Development and evaluation of a summative assessment program for senior teacher competence

•An assessment program for senior teachers’ competences was developed.•Multiple different methods help assessing senior teachers’ competences validly.•Involving stakeholders in an assessment program increases reliability of judgements.•Assessment of senior teachers’ competencies helps their professional development.

The focus of this article is the development and evaluation of an assessment program for measuring senior teachers’ competences in secondary schools. The goals of the developed instrument were measuring senior teachers’ competences and providing the opportunity for self-reflection for the teachers assessed. This instrument was developed and evaluated in four steps: (1) the content of assessment was determined, defined in senior teacher competences; (2) criteria and standards were specified for the assessment of the competences; (3) the assessment methods were determined; and (4) the assessment program was evaluated by means of a pilot study. The target group consisted of eight potential senior teachers, who were assessed with the new instrument. In total, eleven teachers and 70 pupils evaluated the new assessment instrument. The assessment seems fit for the purpose. Pupils are positive about the assessment program, whereas the teachers are more sceptic about it.