1. Getting serious about school improvement: new models of teacher professional development Dylan Wiliam Presentation to Governors Institute for Data Driven Instructional Practices in Reading and Mathematics for School Improvement Hershey, PA: July 2008 www.dylanwiliam.net

2. Overview of presentation Why raising achievement is important Why investing in teachers is the answer Why formative assessment should be the focus Why teacher learning communities should be the mechanism How we can put this into practice

3. Raising achievement matters For individuals Increased lifetime salary Improved health Longer life For society Lower criminal justice costs Lower health-care costs Increased economic growth

4. …now more than ever… Source: Economic Policy Institute

5. Which of the following categories of skill is disappearing from the work- place most rapidly? 1.Routine manual 2.Non-routine manual 3.Routine cognitive 4.Complex communication 5.Expert thinking/problem-solving

6. …but what is learned matters too Autor, Levy & Murnane, 2003

7. Wheres the solution? Structure Small high schools K-8 schools Alignment Curriculum reform Textbook replacement Governance Charter Schools Vouchers Technology Computers Interactive white-boards

8. School effectiveness Three generations of school effectiveness research Raw results approaches Different schools get different results Conclusion: Schools make a difference Demographic-based approaches Demographic factors account for most of the variation Conclusion: Schools dont make a difference Value-added approaches School-level differences in value-added are relatively small Classroom-level differences in value-added are large Conclusion: An effective school is a school full of effective classrooms

9. Its the classroom… In the USA, variability at the classroom level is up to 4 times that at school level Its not class size Its not the between-class grouping strategy Its not the within-class grouping strategy Its the teacher

10. USA Within schools Between schools OECD PISA data from McGaw, 2008

11. Teacher quality matters… Barber & Mourshed, 2007

12. …but more for some than others Achievement gaps Disadvantaged background (mothers education) Poor behavior Teachers provision of instructional support High No (good) Average No (good) Low Yes (bad) High Yes (bad) Average Yes (bad) Low Yes (bad) Teachers provision of emotional support High Yes (bad) Average Yes (bad) Low Yes (bad) High No (good) Average Yes (bad) Low Yes (bad) Impact of teacher quality on student outcomes (Hamre & Pianta, 2005))

13. 20-25%Total explained difference <5%Further professional qualifications (MA, NBPTS) 10-15%Pedagogical content knowledge <5%Advanced content matter knowledge The dark matter of teacher quality Teachers make a difference But what makes the difference in teachers?

14. Most of the rest is probably pedagogy In real classrooms, over extended periods, using distal measures of achievement, adoption of formative assessment practices increases student achievement by 0.3 standard deviations. One standard deviation of increased teacher quality is associated with an increase of 0.2 sd of student achievement Therefore the range of teacher quality (4 sd) is associated with 0.8 sd of student achievement. Formative assessment practices would therefore seem to be equivalent to half of the unexplained difference

15. Teacher quality A labor force issue with 2 (non-exclusive) solutions Replace existing teachers with better ones? Important, but very slow, and of limited impact Teach for America Gradually raising the bar for entry to teaching Improve the effectiveness of existing teachers The love the one youre with strategy It can be done Provided we focus rigorously on the things that matter Even when theyre hard to do

16. Cost/effect comparisons InterventionExtra months of learning per year Cost/yr Class-size reduction (by 30%)4$30k Increase teacher content knowledge from weak to strong 2? Formative assessment/ Assessment for learning 8$3k

17. The research evidence Several major reviews of the research Natriello (1987) Crooks (1988) Kluger & DeNisi (1996) Black & Wiliam (1998) Nyquist (2003) All find consistent, substantial effects

18. The formative assessment hi-jack… Long-cycle Span: across units, terms Length: four weeks to one year Impact: Student monitoring; curriculum alignment Medium-cycle Span: within and between teaching units Length: one to four weeks Impact: Improved, student-involved, assessment; teacher cognition about learning Short-cycle Span: within and between lessons Length: day-by-day: 24 to 48 hours minute-by-minute: 5 seconds to 2 hours Impact: classroom practice; student engagement

19. Unpacking formative assessment Key processes Establishing where the learners are in their learning Establishing where they are going Working out how to get there Participants Teachers Peers Learners

20. Aspects of formative assessment Where the learner is going Where the learner isHow to get there Teacher Clarify and share learning intentions Engineering effective discussions, tasks and activities that elicit evidence of learning Providing feedback that moves learners forward Peer Understand and share learning intentions Activating students as learning resources for one another Learner Understand learning intentions Activating students as owners of their own learning

21. Five key strategies… Clarifying, understanding, and sharing learning intentions curriculum philosophy Engineering effective classroom discussions, tasks and activities that elicit evidence of learning classroom discourse, interactive whole-class teaching Providing feedback that moves learners forward feedback Activating students as learning resources for one another collaborative learning, reciprocal teaching, peer-assessment Activating students as owners of their own learning metacognition, motivation, interest, attribution, self-assessment (Wiliam & Thompson, 2007)

22. …and one big idea Use evidence about learning to adapt teaching and learning to meet student needs

23. Keeping Learning on Track (KLT) A pilot guides a plane or boat toward its destination by taking constant readings and making careful adjustments in response to wind, currents, weather, etc. A KLT teacher does the same: Plans a carefully chosen route ahead of time (in essence building the track) Takes readings along the way Changes course as conditions dictate

24. Putting it into practice

25. Why research hasnt changed teaching The nature of expertise in teaching Aristotles main intellectual virtues Episteme: knowledge of universal truths Techne: ability to make things Phronesis: practical wisdom What works is not the right question Everything works somewhere Nothing works everywhere Whats interesting is under what conditions does this work? Teaching is mainly a matter of phronesis, not episteme

26. Knowledge transfer After Nonaka & Tageuchi, 1995

27. Implementing formative assessment requires changing teacher habits Teachers know most of this already So the problem is not a lack of knowledge Its a lack of understanding what it means to do formative assessment Thats why telling teachers what to do doesnt work Experience alone is not enoughif it were, then the most experienced teachers would be the best teacherswe know thats not true (Hanushek, 2005; Day, 2006) People need to reflect on their experiences in systematic ways that build their accessible knowledge base, learn from mistakes, etc. (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 1999)

28. Teacher learning takes time To put new knowledge to work, to make it meaningful and accessible when you need it, requires practice. A teacher doesnt come at this as a blank slate. Not only do teachers have their current habits and ways of teaching theyve lived inside the old culture of classrooms all their lives: every teacher started out as a student! New knowledge doesnt just have to get learned and practiced, it has to go up against long-established, familiar, comfortable ways of doing things that may not be as effective, but fit within everyones expectations of how a classroom should work. It takes time and practice to undo old habits and become graceful at new ones. Thus… Professional development must be sustained over time

29. A model for teacher learning Content, then process Content (what we want teachers to change) Evidence Ideas (strategies and techniques) Process (how to go about change) Choice Flexibility Small steps Accountability Support

30. Two opposing factors in any school reform Need for flexibility to adapt to local conditions, resources, etc Implies there is appropriate flexibility built into the reform Need to maintain fidelity to core principles, or theory of action of the reform, if it is to achieve desired outcomes Implies you have a well-thought-out theory of action

31. Tight but loose Some reforms are too loose (e.g., the Effective schools movement) Others are too tight (e.g., Montessori Schools) The tight but loose formulation … combines an obsessive adherence to central design principles (the tight part) with accommodations to the needs, resources, constraints, and particularities that occur in any school or district (the loose part), but only where these do not conflict with the theory of action of the intervention.

32. Strategies and techniques Distinction between strategies and techniques Strategies define the territory of formative assessment (no brainers) Teachers are responsible for choice of techniques Allows for customization/ caters for local context Creates ownership Shares responsibility Key requirements of techniques embodiment of deep cognitive/affective principles relevance feasibility acceptability

33. Examples of techniques Learning intentions sharing exemplars Eliciting evidence mini white-boards Providing feedback find it and fix it Students as owners of their learning colored cups Students as learning resources pre-flight checklist

34. Design and intervention Our design process Teachers implementation process cognitive/affective insights synergy/ comprehensiveness set of components set of components synergy/ comprehensiveness cognitive/affective insights

35. Sustaining formative assessment with teacher learning communities

36. Signature pedagogies

37. In Law

38. In Medicine

39. How to set up a TLC Plan that the TLC will run for two years Identify 8 to 10 interested colleagues Should have similar assignments (e.g. early years, math/sci) Secure institutional support for: Monthly meetings (75 - 120 minutes each, inside or outside school time) Time between meetings (2 hrs per month in school time) Collaborative planning Peer observation Any necessary waivers from school policies

40. A signature pedagogy for teacher learning? Every monthly TLC meeting should follows the same structure and sequence of activities Activity 1: Introduction & Housekeeping (5-10 minutes) Activity 2: Hows It Going (35-50 minutes) Activity 3: New Learning about formative assessment (20-45 minutes) Activity 4: Personal Action Planning (10 minutes) Activity 5: Summary of Learning (5 minutes)

41. The TLC leaders role To ensure the TLC meets regularly To ensure all needed materials are at meetings To ensure that each meeting is focused on AfL To create and maintain a productive and non-judgmental tone during meetings To ensure that every participant shares with regard to their implementation of AfL To encourage teachers to provide their colleagues with constructive and thoughtful feedback To encourage teachers to think about and discuss the implementation of new AfL learning and skills To ensure that every teacher has an action plan to guide their next steps But not to be the AfL expert

42. Peer observation Run to the agenda of the observed, not the observer Observed teacher specifies focus of observation Observed teacher specifies what counts as evidence e.g., teacher wants to increase wait-time provides observer with a stop-watch to log wait-times

43. The synergy Content: formative assessment Process: teacher learning communities Components of a model Initial workshops Monthly TLC meetings Peer observations Drip-feed resources Writings New ideas

44. Summary Raising achievement is important Raising achievement requires improving teacher quality Improving teacher quality requires teacher professional development To be effective, teacher professional development must address What teachers do in the classroom How teachers change what they do in the classroom Formative assessment + Teacher learning communities A point of (uniquely?) high leverage A Trojan Horse into wider issues of pedagogy, psychology, and curriculum

45. Comments? Questions?

46. Practical techniques

47. Eliciting evidence Key idea: questioning should cause thinking provide data that informs teaching Improving teacher questioning generating questions with colleagues closed v open low-order v high-order appropriate wait-time Getting away from I-R-E basketball rather than serial table-tennis No hands up (except to ask a question) class polls to review current attitudes towards an issue Hot Seat questioning All-student response systems ABCD cards, Mini white-boards, Exit passes

48. Questioning in math: discussion Look at the following sequence: 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, …. Which is the best rule to describe the sequence? A.n + 4 B.3 + n C.4n - 1 D.4n + 3

49. Questioning in math: diagnosis In which of these right-angled triangles is a 2 + b 2 = c 2 ? A a c b C b c a E c b a B a b c D b a c F c a b

50. Questioning in science: discussion Ice-cubes are added to a glass of water. What happens to the level of the water as the ice-cubes melt? A.The level of the water drops B.The level of the water stays the same C.The level of the water increases D.You need more information to be sure

51. Wilson & Draney, 2004 Questioning in science: diagnosis The ball sitting on the table is not moving. It is not moving because: A. no forces are pushing or pulling on the ball. B. gravity is pulling down, but the table is in the way. C. the table pushes up with the same force that gravity pulls down D. gravity is holding it onto the table. E. there is a force inside the ball keeping it from rolling off the table

52. Dinosaurs extinction Why did dinosaurs become extinct? A) Humans destroyed their habitat B) Humans killed them all for food C) There was a major change in climate

53. Save the ozone layer What can we do to preserve the ozone layer? A.Reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced by cars and factories B.Reduce the greenhouse effect C.Stop cutting down the rainforests D.Limit the numbers of cars that can be used when the level of ozone is high E.Properly dispose of air-conditioners and fridges

54. Questioning in English: discussion Macbeth: mad or bad?

55. Questioning in English: diagnosis Where is the verb in this sentence? The dog ran across the road ABCD

56. Questioning in English: diagnosis Which of these is the best thesis statement? A.The typical TV show has 9 violent incidents B.The essay I am going to write is about violence on TV C.There is a lot of violence on TV D.The amount of violence on TV should be reduced E.Some programs are more violent than others F.Violence is included in programs to boost ratings G.Violence on TV is interesting H.I dont like the violence on TV

57. Questioning in history: discussion In which year did World War II begin? A.1919 B.1938 C.1939 D.1940 E.1941

58. Questioning in history: diagnosis Why are historians concerned with bias when analyzing sources? A.People can never be trusted to tell the truth B.People deliberately leave out important details C.People are only able to provide meaningful information if they experienced an event firsthand D.People interpret the same event in different ways, according to their experience E.People are unaware of the motivations for their actions F.People get confused about sequences of events

59. Questioning in MFL: discussion Is the verb être regular in French?

60. Questioning in MFL: diagnosis Which of the following is the correct translation for I give the book to him? A.Yo lo doy el libro. B.Yo doy le el libro. C.Yo le doy el libro. D.Yo doy lo el libro. E.Yo doy el libro le. F.Yo doy el libro lo.

61. Hinge Questions A hinge question is based on the important concept in a lesson that is critical for students to understand before you move on in the lesson. The question should fall about midway during the lesson. Every student must respond to the question within two minutes. You must be able to collect and interpret the responses from all students in 30 seconds

62. Figurative language A.Alliteration B.Hyperbole C.Irony D.Metaphor E.Onomatopoeia F.Personification G.Simile H.None of the above 1.He was a bull in a china shop. 2.May I have a drop of water? 3.This backpack weighs a ton. 4.The sweetly smiling sunshine… 5.He honked his horn at the cyclist. 6.Ive told you a million times already. 7.The Redcoats are coming! 8.They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drownd. 9.He was as tall as a house.

63. Triangle shirt waist factory fire, March 25th, 1911

64. Triangle factory fire Which of the following sources is biased? A.Photograph of the event B.New York Times story on Mar 26, 1911 C.Description of the fire in the textbook D.Transcript of talk by Frances Perkins, Sep 30 1964

65. Practical techniques: feedback Key idea: feedback should cause thinking provide guidance on how to improve Comment-only grading Focused grading Explicit reference to rubrics Suggestions on how to improve Strategy cards ideas for improvement Not giving complete solutions Re-timing assessment (eg three-fourths-of-the-way-through-a-unit test)

66. Practical techniques: sharing learning intentions Explaining learning intentions at start of lesson/unit Learning intentions Success criteria Intentions/criteria in students language Posters of key words to talk about learning eg describe, explain, evaluate Planning/writing frames Annotated examples of different standards to flesh out assessment rubrics (e.g. lab reports) Opportunities for students to design their own tests

67. Students owning their learning and as learning resources Students assessing their own/peers work with rubrics with exemplars two stars and a wish Training students to pose questions/identifying group weaknesses Self-assessment of understanding Traffic lights Red/green discs End-of-lesson students review

68. Force-field analysis (Lewin, 1954) What are the forces that will support or drive the adoption of formative assessment practices in your school/district? What are the forces that will constrain or prevent the adoption of formative assessment practices in your school/district? +