriptions and instructions given by Continuous learning through evaluation and Continuous learning and reflection through change,
administrators, experts or outside agencies development activities experiment, evaluation and development activities

Ends Help teacher adapt to internal context Help teacher adapt to external and internal Facilitate teacher to change and adapt to external
contexts and internal

Role of teacher Very passive, adjusted to teaching context Passive, to adapt to teaching context Active, to change teaching contexts
As implementer to be improved As developing implementer As developing leader, professional implementer and
Externally managed Externally managed Moderately externally managed change agent
Self-managing

Effect on teacher effectiveness Short term Long term Long term

Fragmentary Systematic Systematic and dynamic
Superficial Internalized Internalized and institutionalized

[ 11 ]
 Yin Cheong Cheng and
Kwok Tung Tsui
Total teacher effectiveness:
new conception and
improvement
International Journal of
Educational Management
10/6 [1996] 7–17
Downloaded by Erciyes University At 22:53 08 January 2015 (PT)
[ 12 ]
teacher effectiveness at the group and school
levels.
Conceptual framework of total
teacher effectiveness
Taking the limitations of the traditional
concepts into consideration, a new concep-
tual framework of total teacher effectiveness
can be proposed, as follows.
Levels of teacher effectiveness
Traditional teacher effectiveness improve-
ment programmes focus on individual
teacher performance in a classroom.
Principals and administrators try to manipu-
late individual teachers’ competence and
performance in an attempt to improve
students’ behavioural outcomes. It is
assumed that when individual teacher perfor-
mance is improved, individual students, then
the whole class and, finally, all students in the
school will have a corresponding improve-
ment in learning outcomes. In reality, the
situation is much more complicated. First,
the Coleman study may be used as an illustra-
tion. The study findings had been interpreted
as proof that schools had little effect on stu-
dent learning, although according to Barr
and Dreeben[22] it was misinterpreted. How-
ever, it demonstrates that when teacher,
school and student characteristics were all
aggregated to the school level (or class level),
the individual teacher effectiveness or contri-
bution would be diminished and deteriorated.
Good et al.[23] argue that: “if teachers make a
difference, and if pupils are to be exposed to
both good and poor teaching, then it should
not be surprising that many schools (classes)
are found to be quite similar in their effects
on students”. Obviously, the improvement of
individual teachers does not necessarily
promise overall school effectiveness. Second,
teachers often work in isolated conditions
where they seldom see or hear one another
teach[14,24]. This isolation and privacy will
hinder teachers’ learning and sharing of
their successes with colleagues. Owing to
these constraints, individual teachers must
work alone to identify problems, develop
solutions and choose alternatives[25-27].
Furthermore, as school settings become more
complex and demand greater accountability,
individual teachers’ efforts have less impact.
On the contrary, in order to increase teacher
and school effectiveness, a group effort is
required[28]. It is believed that the synergy of
a group is potentially greater than the sum of
the energies of its members. In other words, a
group effort would produce greater effect
than the group’s most competent members
could have achieved alone. In fact, teachers
who work as teams or groups not only use
their energy effectively but also create new
energy[29,30]. It is obvious that when teach-
ers act together they may have a better
chance of influencing and changing the con-
straints given by the external and internal
teaching contexts. Therefore, the considera-
tion of teacher effectiveness should include
not only the individual level but also the
group and school levels.
Domains of effectiveness
Medley[12] suggests that teacher competence
refers to the set of knowledge, abilities and
beliefs a teacher possesses and that teacher
performance is the use of knowledge and skill
in the classroom. Ornstein[5] claims that
every teacher has his/her own teaching style,
which is a composite of personality and phi-
losophy, evident by behaviour and attitude.
Rubin[31] argues that teaching style involves
choices among alternatives, and the choices
teachers make actually demonstrate their
perceived images and roles. Through their
style, teachers integrate the theories or peda-
gogy in which they believe and the practices
they adopt in the classroom. From the litera-
ture, it is clear that teacher competence and
performance should involve the elements of
beliefs, values, perceptions, attitudes, knowl-
edge, skills and behaviours. Furthermore,
teachers’ teaching processes influence stu-
dents’ learning experience and outcomes; and
student learning outcomes are usually recog-
nized as the result of learning processes in
terms of cognitive, affective and behavioural
change and development. Following this line
of thinking, we may assume that the consider-
ation of teacher effectiveness should include
the quality of teacher competence and
teacher performance in various domains
such as the behavioural, the affective and the
cognitive; and this teacher quality may have
effects on students in various domains
accordingly.
The concept of total teacher effectiveness
Taking the three domains (affective, behav-
ioural and cognitive) and the three levels
(individual, group and school levels) into
consideration, the nature and characteristics
of teacher effectiveness should be studied at
multi-levels and multi-domains. Borrowing
Cheng’s[16] idea of the school process matrix,
we can propose a new conceptual framework
of total teacher effectiveness for investigating
the complicated nature of teacher effective-
ness. This framework is illustrated as shown
in Figure 2.
The framework assumes that teacher
effectiveness is inevitably related to teachers’
 Yin Cheong Cheng and
Kwok Tung Tsui
Total teacher effectiveness:
new conception and
improvement
International Journal of
Educational Management
10/6 [1996] 7–17
Downloaded by Erciyes University At 22:53 08 January 2015 (PT)
Figure 2
Conceptual framework of total teacher effectiveness
Teacher
competence
layer
Cognitive domain
Affective domain
Behavioural
domain
Individual level
Group level
School level
Teacher
External
Teaching context
teaching processes and students’ learning
processes. Therefore, the concept of teacher
effectiveness involves two important
categories of actors (teachers and students) at
three different levels (individual, group and
school). The processes and effects of teaching
and learning may occur in the behavioural,
affective and cognitive domains of different
actors at different levels. Specifically, teacher
effectiveness should involve the behavioural,
affective and cognitive performance of all
teachers and students at individual, group
and school levels. This concept of teacher
effectiveness is different from the traditional
thinking, which focuses mainly on the indi-
vidual level of teacher or student and ignores
the multiplicity of performances of teachers
and students. The new concept can be called
total teacher effectiveness because it can
provide a holistic picture of the nature of
teacher effectiveness by taking into consider-
ation multi-domains of competence and per-
formance of teachers and students at the
multi-levels. The characteristics of this total
teacher effectiveness framework are further
illustrated in the following sections.
Layers of teacher effectiveness
As shown in Figure 2, teacher effectiveness is
related to the teaching and learning pro-
cesses involving teacher competence, teacher
performance, student experience and student
learning outcome layers. The teacher compe-
tence layer is the total behavioural, affective
and cognitive competence of teachers at the
Teaching Learning
Teacher Student Student
performance experience learning
layer layer outcomes
layer
Student
Internal Pre-existing
Teaching context Student characteristics
individual, group and school levels. This
layer represents the total static quality of
teachers. The teacher performance layer is
the total performance of teachers in the three
domains at the three levels. It represents the
dynamic quality of teachers in the teaching
process. In general, the quality of teacher
performance layer is positively associated
with the quality of the teacher competence
layer. In addition, the relationship between
these two layers can be moderated by the
influence of the external teaching context
(e.g. organizational factors, leadership and
school environment, etc.). The student experi-
ence layer represents the total learning expe-
rience of students in the three domains at the
individual, group and school levels. The
student learning outcomes layer represents
the total learning outcomes of students in the
three domains at the three levels. In general,
the quality of the teacher performance layer
as a whole has a positive impact on the
quality of the student learning experience
layer, and the latter has a positive relation-
ship with the quality of the student learning
outcomes layer. Again, these relationships
may be affected by the characteristics of
internal teaching context (including student
subculture, classroom climate, student ability
grouping, learning environment etc.).
Teacher competence layer
The teacher competence layer, interacting
with the external teaching context, affects the
teacher performance layer. When teachers
work independently as individuals, the exter-
nal teaching context may often dominate the
[ 13 ]
 Yin Cheong Cheng and
Kwok Tung Tsui
Total teacher effectiveness:
new conception and
improvement
International Journal of
Educational Management
10/6 [1996] 7–17
Downloaded by Erciyes University At 22:53 08 January 2015 (PT)
[ 14 ]
performance of individual teachers. Individ-
ual teachers may have to adapt to the environ-
ment in order to achieve a certain level of
teaching performance. In this respect, the
role of teachers tends to be passive and
teacher effectiveness is limited. It is not sur-
prising that most improvement and enrich-
ment programmes implemented to improve
some behavioural aspects of individual
teacher performance are often not successful,
if not failures[21]. Therefore, we suggest that
the teacher competence layer should be
improved (including competence in multi-
domains at multi-levels) so that teachers can
be empowered to work collaboratively, as a
group or as a whole school team. In these
circumstances, teachers can act as a strong
collective force to influence and change the
conditions of the external teaching context,
not just adapt to it. The higher quality of
teacher competence layer can promise better
opprtunities for teachers to act as a change
agent and initiate education reforms which,
in turn, promote overall teacher performance
and student learning outcomes.
Teacher performance layer
The teacher performance layer, interacting
with the internal teaching context, influences
the student learning experience layer.
Currently, the most common approach to
improving the quality of students’ learning
experience and outcomes is to improve and
change the behaviours of a certain teacher at
a certain point in or period of time. This
approach is often ineffective. There are two
reasons for this. First, student performance
at any point in time is the cumulative effect of
the performance of a number of teachers. Let
us take a local secondary school as an exam-
ple. There are about ten to 12 subject teachers
teaching the same class at secondary one,
another ten to 12 subject teachers at
secondary two, and some more teachers at the
remaining years. It is clear that individual
student performance at any point in time
should be a cumulative effect of his or her
past and present teachers; and should not be
the sole effect of any particular teacher.
Therefore, if we want to improve students’
learning experience, we should improve the
whole teacher performance layer, including
the three levels and the three domains.
Second, in a normal teaching environment,
teaching and learning processes take place in
the classroom. This means that, most of the
time, the teacher will teach a group of stu-
dents as a whole. If we take the teacher-stu-
dent ratio into consideration, we can see that
an individual teacher’s influence on individ-
ual students may not be as strong as when
compared with the influence from the inter-
nal teaching context (e.g. students’ peer
groups, classroom climate, class size, etc.). In
order to have a stronger influence on the
internal teaching context and the student
learning experience layer, the improvement
of the whole teacher performance layer, not
just individual teachers, should be important.
In short, when teacher performance as a
whole layer can act on the students at the
same time and in the same direction, there
will be a greater chance to develop a greater
learning environment and have better stu-
dent learning experiences and outcomes.
Student experience layer and student
learning outcomes layer
Under the influence of the teacher perfor-
mance layer and internal teaching context,
all students at individual, group and school
levels can achieve learning experience in
their affective, behavioural and cognitive
domains. Through students’ further learning
processes, the learning experience can be
converted into student learning outcomes in
multi-domains at multi-levels. The student
learning outcomes layer in Figure 2 repre-
sents the total student learning outcomes.
Obviously, the pre-existing student character-
istics (e.g. IQ, family background, etc.) may
also affect the conversion process of learning
experience into learning outcomes and the
quality of outcomes. The assessment of total
teacher effectiveness is based mainly on the
quality of the student learning experience
layer and the student learning outcomes
layer, taking the teacher competence layer
and teacher performance layer into consider-
ation. The results of assessment can be used
to improve the learning experience layer, the
teacher performance layer and the teacher
competence layer. In other words, there
should be feedback loops from the latter
layers to the former: the student learning
outcomes layer to the student learning expe-
rience layer to the teacher performance layer
to teacher competence layer, as shown in
Figure 2.
A holistic approach to improving
teacher effectiveness
The above framework of total teacher effec-
tiveness provides a holistic approach to
improving teacher effectiveness. In order to
maximize teacher effectiveness, improve-
ment of whole teacher competence layer and
whole teacher performance layer should
replace fragmentary improvement of teacher
competence or performance. In other words,
the improvement effort on teacher compe-
tence and performance should cover the
 Yin Cheong Cheng and
Kwok Tung Tsui
Total teacher effectiveness:
new conception and
improvement
International Journal of
Educational Management
10/6 [1996] 7–17
Downloaded by Erciyes University At 22:53 08 January 2015 (PT)
affective, behavioural and cognitive domains
at the individual, group and school levels.
According to the concept of congruence in
system[17,32,33], whether teacher competence
is congruent across the affective, behavioural
and cognitive domains and across the individ-
ual, group and school levels (i.e. congruence
within the teacher competence layer) can
affect the contribution of the teacher compe-
tence layer to the teacher performance layer.
The greater the congruence of teacher compe-
tence across domains and across levels, the
greater the contribution of the teacher com-
petence layer to the teacher performance
layer. The congruence across domains repre-
sents the extent to which affective compe-
tence, behavioural competence and cognitive
competence of teachers are mutually sup-
ported and reinforced in contributing to
teachers’ action and performance. The con-
gruence across levels represents the extent to
which the competence of individual teachers,
groups of teachers and whole school teachers
are mutually supported and reinforced in
contributing to teachers’ actions and perfor-
mance. Similarly, the greater the congruence
of teacher performance across domains and
across levels (i.e. congruence within the
teacher performance layer), the greater the
contribution of the teacher performance
layer to the student learning experience layer.
Also, the greater the congruence of student
learning experience across domains and
across levels (i.e. congruence within the stu-
dent learning outcomes layer), the greater the
contribution of the student learning experi-
ence layer to the student learning outcomes
layer.
Based on the concept of congruence within
layers, the approach to improving teacher
effectiveness should include assurance of
congruence within the teacher competence
layer, within the teacher performance layer
and within the student learning experience
layer. This holistic approach is very different
from the traditional thinking which focuses
only on fragmentary and overt aspects of
teacher performance without taking totality
and congruence into consideration.
Teacher effectiveness development
cycle
According to Cheng[17,20] and Cheng and
Tam[21], the development cycle can be used to
strengthen the quality of teacher layers and
ensure congruence within teacher layers.
Specifically, a long-term programme of staff
(teacher) development may be established at
the individual, group and school levels to
facilitate their reflection on the congruence
between the values and beliefs of education
and management in school and the congru-
ence of performance in their affective, behav-
ioural or technical, and cognitive domains.
The development programme supports them
to make a continuous learning cycle for their
own development and improvement. This is
in line with the literature in the field of
teacher development and school changes
[24,34-37].
The development cycle may start at the
individual teacher level and focus on overt
performance, mastering teaching and class-
room management techniques. Then,
teachers should be supported to have
opportunities at the individual, group and
school levels to reflect on their values, beliefs
and the meanings of education and school
management. From the reflection by them-
selves or among themselves, they can reorga-
nize their cognitive structure, reshape their
teaching styles and re-establish their profes-
sional confidence and commitment. Through
self-learning as an individual or as a group,
they are more willing to co-operate and more
capable of achieving better teaching perfor-
mance [35,38]. A substantial literature
supports the idea that, no matter whether at
individual level, the group level, or the whole
school level, teachers’ performance is
linked with their beliefs, attitudes,
satisfaction, commitment and sense of
achievement[14,24,39-41]. Therefore, the
development cycle should include a strong
component on the affective and cognitive
domains in addition to the behavioural or
technical component for teachers at multi-
levels.
Similarly, at the student learning experi-
ence layer, teachers can help to establish
continuous student development cycles at the
individual, group and school levels across the
behaviour, affective and cognitive domains
that help students to learn, experience, reflect
and develop to achieve maximum learning
outcomes. Obviously, the student learning
experience layer is driven by the teacher
performance layer. Development of teacher
layers will result in desirable development in
student learning experience and end up with
desirable student learning outcomes.
Conclusion
Based on the traditional concept of teacher
effectiveness, there are three strategies for
improving teacher effectiveness: the short-
term strategy, the long-term strategy and the
dynamic strategy. Comparatively, the
dynamic strategy is preferable but all of them
have limitations because these strategies
[ 15 ]
 Yin Cheong Cheng and
Kwok Tung Tsui
Total teacher effectiveness:
new conception and
improvement
International Journal of
Educational Management
10/6 [1996] 7–17
Downloaded by Erciyes University At 22:53 08 January 2015 (PT)
[ 16 ]
ignore the complexity of teacher effectiveness
and narrow the conception of the individual
teacher, particularly in a classroom context.
The conceptual framework of total teacher
effectiveness provides a new perspective for
investigating the process and development of
teacher effectiveness. This framework
suggests that the process and effect of teach-
ing and learning should be represented by
layers, including the behavioural, affective
and cognitive domains of different actors
(teacher and student) at different levels
(individual, group and school). There are four
layers: the teacher competence layer, the
teacher performance layer, the student
learning experience layer and the student
learning outcomes layer. The layer concept
provides a more comprehensive unit to con-
sider the complexity of teacher effectiveness.
The total quality of the teacher competence
layer contributes to the total quality of the
teacher performance layer, and the latter
contributes to the total quality of the student
learning experience layer and then to the
quality of the student learning outcomes
layer. The framework suggests a holistic
approach to improving teacher effectiveness,
with emphasis on the improvement of whole
layers of teacher competence and perfor-
mance instead of fragmentary improvement
of teacher behaviour. In order to ensure total
layer quality and maximize teacher effective-
ness, congruence assurance across domains
and across levels within the teacher compe-
tence layer, the teacher performance layer
and the student learning experience layer are
important. The teacher effectiveness develop-
ment cycle established within the teacher
layers should be necessary to ensure congru-
ence and pursue total teacher effectiveness.
Since the conception of teacher effective-
ness is different from traditional thinking,
the implications and strategies advanced for
research may be more comprehensive and
sophisticated, taking multi-domains and
multi-levels into consideration. Some new
and significant research areas and topics can
be proposed for studying total teacher effec-
tiveness, including:
• the relationship of the external teaching
context and the teacher competence layer to
the teacher performance layer;
• the relationship of the internal teaching
context and the teacher performance layer
to the student learning experience layer;
• the relationship of the student learning
experience layer and pre-existing student
characteristics to the student learning
outcomes layer;
• the congruence within the teacher compe-
tence layer and its impacts on the teacher
performance layer;
• the congruence within the teacher perfor-
mance layer and its impacts on the student
learning experience layer;
• the congruence within the student learning
experience layer and its impacts on the
student learning outcomes layer;
• the contribution of the development cycle to
the total quality of teacher layers and
student layers; and
• the further theoretical development of total
teacher effectiveness, based on the research
on the above areas.
Hopefully, the proposed conceptual frame-
work can provide a new direction for study-
ing and improving teacher effectiveness in
particular and school effectiveness in
general. The ongoing worldwide educational
reforms can benefit from the research and
practice of this new framework.
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new conception and
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Educational Management
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