Improving attainment and closing the gap: The Power of Collective Effort and Professional Trust Hartlepool Education Commission 23 rd June 2014 Dr Kevan Collins 1

One corner of London… 2

A few key points… 8 square miles, home to 260,000 people – highest wages in London for people who work in the Borough but, lowest household income in the city for residents and people living in the Borough The Borough has 74 primary, 18 secondary and 6 special schools. All but a handful (less than 5% of the Borough’s children attend its schools) The Borough spends on average, £7,500 per child on education services The highest % of children in the country eligible for FSM (58%) and highest levels of child poverty in the UK Primary schools where 77% of the children arrive speaking English as an additional language. Over 90 languages are spoken in the Borough’s schools 3

Tower Hamlets and national 5 GCSEs A* - C including English and mathematics 4

% of pupils achieving expected levels at the end of primary education 5

How… 1.Ambition - poverty isn’t an excuse for poor outcomes 2.Sustained effort - improvement over time is key 3.Leadership - change requires the skill and tenacity of key people 4.Relationships – knowing and understanding the needs of others 5.Partnerships – systems don’t improve school by school 6

Critical Success Features (1) Building Professional Trust – Within Schools Three Stages of Development A.Order, structure and a focus on learning B.Development of educational capital C.Focus on pedagogy and professional development Two dominant models currently found in English Secondary Schools A.Driven by accountability based on management, monitoring and targets B.Driven by professional trust based on leadership and professional development 7

Critical Success Features (2) Building Professional Trust – Between Schools Competing positions – healthy tensions… A.Collaboration and competition B.London challenge and new ideology of self interest C.Local responsibility for failure and external new providers 8

Applying evidence in practice External evidence summarised in the Toolkit can be used to inform choices. Step 2: Identifying possible solutions Evaluate the impact of your decisions and identify potential improvements for the future. Step 4: Did it work? Mobilise the knowledge and use the findings to inform the work of the school to grow or stop the intervention. Step 5: Securing and spreading change Applying the ingredients of effective implementation. Step 3: Giving the idea the best chance of success Identify school priorities using internal data and professional judgement. Step 1: Decide what you want to achieve 9

Applying evidence in practice Generate a question using data, professional judgement and values. How can we engage and support struggling readers in Year 7? How can we promote engagement and participation in lessons? Step 1: Decide what you want to achieve

Applying evidence in practice Ensure that you start from the best position by seeking internal and external knowledge. Which programmes have been evaluated to be effective in raising outcomes for struggling readers? What evidence am I going to assemble to attend to the issue? Step 2: Identify possible solutions

Teaching and Learning Toolkit The Toolkit is an accessible, teacher-friendly summary of educational research. ‘Which?’ for education Practice focused: tries to give schools the information they need to make informed decisions and narrow the gap. Based on meta-analyses conducted by Durham University.

The Toolkit is a starting point for making decisions

Applying evidence in practice ? Is there d isruption to other learning? Resources, time and materials CPD and professional capacity Implementation matters: have you thought about what the approach means for teaching and learning? What are the research informed ‘active ingredients’ in our approach to promote engagement and participation? Are we equipped to deliver the reading programme with fidelity? Step 3: Give the idea the best chance of success How big is the practice and mindset leap?

Implementation matters: how is as important as what the evidence says Shortage of practical vehicles (interventions, CPD training) to help get evidence working in practice, at scale and with rigour (eg AfL) In the US, healthcare workers failure to wash hands effectively is major cause of death – $billions Researcher created a checklist for surgical teams. Trial showed 66% reduction in infection rates, ~1500 lives in 18 months. Packaged the principles of handwashing into a practical intervention.

Applying evidence in practice Did the approach work, what made it work, and how can it be improved next time? Can we demonstrate that our readers are making progress? How will we measure the impact of our new approach to promote engagement? Step 4: Put energy into evaluation

Applying evidence in practice Moving from what we know to what we do. Have we secured the capacity to sustain the provision? Have we assembled the resources and will to sustain the change? Is the new provision integrated into our performance management processes? Step 5: Making innovation stick

Applying evidence in practice External evidence summarised in the Toolkit can be used to inform choices. Step 2: Identifying possible solutions Evaluate the impact of your decisions and identify potential improvements for the future. Step 4: Did it work? Mobilise the knowledge and use the findings to inform the work of the school to grow or stop the intervention. Step 5: Securing and spreading change Applying the ingredients of effective implementation. Step 3: Giving the idea the best chance of success Identify school priorities using internal data and professional judgement. Step 1: Decide what do you want to achieve

Opportunities and Threats Competition and collaboration Importance of assured trust: Pupil admissions practice Allocation of resources Credibility of local leaders Risk of fragmentation as external agencies create alternative school networks National determination of ‘best’ schools Collaboration being used to drive a ‘political’ agenda 19

Opportunities and Threats Accountability and autonomy Risk of narrow accountability levers A.Inspection OFSTED – crowding out personal responsibility and trust B.League tables and high stakes tests – risk of gaming and skewed curriculum Both encourage focus on individual as opposed to collective achievement 20

Concluding Thoughts No answers, enduring tensions… accountability and improvement autonomy and templates competition and collaboration qualifications and engaged learners trust and compliance 21