The RSS has responded to the Office for Student’s (OfS) consultation on the future plans for the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), suggesting some improvements on the current proposals.
The TEF assesses excellence in teaching at universities and colleges in England. Initial exercises took place in 2017 and 2019, with universities and colleges awarded gold, silver or bronze for their teaching. Plans are now being made for future assessments.
The RSS has been actively involved in discussions around the TEF since its inception, identifying and explaining possible statistical issues so that the process can be improved as much as possible. The Society's main concern has been that the data-based indicators - intended to measure teaching excellence - are not fit for the job. This issue was flagged most recently in a letter from the Society in 2019 to the Director General of Regulation, Ed Humpherson.
The RSS believes the current proposals are an improvement on what has previously been suggested, and that the uncertainty associated with the data-based indicators is now better communicated. However, there remain some points of concern:
- Some of the data-based indicators may still incentivise behaviours that may not necessarily enhance teaching excellence
- Given the limitations of the data-based indicators, it is welcome that there is a greater emphasis on expert review – but this increases the importance of transparent panel guidance to help ensure that ratings are reproducible
- There is insufficient attention paid to the issue of multiple comparisons – and this problem is heightened when indicator data are presented on a huge number of splits.
Read the consultation response in full.