What Students Can Tell Us about the Quality of Teaching: Evidence from MET and Implications for Teacher Preparation Ronald F. Ferguson, PhD Harvard University and the Tripod Project for School Improvement Spring Regional CAEP Conference, The Mirage, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 16, 2012

Student perspectives can help guide: teachers as they work to improve; leaders as they set professional development priorities for teachers; coaches and mentors in supporting teachers; higher education institutions as they develop teacher training programs.

The Seven C’s What Teachers Do (What Students Experience) 1.Caring about students (Encouragement and Support) 2.Captivating students (Learning seems Interesting and Relevant 3.Conferring with students (Students Sense their Ideas are Respected) 4.Controlling behavior (Culture of Cooperation and Peer Support) 5.Clarifying lessons (Success Seems Feasible) 6.Challenging students (Press for Effort, Perseverance and Rigor) 7.Consolidating knowledge (Ideas get Connected and Integrated)

Student Engagement Targets (Both Individual and Collective) 1.Trust Safety (vs. Mistrust) 2.Cooperation (vs. Resistance) 3.Ambitiousness (vs. Ambivalence) 4.Diligence (vs. Discouragement or Disengagement) 5.Satisfaction and Efficacy (vs. Disappointment and Failure) The Seven C’s What Teachers Do (What Students Experience) 1.Caring about students (Encouragement and Support) 2.Captivating students (Learning seems Interesting and Relevant 3.Conferring with students (Students Sense their Ideas are Respected) 4.Controlling behavior (Culture of Cooperation and Peer Support) 5.Clarifying lessons (Success Seems Feasible) 6.Challenging students (Press for Effort, Perseverance and Rigor) 7.Consolidating knowledge (Ideas get Connected and Integrated) Teacher Professional Learning (PLCs) Content Knowledge Pedagogic Skill Relationship-Building Skills The Tripod STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT OUTCOMES

Key Patterns to Note  Teaching in some classrooms is much more effective than in others at fostering Seven C’s learning conditions.  There tends to be much more Seven C’s variation within schools—from one classroom to another—than between them, from one school to another.  Generally, students are more engaged (happier, more hard working and more satisfied with their achievements) in classrooms that rate higher on the Seven C’s.

6 A composite 7C inter-classroom index can be formed by combining all seven of the indices— i.e., Cares, Controls, Clarifies, Challenges, Captivates, Confers and Consolidates—into one composite number. Then, the composite index can be used to rank classrooms into instructional quality deciles, quintiles or quartiles.

GRADE: K 1 ST Gr. 2 nd Gr. 3 rd Gr. 4 th Gr. 5 th Gr.

Developing healthy dispositions and experiencing a high quality of life in school: classrooms that rate higher on the Seven C’s also rate higher on:  Happiness in class  Good behavior in class  Healthy responses to social pressures (e.g., less holding back, hiding effort, help avoidance)  Academic engagement/effort  Satisfaction with performance and progress

Some findings from the Gates Foundation Measures of Effective Teaching Project

Predicted differences in months of learning for classrooms at the 25 th versus 75 th percentiles of the composite Seven C’s distribution for the MET sample. (Estimated using surveys from one class and gains from another class, taught by the same teacher.) Using student survey responses in one section to predict learning gains in another. Predicted difference per school year* On state math tests 4.8 months On the Balanced Assessment in Math 3.7 months On state English Language Arts (ELA) tests 2.3 months On the Stanford 9 Open Ended ELA 2.9 months *Based on Table 9, p. 26: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, “Learning about Teaching: Initial findings from the Measures of Effective Teaching Project.” December 2010.

The Point from MET: Student perceptions of classroom practice can help in predicting learning outcomes and should be taken seriously by policy makers and educators. But how can we use them?

Using the Seven C’s to develop profiles and identify priorities at multiple levels of drill down.

There are multiple embedded levels of possible “drill down” on any given issue, e.g., to address questions about: 1.The district 2.One or more schools or grade levels within the district 3.One or more grade levels within a school 4.One or more classrooms within a grade 5.One or more students within a classroom 6.One or more survey items from among an individual student’s responses

Use Case 1: Individual Teacher Analysis After being introduced to school-level results, teachers spend time reviewing their own results individually. Teachers identify and reflect on strengths and weaknesses and set goals for personal growth. Teachers include targets for improvement in professional growth plans. Teachers acquire knowledge, develop new skills, and implement new strategies.

Teacher A Teacher A Teacher B Teacher B Tripod Student Feedback Surveys and Assessments Tripod Student Feedback Surveys and Assessments Example: Actual Feedback for Two Very Different Classroom Teachers

Teacher A (Low) Teacher A (Low) Teacher B (High) Teacher B (High) Value student insight! Tripod Student Feedback Surveys and Assessments Tripod Student Feedback Surveys and Assessments

Value student insight! Teacher A Teacher A Teacher B Teacher B

Common Language and Frameworks for Evaluation and School Improvement

Teacher A Teacher A The benchmark in this example is the bottom classroom in the top third (i.e., the 67 th percentile) among all classrooms at this particular school.

Teacher A Teacher A

Teacher A Teacher A

Teacher B Teacher B

Teacher B Teacher B

Teacher B Teacher B

Teacher A Teacher A

Teacher A Teacher A

Teacher A Teacher A

Teacher B Teacher B

Teacher B Teacher B

Teacher B Teacher B

Teacher A Teacher A

Teacher A Teacher A

Teacher A Teacher A

Teacher A Teacher A

Teacher A Teacher A

Teacher B Teacher B

Teacher B Teacher B

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School Norms – Based on all responses from the whole school. The benchmarks are averages from the whole district.

School Norms – Based on all responses from the whole school. The benchmarks are averages from the whole district.

Teacher A Teacher A Teacher B Teacher B Viewed side by side

Use Case 2: District and School Analysis District level leaders review results of the 7Cs analysis across all schools in the district School level leaders review results of the 7Cs analysis across classrooms in their schools District and school level leaders use these data to focus professional development strategies and to monitor the impact of school improvement efforts

CareClarifyCaptivateConsolidate ControlChallengeConferMean >= 75% 60 to 74% 50-59% 40-49% 25-39% < 25% District: Percent favorable, by school, for each Seven C’s category. (Each line is one of 48 secondary schools in one urban school district.)

CareClarifyCaptivateConsolidate ControlChallengeConferMean >= 75% 60 to 74% 50-59% 40-49% 25-39% < 25% Line 1 is for the lowest rated high school: See the next slide.

Each row shows the percent favorable responses for a classroom in the lowest rated high school. (Classes with at least 10 respondents) CareClarifyCaptivateConsolidate ControlChallengeConferMean >= 75% 60 to 74% 50-59% 40-49% 25-39% < 25%

CareClarifyCaptivateConsolidate ControlChallengeConferMean >= 75% 60 to 74% 50-59% 40-49% 25-39% < 25% Line 48 shows the highest rated high school: See the next slide.

>= 75% 60 to 74% 50-59% 40-49% 25-39% < 25% Each row shows the percent favorable responses for a classroom in the highest rated high school. (Classes with at least 10 respondents) CareClarifyCaptivateConsolidate ControlChallengeConferMean

Revisiting Key Points  Teaching in some classrooms is much more effective than in others at fostering Seven C’s learning conditions.  Student perceptions of classroom practice on Seven C’s dimensions can help in predicting learning outcomes and should be taken seriously by policy makers and educators.  There tends to be much more Seven C’s variation within schools—from one classroom to another—than between them, from one school to another.  Generally, students are happier, more hard working and more satisfied with their achievements in classrooms that rate higher on the Seven C’s.  There are many ways that student perspectives can be used to provide useful information about patterns of teaching effectiveness, ideally in combination with other measures: we need multiple measures multiple times.

Assistant: Andrew Volkert For more information about Tripod Surveys, Contact: Rob Ramsdell Web: Tel: