Valuing Parents

Councillor Graham Newman Cabinet Member for Education and Young People Welcome and Introduction to the day

Raising the Bar for Suffolk Cllr Mark Bee Leader of Suffolk County Council Deborah Cadman Chief Executive, Suffolk County Council

Health, Aspirations, Attainment Tessa Lindfield Director of Public Health, NHS Suffolk /Suffolk County Council

EducationHealth

How healthy are we? 80 years 84 years 12 year gap between the most affluent and most deprived ward

Deprivation in Suffolk

Children in poverty in Suffolk 1 in 6 Suffolk children live in poverty Children from the most deprived areas are: –4.5 times more likely to be absent from their lessons –performing 26% lower at Early Years Foundation Stage (at age 5) –performing 70% lower at GCSE level (at age 16) –a third more likely to be obese –three times more likely to be a teenage parent

As Suffolk children grow so do inequalities in education and health

Bring me solutions not problems Knowing the problem is halfway there Some are modifiable some not…. But mitigation is possible Not just about schools and education Health is part of the picture too Parents are crucial

Health actions to improve educational attainment Healthy Child Progamme Breastfeeding Smoking Decreasing under 18 conceptions Therapies DAAT CAMHS Physical activity

Breastfeeding At 6-8 weeks a little over half (52%) of infants in Suffolk were breastfed. This is higher than the regional (47.7%) and the national figures (49.1%) But still too low

Further Information

Raising the Bar: Valuing parents What works nationally and internationally Kevan Collins Education Endowment Foundation

Addressing educational disadvantage, sharing evidence, finding out what works Kevan Collins

The EEF is an independent grant- making charity A £125m endowment fund was announced by the Department for Education in Autumn 2010 The Sutton Trust and Impetus won the bid to administer it and launched the Education Endowment Foundation in July 2011 To date we have funded 21 projects, working with 950 schools and 250,000 children We aim to disburse around £200m over the next 15 years

Achieving our mission: The EEF mission We aim to break the link between family income and educational achievement by:  Identifying promising educational innovations that address the needs of disadvantaged children  Evaluating these innovations to extend and secure the evidence on what works and can be made to work at scale  Encouraging schools, government, charities, and others to apply evidence and adopt innovations found to be effective 19

EEF Overview Dissemination Evaluation Grant making Our projects support children eligible for free school meals across the country, including in the most underperforming schools We provide open access to our learning and support schools to make the best use of evidence All our projects are rigorously and independently evaluated

The challenge: Social mobility Though some progress has been made, the UK remains very low on international rankings of social mobility. Parental income continues to exert a very powerful influence on the academic progress of children The influence of parental income on the income of British children is the strongest in the OECD and over 50% stronger than in Canada, Germany or the Netherlands % achieving 5 A*-C 59% 28%

The attainment gap over time Over the life of disadvantaged children the gap between their attainment and that of their peers widens

On the individual:  higher academic attainment increases lifetime earning and decreases the risk of unemployment  it is strongly linked to better health outcomes, better civic engagement and lower levels of offending On the country:  The attainment gap drags down overall educational outcomes on both national and international measures  Cutting the attainment gap by 50% would raise our standing in PISA by an estimated five places in English and 14 places in Maths  The top performing countries (Korea, Finland and Canada) demonstrate that high attainment is impossible without high equity The impact of the gap

The context The system is (as ever) changing; there is a drive to greater autonomy and ‘mediating tiers’ of support are changing The accountability framework continues to flex and twist to meet changing expectations and competing interests; schools have more control over spending, but will be held to account for decisions and their consequences The full chill of austerity and impact of the economic crisis has not yet hit the school system

We believe evidence can help Educational fashions and things which “seem like a good idea” do not always deliver on their promise Context is important and anecdote is not a strong foundation on which to make decisions Schools and head teachers face more decisions than ever before; time and money are scarce resources, and maximising impact is not straightforward

Why not just increase spending? International experience shows that increasing performance is not a simple function of increasing expenditure

Views on what works – latest survey of teachers Three recent surveys have highlighted the disconnect between teachers and evidence We believe that this “evidence gap” is not the fault of schools; researchers have historically not always been good at making research accessible and schools are being expected to take on a new role However, we must recognise that the state of play has changed; whether we like it or not, with more autonomy comes greater responsibility and accountability

What does good evidence look like? It doesn’t just tell you what the best case scenario is, it gives you a realistic picture about what has worked in the past and what has not It provides information about cost, confidence, and does not suggest that there are silver bullets – there are not Internationally we are moving towards meta-analysis – Dr Gene Glass and Dr Robert Marzano (USA), Professor John Hattie (New Zealand), Professor Steve Higgins (England)

The Teaching and Learning Toolkit Free summary of educational research: what works and, as important, what doesn’t Practice focused: giving schools in the information they need to make informed decisions and narrow the gap. Based on meta-analyses provided by Durham University

The Toolkit (continued) There are many caveats: the results quoted are based on averages and past results. The Toolkit is a starting point, and evidence is not a replacement for professional judgement The ‘Bananarama principles’: Implementation: It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it Spending: It ain’t what you spend it’s the way that you spend it

Using evidence to get the biggest bang for your educational buck Low cost High Impact Teaching Assistants Feedback Homework Phonics Reducing Class Size School Uniforms Low Impact One-to-one High cost Performance Pay

This requires reflection Example 1: Teaching Assistants Teaching assistants undoubtedly contribute to the effective management and organisation of a school. On average, however, they do not seem to add to the learning of the children and the classes that they support. We do not know the best way for them to be used in schools to support learning, but likely best bests are: Identify tasks and activities where teaching assistants can support learning, rather than simply manage tasks. Provide support and training for teaching assistants so that they understand how to effective, e.g. by allowing time for teachers and teaching assistants to talk before and after lessons. Ensure that teachers do not reduce their support or input to the pupils supported by teaching assistants. Ensure that teaching assistants are focused on improving learning, as opposed to ensuring that students finish their work. ApproachPotential GainCostApplicability Evidence estimate Summary Teaching Assistants 0 months££££ Pri, Sec, Maths, Eng, Sci Very low/no impact for high cost

This requires reflection Example 2: Parental involvement Focused approaches which support parents in working with their children to improve their learning are beneficial. The challenge is in engaging and sustaining such involvement. Involvement is often easier to achieve with parents of very young children. Parents of older children may appreciate short sessions at flexible times to involve them. Schools can be daunting places for parents so it is important to establish a welcoming environment. Parents may be anxious about their own educational achievements it is important to encourage them to focus on their children’s effort and improvement, rather than worry about ability (“You did really well and learned to do X better, because you really practiced/ worked hard at/ concentrated on Y…”). ApproachPotential GainCostApplicability Evidence estimate Summary Parental involvement + 3 months£££ Pri, Sec, Maths, Eng, Sci Moderate impact for moderate cost

Some of the most promising strategies Perhaps not surprisingly, a focus on teaching and learning is key:  Improving the quality of feedback  Collaborative and co-operative learning  Peer involvement in learning (peer tutoring, team approaches)  Meta-cognitive strategies, making learning explicit  Specific subject strategies (e.g. phonics instruction in reading, computer assisted instruction in maths)

How should evidence be used? Internal data used to identify biggest barriers to learning Resources targeted at areas of greatest need Step 1 External evidence from England and overseas can be used to identify best bets and areas of promise. Step 2 Internal data used again, to evaluate the impact of a new strategy. Did it work and should you continue? Step 3

How will the Toolkit develop? We plan to develop the Toolkit into a dynamic resource documenting evidence proven effective practice; the next update will take place in January 2013 It will grow as the evidence base does; EEF projects will help fill-in the gaps and expand the Toolkit’s scope The EEF will also create practical examples of the interventions backed up by evidence – e.g. training, toolkits, services that schools can deploy

The Toolkit is just one part of the work of the EEF

Grant-making We are looking to fund, develop and evaluate projects that:  Have a measurable impact on attainment  Are innovative: a new or a significant advancement of an existing idea  Evaluation is at the heart of what we do. Robust evaluations will be built into projects from the start  If proven to have an impact, can be replicated in other areas / schools cost effectively

Evaluation Robust yet pragmatic evaluations, wherever possible using randomisation Conducted by an independent evaluator. Our panel includes: LSE, Durham University, Institute of Education, University of York, IFS, NFER, NIESR, University of Birmingham, University of Bristol, University of Manchester Pilot (development) Efficacy (validation) Effectiveness (scale-up)

Reflections The attainment gap is a complex and challenging problem Evidence can support schools to make decisions and maximise the impact of their spending, but we need more of it, and we need to make better use of what we already know Meeting our challenges will require a determination, knowledge and sustained collective endeavour, to which the EEF has an unparalleled opportunity to support

For further information:

11.00 am – am Break

RSA: Raising the Bar Inquiry ‘Suffolk: A county without limits’ Matthew Taylor Chief Executive, RSA

Workshop 1 What would Raising the Bar look like if it was successful? What could your specific area contribute ?

Workshop 1 GroupRoomFacilitator 11Alex Bedford 22Mike Crichton 33Rosemarie Sadler 44Helen Wolstencroft 55Sally Wilkinson 66Sue Boardman 77Karen Forbester

Feedback and panel questions

1.15pm – 2.00pm Lunch

Suffolk solutions for Raising the Bar: Valuing Parents Moving the agenda through localities Simon White Director, Children and Young People’s Service

Workshop 2 How can we share what we know? How can we let all parents know that we value them? How can we involve parents in raising aspirations and achievement for all Suffolk children? Agreed Focus: Action 1 Action 2 Action 3 Name and contact details of the 3 group representatives attending 22nd November meeting: NameContact details

Workshop 2 GroupRoomFacilitatorScribe 11Rosemarie Sadler Gareth Betts- davies 22Mike CrichtonAnne Edwards 33Sue BoardmanKirsteen Holland 44Sally WilkinsonKaren Forbester 55Helen Wolstencroft Liz Pitts 66Mark BennettCarolyn Heyburn 77Alex BedfordClaire Kent

Plenary Feedback from workshops and next steps Deborah Cadman Chief Executive Simon White Director, Children and Young People’s Service

Closing Councillor Graham Newman Cabinet Member for Education and Young People

Deadline 02 December 2012