Internal Quality Assurance and Teacher Performance: The Mediating Role of Instructional Supervision

Abstract

Internal quality assurance has become a central mechanism in contemporary education governance to ensure accountability, data-based decision making, and continuous improvement of learning quality. In Indonesia, the Internal Quality Assurance System (SPMI) mandates schools to implement a cyclical Determination-Implementation-Evaluation-Control-Improvement process; however, its practical contribution to teacher performance remains uneven and often administrative in nature. Existing scholarship tends to examine leadership, supervision, or data use separately, leaving limited integrative analysis of how these dimensions interact within the SPMI framework at the primary school level. This study aims to analyze how SPMI management within the PPEPP cycle contributes to teacher performance by examining the integration of data utilization, governance structures, and instructional supervision. Employing a qualitative multiple-case study design, the research was conducted in two Indonesian primary schools actively implementing SPMI and utilizing Rapor Pendidikan data. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, non-participant observations, and document analysis, and analyzed using iterative coding procedures, cross-case comparison, and pattern matching. The findings indicate that while formal governance structures strengthened administrative-professional discipline in both schools, substantive pedagogical improvement occurred only where supervision was enacted developmentally through reflective dialogue and formative feedback. Supervision orientation emerged as a mediating mechanism linking accountability structures to differentiated teacher performance outcomes. Based on these findings, the study proposes the Governance-Supervision-Performance (GSP) Model, which conceptualizes SPMI as a governance architecture whose impact depends on leadership-mediated supervision processes and organizational culture. Theoretically, the study advances an integrative framework bridging governance theory, instructional leadership, and quality management. Practically, it underscores the necessity of aligning accountability systems with developmental supervision to generate sustainable instructional improvement.