School-community partnerships - in detail

New opportunities through strategic partnerships

Zbar et al (2010) and Masters (2010) suggest that the development of positive and caring relationships among key stakeholders in the school community can work positively towards the sole purpose of the school - to enhance student learning. These relationships are characterised by a collaborative culture and an agreed deep belief that every student is capable of learning. Effective and strategically developed partnerships can considerably broaden the settings and provision of resources for these varied learning experiences to occur.

Establishing effective school-community partnerships

A recent US research report (National Turning Points Center) identifies the key steps for identifying collaborative school cultures, which were also evident in case studies of effective NSW schools (Erebus International 2012 and 2013). To build a collaborative culture, members of the school community:

• share the belief that working collaboratively is the best way to reach the school’s goals
• develop organizational structures that allow teachers to form teams and work together
• agree on norms so teams can work effectively
• define a vision for the school based on what students should know and be able to do
• set goals to achieve the vision.

Working with community partners

The experience of NSW schools, particularly those within the Low Socio-economic School Communities National Partnership, has shown that active engagement and communication with parents, community members, other schools, businesses and local organisations is essential to improving levels of student engagement and learning outcomes (NSW SSNP 2013). Community partners can assist in setting the conditions for learning needed by all students, but particularly those who are falling behind in literacy and numeracy.

The most effective partnerships are those which are built around a common understanding of school priorities, where identified partners collaborate in the planning and implementation of activities, where effectiveness of the partnerships is monitored, where all parties have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities and where the partnership has become part of the school’s “business as usual”.

Examples of effectively engaging with the community include:

• information sessions about school priorities and needs
• initiatives to engage particular groups in the community such as playgroups, parent education around how best to support their students, collaboration with other schools in a “community of schools” to share skills, resources and understandings related to students and the curriculum
• using technology such as Moodle to communicate to the school and the community about learning requirements
• the active inclusion of Aboriginal Elders and community members in decision-making opportunities within the school
• programs to support children and families in the transition to school
• links with health and well-being initiatives in the community, such as speech pathology, counseling and allied health practitioners
• homework centres which may draw on the expertise and availability of community members
• partnering with universities to share professional expertise.

Partnerships can support the sustainability of effective initiatives

The Turning Points research report (National Turning Points Center) designed to “turn middle schools around”, the notion of collaborative school culture was identified as the key strategy for initiating sustainable change within schools. The report describes the concept in the following way:

• In a collaborative culture, members of the school community work together effectively and are guided by a common purpose. All members of the community—teachers, administrators, students and their families—share a common vision of what the school should be like. Together they set goals that lead them toward this vision.
• In doing so, they create a culture of discourse in which the most important educational matters facing the school are openly and honestly discussed. Members respect each other, value their differences, and are open to each other’s ideas. Even when there is disagreement, people listen to each other, because they believe deeply that differences are vital in moving their school forward.
• The teachers in Turning Points schools know they can be more effective and are continually looking for the piece of advice, the book, the research, the organizational structure that will help them improve. The many different voices, experiences, and styles of the school community add to its strength and vitality.

References

Erebus International (2012). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 1, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Erebus International (2013). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 2, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

New South Wales Smarter Schools National Partnerships (2013) 2012 SSNP Annual Report

Masters, G. (2010) Teaching and Learning School Improvement Framework. Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

National Turning Points Center. Turning Points. Centre for Collaborative Education

Zbar, V.,Kimber, R. and Marshall, G. (2010). Getting the Preconditions for School Improvement in Place: How to Make it Happen. Centre for Strategic Education Seminar Series Bulletin 193: Melbourne

Effective Pedagogical Practices - in detail

Effective approaches are based on evidence

Teachers are best placed to engage in effective pedagogical practices when they can competently select and use high quality resources and/or approaches that have been built around a strong evidence base.

With a strong awareness of what has been demonstrated to be effective, the choice of particular pedagogical approach, or the selection of a particular program, will then depend on the response to identified student learning needs.

School leaders model effective practice

Masters (2010) suggests that principals need to take a strong leadership role in encouraging the use of research based teaching practices in all classrooms to ensure that every student is engaged, challenged and learning successfully. Effective principals will set high expectations across the school that effective teaching strategies will be used, and will act as instructional leaders in communicating, promoting and modeling evidence-based approaches which may include:

• teachers set high expectations for every student’s progress and ambitious targets for improving classroom performances
• all teachers implement teaching methods that have been shown to be effective in promoting successful learning for all
• teachers create classroom learning environments in which all students are engaged, challenged, feel safe to take risks and are supported to learn
• teachers work to build students’ beliefs in their own capacities to learn successfully and their understandings of the relationship between effort and success
• teachers provide regular and timely feedback to students in forms that make it clear what actions individuals can take to make further learning progress.

The importance of the principal’s role in assisting staff to engage in differentiated teaching approaches is also consistently highlighted in studies cited by Hattie (2009:236) who suggests “it is the differences in the teachers that make the difference in student learning.”

NSW schools use effective strategies

Each of the strategies above responds directly to students’ learning preferences, styles and interests. Research, supported by classroom consultations in NSW schools, implies that teachers need to engage in the following activities if differentiated teaching and learning are to have an impact on enhanced student outcomes:

• developing a clear understanding about what students’ learning needs actually are
• including what students need to be able to understand and also to do
• ensuring that teachers have a clear and comprehensive knowledge of what students already understand and can do
• understanding when instructional methodologies need to vary to accommodate differences in student learning needs or pace
• ensuring a range of strategies that can be employed to build variation into their teaching plan.

Teachers reflect on their work and that of students

Research published by Effective Philanthropy (2011) highlights the importance of teachers being able to adopt a reflective teaching approach if they are to become constantly responsive to student learning needs. The most effective teachers combine strong professional teaching skills with reflective teaching practice. They assess student performance on a regular and frequent basis to understand where each student is up to and what they need to be able to progress.

Where their students struggle to come to terms with an area, they start by looking at what they are doing as teachers and ask themselves what they can do/do differently to help the student to learn. They then adapt their teaching strategies and practices to help make that happen. They take responsibility for their students’ learning and look to themselves and what they can control to help their students to develop and learn.

References

Effective Philanthropy (2011). Successful Schooling: Techniques & Tools for Running a School to Help Students from Disadvantaged & Low Socio-Economic Backgrounds Succeed.

Erebus International (2012). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 1, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Erebus International (2013). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 2, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Hattie, J.  (2009). Visible Learning: a synthesis of over 800 Meta- Analyses relating to Achievement. London: Routledge

Masters, G. (2010). Teaching and Learning School Improvement Framework. Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

Differentiated teaching and learning - in detail

A key to effectively engaging students

Differentiated teaching is the key to purposeful student engagement. Many teachers prioritise a thorough understanding of students’ background, both from a personal and learning perspective.

Effective principals in case study schools (Erebus International 2012 and 2013) reported their encouragement of teachers to develop a thorough understanding of each child's learning needs and to develop classroom contexts that directly responded to such learning needs. For many teachers, such professional actions are nothing more than good teaching, yet not all teachers appear to either engage in such activity or understand how to undertake this important prerequisite for student learning.

Improving student outcomes

The research of Goddard and Goddard (2007) indicates that well implemented differentiated instruction can significantly improve student learning outcomes. This involves teachers

• adjusting teaching and learning activities in terms of both content and complexity
• pacing the provision of appropriate resource
• development of appropriate support levels
• scaffolding to meet students’ differential readiness to learn.

NSW schools use effective strategies

Each of the strategies above responds directly to students’ learning preferences, styles and interests. Research, supported by case studies in NSW schools (Erebus International 2012 and 2013), implies that teachers need to engage in the following activities if differentiated teaching and learning are to have an impact on enhanced student outcomes:

• developing a clear understanding about what students’ learning needs actually are
• including what students need to be able to understand and also to do
• ensuring that teachers have a clear and comprehensive knowledge of what students already understand and can do
• understanding when instructional methodologies need to vary to accommodate differences in student learning needs or pace
• ensuring a range of strategies that can be employed to build variation into their teaching plan.

A whole-school approach

Effective schools ensure that staff have the skills, tools and support that they need to build differentiation into their instructional/class plans. Examples of this include principals who clearly understand the importance of developing a K-6 learning continuum, where teachers build a professional repertoire to engage students effectively in learning, irrespective of their learning background and challenges.

Whalan (2012) endorses the use of in-school professional learning teams and the systematic use of available expertise, both in school and out of school as a means of ensuring a focus on differentiated teaching and learning. Whalan’s research indicates that professional learning of this kind results in a more consistent and systematic approach.

Explicit teaching targeted to individual need

A systematic approach is supported by the work of Zbar et al (2010), who emphasise the importance of the explicit teaching of key concepts and skills, especially in the foundational areas of literacy and numeracy in the early years of schooling. Differentiated teaching and learning is enhanced when teachers innovatively use communication technologies and other teaching resources for individual or small group learning responding to individual students’ learning needs.

Sugai (2008) advocates a three tiered approach towards student learning and teacher actions to ensure that individual learning needs are catered for. As the model below indicates, the first-tier is the approach adopted for the vast majority of students where syllabus outcomes are aligned to instruction for all students. At the second level supplemental interventions are developed for students identified as being exposed to some learning risk. The third tier is specifically focused on supplemental interventions tailored for students identified as being high risk learners.

Response to Intervention Model (Sugai and Horner, 2009)

References

Erebus International (2012). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 1, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Erebus International (2013). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 2, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Goddard, Y., Goddard, M. (2007). A theoretical and empirical investigation of teacher collaboration for school improvement and student achievement in public elementary schools. Teachers College Record Volume 109 (4), p. 877-896. Retrieved 4/14/2009 from http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 12871

Sugai and Horner (2009). Responsiveness-to-Intervention and School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports: Integration of Multi-Tiered System Approaches. Exceptionality, 17:223-237, 2009 Routledge.

Whalan, F. (2012). Collective Responsibility: Redefining what falls between the cracks for school reform.  Rotterdam: Sense Publishers

Zbar, V.,Kimber, R. and Marshall, G. (2010). Getting the Preconditions for School Improvement in Place: How to Make it Happen. Centre for Strategic Education Seminar Series Bulletin 193: Melbourne

Systematic curriculum delivery - in detail

Collegiality and shared expectations

Consistency in delivering a coherent curriculum depends on the school sharing expectations, plans and processes for teaching, assessing and reporting on student progress. A collaborative whole school culture ensures that there will be a common approach to these tasks.

Contemporary research e.g. Zbar et al (2010), suggests that in a school characterised by a collaborative culture, there is an agreed deep belief that every student is capable of learning. Within these settings, it is clear that the sole purpose of the school is to enhance student learning and for these reasons a major priority is devoted to the development of positive and caring relationships among key stakeholders in the school, including parents. Masters (2010) describes how this can be done by ensuring that there is a "coherent sequenced plan for curriculum delivery that ensures teaching and learning expectations  and a clear reference for monitoring learning across the year levels".

A coherent plan for curriculum delivery

Within collaborative environments in NSW schools (Erebus International (2012 and 2013), effective leaders build a climate of mutual trust and support where professional dialogue focuses on assisting students to maximise learning opportunities in the most systematic ways.

The most effective schools clearly negotiate and articulate the expectations of all staff, who are aware of each other’s responsibilities in relation to a shared plan for curriculum delivery. These schools demonstrate high levels of collegiality and the opportunity for professional sharing and mutual learning which facilitates the development of cross-curricular skills for both teachers and students.

The curriculum is the keystone which focuses effective practice

Masters (2010) notes that an evidence-based plan for curriculum delivery is the key to consistent teaching and learning expectations, and results in

• sequenced plans across school years which set out what teachers should teach and students should learn
• a plan that is shared with and supported by the school community, including parents
• teachers being better equipped to construct learning experiences that are relevant, engaging and challenging for all students
• an alignment of curriculum, assessment and reporting processes and practices.

Supporting a shared vision of the curriculum

Professional learning teams are encouraged, working to enhance professional growth around topics/themes emerging as priorities and opportunities arising from a shared view of the whole-school curriculum. Teachers may have some time off class to share experiences, achievements and challenges. In some schools this also extends to the regular sharing of classroom teaching programs and related documentation for student learning.

Effective schools encourage professional accountability where all members of the school community work towards agreed outcomes and share achievements and challenges relating to individual accountabilities. However, while the focus must always be on addressing individual need, this is most effective in the context of shared and systematic processes, aligning teaching and assessment with curriculum expectations across year and stage groupings and across the whole school.

References

Erebus International (2012). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 1, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Erebus International (2013). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 2, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Masters, G. (2010.) Teaching and Learning School Improvement Framework. Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

Zbar, V.,Kimber, R. and Marshall, G. (2010). Getting the Preconditions for School Improvement in Place: How to Make it Happen. Centre for Strategic Education Seminar Series Bulletin 193: Melbourne

An expert teaching team - in detail

Changes present new challenges

Every case study school in NSW (Erebus International, 2012 and 2013) experienced a process of change, most commonly in the way that student learning occurred both at the classroom and whole school level. Changes such as this bring diverse and unexpected challenges, with every member of the school community requiring tailored professional support.

Teachers and school leaders need effective and timely professional support

The NSW case studies highlighted the pivotal leadership role of the school principal, however leaders also reported the importance of acknowledging the professional learning that they needed to assist them in this role.

Teachers also needed appropriate professional support as change brings the challenge of adapting many aspects of their classroom practice. Teacher capacity must increase if change is to succeed and become sustainable.

Hattie (2009:254) notes that innovations to improve teaching expertise, student learning etc only touch a very small percentage of teachers. The value of providing professional support that is tailored to teachers’ (and students’ learning) needs therefore cannot be underestimated.
 

Professional development supports individual teachers and builds “professional capital”

Effective schools avoid the apparently easy solution of “one size fits all”. On the contrary, while some teachers may engage in learning new and different classroom methodologies, often through peer observation and mentoring, others may develop team leadership capacities at whole year or faculty levels. It is important for tailored professional learning experience to be aligned not only with current but also future or emerging responsibilities.

Hargreaves and Fullan (2012) suggest tailored professional support must be employed to build teachers’ “professional capital” to thrive on the change process. Indeed, almost 20 years ago Fullan (1993) cited the relationship between the teacher’s role as change agent and their holding a sense of moral purpose. However all tailored professional support must “make a difference in the lives of children”. As Fullan (1993:2) reiterates, “moral purpose keeps teachers close to the needs of children and youth; change agentry causes them to develop better strategies for accomplishing their moral goals.”

Expert teaching teams can take on responsibility for change

Whalan (2012) identified professional development as one of the key elements to ensure that teachers engage in a sense “collective responsibility” for the change process. Along with professional community, relational trust, accountability and efficacy, Whalan suggests that each of these “interconnected discourses” relates directly to the concept of “teachers’ collective responsibility”.

When a principal promotes and participates in teacher learning and development as a leading learner, the effect on student learning is significant (Robinson, 2007). School leaders are then more likely to be perceived by their staff as having pedagogical expertise to provide instructional advice and influence the quality of teaching in the school. Their advice is sought, respected and acted upon. (Whalan, 2012)

A “learning community” approach to building an expert teaching team

Teacher professional learning must not simply be an isolated activity that touches on individuals; it is also part of an effective schools’ culture. There is a vast difference between schools in which individual teachers attend courses or seminars that are of particular interest to themselves, and schools where all members of staff are part of a learning community. This means that teacher knowledge and skills are constantly refreshed and refined through a variety of planned interactions that might include peer observation, sharing of reflections or collaborative planning. This was exemplified in the NSW case study schools where tailored professional development was seen as one of the most important positive influences on sustained change.

References

Erebus International (2012). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 1, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Erebus International (2013). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 2, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Fullan, M. (1993). Change Forces London: Palmer Press

Fullan, M. and Hargreaves, A. (2012). Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School. New York: Teachers College Press

Hattie, J.  (2009). Visible Learning: a synthesis of over 800 Meta- Analyses relating to Achievement. London: Routledge

Whalan, F. (2012). Collective Responsibility: Redefining what falls between the cracks for school reform.  Amsterdam: Sense Publishers

Targeted use of school resources - in detail

An effective basis for resourcing decisions

Highly effective principals align the skills of teachers and focus resources within the framework of demands of the particular programs or approaches to be implemented. Undertaking this process efficiently across a whole school saves critically important time in preparing for and implementing change.

Many NSW case study schools (Erebus International, 2012 and 2013) needed time to adjust to the sudden arrival in the school of new Literacy and Numeracy National Partnership funds that allowed purchase of resources on a scale not previously possible. While some schools acknowledged a level of uncertainty about the most expedient way to expend the funds, others used the school's change agenda in literacy/numeracy and the accompanying annual action/strategic plan as the fundamental tool for negotiation with the school community.

Where the school plan identified priorities that were clear and understood by all stakeholders, the most effective use of resources was less of a challenge. On reflection, some principals would concede that too much was initially invested in physical resources and insufficient in human resources that could be employed to build teacher capacity, and to support the accompanying organisational change and longer term sustainability.

Adapting resource decisions to suit changing needs

Principals in case study schools also reported a change in emphasis over time of the need for physical or human resources. Most commonly the most effective strategy appears to have been the early expenditure predominantly on human resources with some emphasis on physical resources, and then reversing these priorities after evidence of initial impact.

Investing in people to build lasting capacity

The NSW school case study findings accord directly with both Zbar et al (2010) and Hattie (2009) who suggest that most highly effective school leaders are very diligent about ensuring that resources are selected to maximise the learning impact for students. Often this meant the early identification and employment of educators with the relevant skills to facilitate change. Sharing of that expertise/understanding with professional colleagues then enhanced teachers’ capacity to support the change process.

References

Erebus International (2012). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 1, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Erebus International (2013). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 2, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Hattie, J.  (2009) Visible Learning: a synthesis of over 800 Meta- Analyses relating to Achievement. London: Routledge

Zbar, V.,Kimber, R. and Marshall, G. (2010). Getting the Preconditions for School Improvement in Place: How to Make it Happen. Centre for Strategic Education Seminar Series Bulletin 193: Melbourne

A culture that promotes learning - in detail

Students need to be ready and able to learn

Case studies on NSW schools revealed the key role of the disposition of students to learning – described also as purposeful student engagement, or

the promotion of a systematic approach towards student engagement in learning that is driven by a clear analysis of student learning needs in literacy and numeracy. This approach is accompanied by a positive, safe and secure learning environment that ensures appropriate learning provision for each student as a unique individual who is empowered to take responsibility for their own learning (Erebus International 2013).

High expectations and “no excuses”

Other research identifies a clear link between purposeful student engagement and the promotion by teachers of high expectations for all students. Masters (2010) describes this as an approach to learning which is characterised by “no excuses”. That is, no teacher can make excuses for children not learning, based on their background or learning ability. The teacher has a critical role in the classroom in terms of impact on student attitude and productivity (Hattie 2009).
 

Students feel they can control their learning

Hattie (2009) suggests that a key technique for enhancing purposeful student engagement is for teachers to provide the opportunity to ensure that students experience control over their learning in such a way that they can make purposeful choices that impact directly on their outcomes. These could include the sequence of learning, alternative strategies, and selection of texts where appropriate, within a framework guided by the teacher.

Classroom strategies for effective engagement

The research by Effective Philanthropy (2011: 360) also suggests strategies that teachers can undertake to enhance purposeful student engagement:

• staff set up the classroom environment to support student participation to remove as many barriers to engagement opportunities as possible
• classrooms are set up to be bright, vibrant learning spaces
• classrooms are well resourced
• classrooms are designed and laid out in a way that supports student learning, that is in terms of classrooms being well lit, acoustics allowing students to hear throughout the room and all students being able to see the chalkboard
• classroom spaces are large enough and all can be changed around to support a range of different learning formats
• classrooms include individual “time out” spaces
• classrooms include individual “extension learning” spaces
• common classroom organisational systems are used across the year level groupings to help students feel comfortable and make it easy for them to engage in class
• student work is displayed on classroom walls to celebrate student effort, improvement and achievement, to demonstrate what professional high quality work looks like and encourage students to set high expectations for themselves

What does effective engagement look like?

Effective Philanthropy (2011) identified the key outcomes of these strategies, which build on include positive expectations for student behaviour, potential and performance and greater encouragement of constructive classroom participation:

• students’ improved ability to connect with and engage at school
• increased student attendance, retention and motivation
• greater encouragement of constructive classroom participation and
• a reduction in challenging student behavior.

Teachers set the conditions for efficient learning

While there is no direct cause and effect among these factors and enhanced student engagement, or even between student engagement and enhanced student learning outcomes, they set the conditions for an effective teaching and learning environment.

Zbar et al (2010) refer to the underlying ‘moral purpose’ of teachers’ classroom interactions with students, where teachers strive to create classrooms where they would be happy to have their own children. Teachers must also feel that they can make a difference with students, irrespective of their background and ability, and must find a way to ensure that all students in their class become fully engaged in the learning process.

Recent work by ACER (2010) on factors impacting on student engagement in a tertiary education context highlights that the sense of ‘moral purpose’ is not enough. This research highlights the importance of ensuring that students receive timely feedback on performance and teachers and students have the opportunity to discuss the grades and achievements with teachers and that the students themselves feel a sense of being strongly supported by teaching staff. Indeed the importance of providing feedback to students in the school context is consistently identified by Hattie (2009) as a key factor in enhancing purposeful student engagement.

References

Effective Philanthropy (2011). Successful Schooling: Techniques & Tools for Running a School to Help Students from Disadvantaged & Low Socio-Economic Backgrounds Succeed”.

Erebus International (2012). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 1, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Erebus International (2013). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 2, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Hattie, J.  (2009) Visible Learning: a synthesis of over 800 Meta- Analyses relating to Achievement. London: Routledge

Masters, G. (2010) Teaching and Learning School Improvement Framework. Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

Zbar, V.,Kimber, R. and Marshall, G. (2010). Getting the Preconditions for School Improvement in Place: How to Make it Happen. Centre for Strategic Education Seminar Series Bulletin 193: Melbourne

Analysis and discussion of data - in detail

A starting point for planning

Analysis and discussion of data is a key prerequisite for ensuring that teachers make informed planning decisions for effective pedagogy, based on current and comprehensive data about students’ learning needs. Teachers are then in a position to engage in differentiated teaching on the basis of clear and documented evidence.

Masters (2010) suggests that high priority be given:

to the school-wide analysis and discussion  of systematically collected data on student outcomes, including academic, attendance and behavioural outcomes.  Data analyses consider overall school performance as well as the performances of students from identified priority groups; evidence of improvement/regression over time; performances in comparison with similar schools; and, in the case of data from tests such as NAPLAN, measures of growth across the years of school.

Leading the effective use of data

The principal has a critical role in ensuring that a whole school approach is developed. The effective principal encourages supportive professional activity around the effective use of data and the development of a consistent culture of using data for informed decision making.

The school leader also has responsibility for ensuring that all members of staff not only understand the protocols for gathering relevant data but are also able to understand, analyse and interpret student data for the purposes of providing differentiated teaching and learning experiences.

Evidence from case studies in NSW schools directly confirms observations by Masters (2010) that the effective use of data is evident when:

• the school has developed and is implementing a plan for the systematic collection of a range of student outcome data including both test data and quality classroom assessments
• the school has identified and can demonstrate that it is using tests and other assessment tools to monitor school wide achievement and progress in areas of national focus such as literacy, numeracy and science
• an individual or team has been given responsibility for planning the collection and analysis of school-wide data and for summarising, displaying and communicating data to the school community
• all teaching staff have access to a broad range of student achievement data and use it to analyse, study and display individual and cohort progress
• professional development is provided to build staff skills in analysing and interpreting data
• school leaders, as part of their responsibilities, regularly work with their teams to review achievement data relating to their areas
• time is set aside for in-depth staff discussions of achievement data and of strategies for the continuous improvement of student outcomes
• the school systematically monitors other performance data, including data relating to student attendance
• school disciplinary absences and other behavioural data, school completion, student destinations and stakeholder perceptions and engagement
• data are used in building a culture of self-evaluation and reflection across the school; and the school uses student achievement data to drive school-level decisions, interventions and initiatives.

Using data effectively in the classroom

Research clearly indicates the importance of ensuring that teachers’ decisions for planning of learning experiences are thoroughly informed by a range of student learning data.

In order to achieve exemplary practices like those outlined above, the NSW case studies indicate that effective student data management starts with schools and teaching staff being clear about the following issues:

• what the teachers need to understand about students
• what analysis they need to undertake to understand that
• what data they need to undertake the analysis
• what format they need for data to be presented in to be able to analyse it most easily
• what type of data management and reporting system they need to collate, store, analyse and report on the data effectively in the classroom, whole year and whole school level

Support for teachers’ effective use of data

Effective NSW schools in the National Partnership on Literacy and Numeracy managed these processes in different ways. A small number of schools provided teaching staff with a suite of tools to help them step through the process and encouraged teachers to use them as part of their regular professional teaching/learning team activities. Other schools scheduled regular data review meetings (eg. fortnightly/monthly) as part of their standard calendar of staff meetings, providing dedicated time for staff to focus on the processes, to review different aspects of their students’ performance data and to develop strategies to address specific learning gaps/needs over a series of weeks.

A limited number of schools also allocated a certain amount of student free time each semester to allow staff to participate in structured/facilitated data sharing and analysis activities (often timed to coincide with the annual curriculum planning cycle). In some schools, leaders played an active role in these data analysis sessions and used them to get a better understanding of how the student population was performing and to signal/reinforce the importance that the school placed on the effective use of data.

References

Erebus International (2012). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 1, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Erebus International (2013). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 2, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Masters, G. (2010) Teaching and Learning School Improvement Framework. Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

An explicit improvement agenda - in detail

A shared commitment

An effective process of school improvement is driven by an agreed and explicit whole school reform or improvement agenda, led effectively by the principal and executive team. Clearly stated whole school priorities provide the impetus and focus for members of the school community and provide an ongoing sense of satisfaction when objectives are achieved. Collaboration ensures that commitment and ownership are built with classroom teachers, parents and other members of the school community.

What does an explicit improvement agenda look like?

Research undertaken by Geoff Masters on behalf of the Australian Council for Educational Research (2010:2) suggests that the reform agenda is working well if the following factors are demonstrated:

• the principal and other school leaders have developed and are driving an explicit and detailed local school improvement agenda
• the agenda is couched in terms of specific improvements sought in student performances, is aligned with national or system-wide improvement priorities and includes clear targets with accompanying timelines which are rigorously actioned
• the school improvement agenda has been effective in focusing, and to some extent narrowing and sharpening, the whole school’s attention on core learning priorities
• there is a strong and optimistic commitment by all staff to the school improvement strategy and a clear belief that further improvement is possible
• teachers take responsibility for the changes in their practice required to achieve school targets and are using data on a regular basis to monitor the effectiveness of their own efforts to meet those targets.

It is imperative that key tangible measures and timings are identified by schools to demonstrate progress along the journey of school improvement. Not only does this provide the opportunity for celebration of milestones achieved but also provides the opportunity for ongoing monitoring of progress.

Effective leadership towards a renewed school culture

In effectively leading school improvement, the principal must be highly focused on the key features that are designed to enhance student learning outcomes. Deep understanding of the background and ability of students, their current and past levels of achievement and key local factors impacting on the school environment all go to informing a view of the culture of the school and how it is to be changed.

Zbar et al (2010) undertook extensive research in Victoria, identifying the importance of schools having strong leadership, accompanied by a clear vision for the school's future and direction and longer term leadership stability over time. This was described as “strong leadership that is shared”.

The successful Victorian schools were led by principals who were committed to making a difference with students, who are passionate about leadership, and who were willing to build and distribute leadership density throughout the whole school, in accordance with teachers’ leadership aspirations. Principals were highly focused on the development of leadership teams and supporting those teams to ensure that they focused their activities systematically with an agreed vision and shared view of the future.

Supporting the process of change through instructional leadership

Systematic change and long-term sustainable improvement requires the commitment and confidence of all classroom practitioners, who need the skills to confidently implement change. Classroom teachers and the broader school community need to fully understand that enhanced student learning outcomes can only be achieved with accompanying changes and improvements in classroom pedagogy.

Hattie suggests that “instructional leadership” has great power in terms of its effects on student learning outcomes (Hattie, 2009:83):

It is school leaders who promote challenging goals, and then establish safe environments for teachers to critique, question, and support the teachers to reach these goals together that have most effect on student outcomes. School leaders who focus on student achievement and instructional strategies are the most effective. It is the leaders who place more attention on teaching and focused achievement domains who have the higher effects.

Robinson (2007), quoted in Whalan (2012) highlights three key responsibilities in relation to “pedagogical leadership”. These include:

• participating and supporting quality teaching,
• establishing and communicating school goals for student learning
• internal program coherence for sustainable improvement.

Whalan (2012:176) makes the following important point about collective responsibility for student learning as a pivotal element for school reform:

A leader’s willingness to devolve their decision-making power, to give teachers greater control over their teaching and the organisation of their work, was also recognised in the case studies as a condition contributing to the development of teachers’ collective responsibility for student learning. Teachers were empowered when they were encouraged to take control over the results of their teaching and were able to make decisions about how resources were allocated towards such reforms.

References

Erebus International (2012). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 1, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Erebus International (2013). Evaluation of the take-up and sustainability of new literacy and numeracy practices in NSW schools – Final Report for Phase 2, undertaken on behalf of the NSW Minister for Education

Hattie, J.  (2009). Visible Learning: a synthesis of over 800 Meta- Analyses relating to Achievement. London: Routledge

Masters, G. (2010). Teaching and Learning School Improvement Framework. Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

Robinson, V. (2007). The Impact of Leadership on Student outcomes: Making Sense of the Evidence. Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

Whalan, F. (2012). Collective Responsibility: Redefining what falls between the cracks for school reform.  Amsterdam: Sense Publishers