Reclaiming professionalism: Improving teaching Robert Coe Festival of Education, Friday, 20 th June 2014, Wellington College

∂ Getting teachers better  What does ‘better’ look like?  How do we get better?  How will we know if we have? 2

What does ‘better’ look like?

∂ If you want to be a better teacher,  Do you know what aspect of your practice you should work to improve?  Do you know what you should do to improve it?  Can you actually do this?  How will you know if it has improved? 4 (‘should’ = ‘most likely to lead to benefit’)

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∂ Danielson Framework 1.Planning and preparation a.Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy b.Demonstrating Knowledge of Students c.Setting Instructional Outcomes d.Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources e.Designing Coherent Instruction f.Designing Student Assessments 2.Classroom environment a.Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport b.Establishing a Culture for Learning c.Managing Classroom Procedures d.Managing Student Behavior e.Organizing Physical Space 6 3.Instruction a.Communicating with Students b.Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques c.Engaging Students in Learning d.Using Assessment in Instruction e.Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness 4.Professional responsibilities a.Reflecting on Teaching b.Maintaining Accurate Records c.Communicating with Families d.Participating in the Professional Community e.Growing and Developing Professionally f.Showing Professionalism

∂ Teacher Professional Standards should  Be based on best evidence about pedagogy, teacher effectiveness, learning theory  Reflect diversity of teacher needs (one size doesn’t fit all)  Include protocols for demonstrating when they are met that are –Clear and operationalisable –Consistent across different raters, schools, etc –Demonstrably predictive of valued pupil outcomes 7

∂ Evidence-based standards for effective teaching?  Evidence about relationships between teacher skills, knowledge & behaviours and ‘effectiveness’  Evidence about what can be changed (and how)  Based on ‘best’ theories of –Pupil learning –Pedagogy & teaching effectiveness –Behaviour change (individual, institutional, systemic)  Most important: does focusing on these things lead to improvement? 8

∂ Impact vs cost Cost per pupil Effect Size (months gain) £0 0 8 £1000 Meta-cognitive Peer tutoring Early Years 1-1 tuition Homework (Secondary) Mentoring Summer schools After school Aspirations Performance pay Teaching assistants Smaller classes Ability grouping Most promising for raising attainment May be worth it Small effects / high cost Feedback Phonics Homework (Primary) Collaborative Small gp tuition Parental involvement Individualised learning ICT Behaviour Social

∂ Knowledge of research A.A one-to-one numeracy intervention (two 15-minute sessions per week, delivered by teaching assistants) for Year 2-6 pupils who are struggling with numeracy (outcome: maths) B.Nine weekly one-hour sessions where Y7 pupils below L4 read and discuss an age-appropriate book, with tools and resources to encourage reading for pleasure (outcome: reading) C.A four-week summer school programme (between Y6 & 7) for pupils who had been predicted to achieve KS2 below Level 4b in English, focussed on poetry and writing (outcome: writing). D.Y6 & 7 teachers trained to deliver a programme to help low attaining pupils plan, monitor and evaluate their writing using memorable experiences, eg trips and visitors (outcome: writing). 10 Put these in order of effectiveness:

∂ Learning theory  In what ways does understanding depend on knowledge? In what ways does knowledge depend on understanding?  Give an example of a common misunderstanding of a key concept you have taught. How might you address it?  How can teachers make it most likely that students will remember what they have learnt? 11

∂ Do teachers need to understand research?  Maybe, if –The research is good –We can connect theory and practice  RISE: Research leads Improving School –With Alex Quigley, John Tomsett, Stuart Kime –Based around York –RCT: 20 school leaders trained in research, 20 controls –Contact: 12

How do we get better? 13

∂ Broader argument  Teacher quality is what matters  We need to focus on teacher learning  Teachers learn just like other people 14 –Get good information about where they are at –Give good feedback  Cultural changes are required to –Help teachers learn from each other –Give teachers ownership of their learning –Be clear what you want them to learn

∂ Clarifying, sharing and understanding learning intentions and success criteria  Attempts to describe these are either –Too broad to be well-defined –Too narrow to capture real learning  Must be operationalised with –Examples of behaviours that do / do not exemplify –Specific “tasks that elicit evidence of learning”  Therefore need to assess teacher learning –Does not imply evaluation/ranking/consequences 15 (Wiliam, 2011)

∂ How do we get students to learn hard things? Eg  Place value  Persuasive writing  Music composition  Balancing chemical equations Explain what they should do Demonstrate it Get them to do it (with gradually reducing support) Provide feedback Get them to practise until it is secure Assess their skill/ understanding

∂ How do we get teachers to learn hard things? Eg  Using formative assessment  Assertive discipline  How to teach algebra Explain what they should do

∂  Intense: at least 30 contact hours, preferably 50+  Sustained: over at least two terms  Content focused: on teachers’ knowledge of subject content & how students learn it  Active: opportunities to try it out & discuss  Supported: external feedback and networks to improve and sustain  Evidence based: promotes strategies supported by robust evaluation evidence What CPD helps learners? Do you do this?

How will we know if we have? 19

∂ Why monitor teaching quality?  Strong evidence of (potential) benefit from –Performance feedback (Coe, 2002) –Target setting (Locke & Latham, 2006) –Accountability (Lee, 2008)  Individual teachers matter most  Teachers typically stop improving after 3-5 years  Everyone can improve  Judging real quality/effectiveness is very hard –Multidimensional –Not easily visible –Confounded 20

∂ Monitoring the quality of teaching  Progress in assessments –Quality of assessment matters (cem.org/blog)cem.org/blog –Regular, high quality assessment across curriculum (InCAS, INSIGHT)InCAS INSIGHT  Classroom observation –Much harder than you think! (cem.org/blog)cem.org/blog –Multiple observations/ers, trained and QA’d  Student ratings –Extremely valuable, if done properly ( it-raise-attainment-in-secondary-schools) it-raise-attainment-in-secondary-schools  Other –Parent ratings feedback –Student work scrutiny –Colleague perceptions (360) –Self assessment –Pedagogical content knowledge 21

∂ School ‘improvement’ often isn’t  School would have improved anyway –Volunteers/enthusiasts improve: misattributed to intervention –Chance variation (esp. if start low)  Poor outcome measures –Perceptions of those who worked hard at it –No robust assessment of pupil learning  Poor evaluation designs –Weak evaluations more likely to show positive results –Improved intake mistaken for impact of intervention  Selective reporting –Dredging for anything positive (within a study) –Only success is publicised (Coe, 2009, 2013)

∂  Clear, well defined, replicable intervention  Good assessment of appropriate outcomes  Well-matched comparison group EEF DIY Evaluation Guide Key elements of good evaluation What could you evaluate?

Summary … 1.Teacher ‘quality’ needs to be evidence-based 2.Focus on characteristics that help us improve 3.Teachers learn the same way as other people 4.Monitoring and evaluation are important, but hard 1.Teacher ‘quality’ needs to be evidence-based 2.Focus on characteristics that help us improve 3.Teachers learn the same way as other people 4.Monitoring and evaluation are important, but hard