Leading, Coaching & School ImprovementVLNS National Partnerships Schools Forum

March 2011

Chris Wardlaw, Deputy Secretary Office for Policy, Research and Innovation

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Two Views on Education

“What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul.”

- Joseph Addison

“I had a terrible education. I attended a school for emotionally disturbed teachers.”

- Woody Allen

School leaders will need to consider…

• Knowledge dimension

• High reliability dimension

• High performance dimension

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The knowledge dimension…

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The World has Changed !

The new global environment

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The game has changed!

“Like never before, you have to be able to hit the target.”- Simon Dalrymple, Western Bulldogs recruiting manager

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Changing Views of KnowledgeChanging Views of Knowledge

Sources of Knowledge Education institution Everywhere

Understanding of Knowledge Static Dynamic

(connected classroom) (foundation knowledge, learning to learn, generic skills)

Structure of KnowledgeCompartmental Holistic

(subjects & cross-curricular studies/enquiry projects)

Nature of KnowledgeAuthority Personal and contextual

(teachers & students learning together)

10 year national agenda

Goal 1:

Australian schooling promotes

equity and excellence

Goal 2:

All young Australians become:

- Successful learners

- Confident and creative individuals

- Active and informed citizens.

Melbourne Declaration 2008

Australian Curriculum

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What is curriculum?The core curriculum, comprising those general capabilities that all people need, use and develop through their life and the big issues of the day that all need to know about

The formal curriculum, based on disciplinary rules understandings and methods

The chosen curriculum that individuals students and teachers create through the choices they make

The meta-curriculum comprising those activities, events and traditions that all good schools arrange to promote personal development, character and a community of learners

The Australian Curriculum defines for all students the core and the formal curriculum, but leaves to schools, teachers, parents and students critical decisions about the chosen and meta curriculum

Cross curriculum priorities

Generic Capabilities

Domain Expertise

7 Generic CapabilitiesLiteracy NumeracyICT competence Critical & Creative ThinkingEthical behaviour Personal & Social CompetenceIntercultural Understanding

8 Key Learning AreasEnglishMathematicsScience Humanities and social sciences The Arts Languages Health and physical educationTechnologies, specifically design and technology

3 Cross Curriculum PrioritiesOne national/indigenousOne regional/AsiaOne global/sustainability

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Divergence or Convergence …

‘the fiercest debates in education circles are generally over the falsest of dichotomies …..’

Professor Michael Barber

“grammar” vs “whole language”

“narrative history” vs “thematic history”

“back to basics” vs “real mathematics”

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Learning reform:aligning curriculum, pedagogy and assessment

Pedagogy Assessment

what is worth learning

knowing what students have learned

how students learn & teachers

teach

Curriculum

Alignment for Alignment for student student learninglearning

DEECD outcomes

Early childhood Schools Youth

transitions

Best start

in life

Quality earlychildhoodeducation &care

Transition to school

Engagement in learning

Student Achievement& improvement

Successful

transitions

AEDI Measures 5 year old Children’s development in ‘Developmental domains’

1. Physical health and well being

2. Social competence

3. Emotional maturity

4. Language and cognitive skills

5. Communication and general knowledge

• 61,187 children in Victoria (94% of the 5 year-old population), national coverage was 261,203 children (97.5%)

• Victoria faired well nationally, but 1 in 5 children who are entering school do not have the basic skills in place to develop and learn and achieve success at school

Proportion of children developmentally vulnerable by each AEDI domain, 2009

Percentage of children developmentally vulnerable on the Language and Cognitive Skills AEDI subdomains

Transition Learning and Development Statement

• 90% of early childhood educators reported completing a Statement.

• 91% of families reported receiving a Statement.

• 98% of families that received a Statement agreed to forward it to the school.

• 85% of families reported completing Part 1: the family information of the Statement.

Transition Learning and Development Statement cont…

• 77% of Prep teachers reported having a better knowledge of the children starting school.

• 58% of Prep teachers reported having a better knowledge of children with additional needs.

• 46% of Prep teachers found information in the Statements useful for curriculum planning:– How Prep teachers are using the content of the Statements to

inform curriculum planning is a critical part of the next phase of work around the initiative.

2009 -2010 English Online Interview Data

VELS

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3

2

1

Mean VELS expectation

Mean EOL VELS Level

Start Prep Level 0.5 0.4

End Prep Level 1 1.0

End Year 1 Level 1.5 1.7

End Year 2 Level 2 2.3

•Average scores were at or slightly above the expected VELS Level for each year•Achievement distributed across at least 3 VELS Levels from end Prep to year 2•Substantial overlap in achievement between year levels•Most growth from start to end of prep

The high reliability dimension…

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Where do we stand?

In the dark all education systems, all schools, all classrooms look similar….

But with some good data …. Important differences become apparent

The future is here, it is just unevenly distributed

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Reading Score

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

SES -2.5 -2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

PISA 2000

Baseline Performance

What improvement/gaps are we targeting?

PISA

… the ‘intended curriculum’ and

… the ‘implemented curriculum’

… conscious, explicit, relentless focus on the task(s)

… implementation planning

… operationalising high expectations.

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Closing the gap between …

Operationalising high expectations?

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Primary International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006 (Primary 4)

2nd (14th in 2001)

Note: 26% operating at L1 literacy levels in English8% in 2001

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2010 NAPLAN Yr 9 Writing Score Distribution

Students with a mark of 89 failed to answer a single question correctly. They are mostly males who were over the national minimum writing standard in 2008. These grades can be attributed to a lack of motivation rather than lack of ability.

12.1% below the national minimum numeracy standard

23% at or below the national minimum writing standard

Literacy and Numeracy 6-18 Month Strategy

(Primary and Secondary)• Assessment schedule for students Prep to Year 10

• Advice on data analysis at a school, year, cohort and individual level.  

• Multi-faceted approach to developing and maintaining a whole school focus on literacy and numeracy, including the student intervention, professional learning and partnerships with families.

• Six-term strategy published at the beginning of 2010

Key Characteristics of Effective Literacy and Numeracy Teaching P- 6 and 7-10:Differentiating support for all students

Purpose: • Articulate effective practice in literacy and numeracy teaching that supports

differentiation within the classroom• Build knowledge and capacity in literacy and numeracy teaching and learning with a

focus on student improvement• Establish a common, shared language to describe effective practice in literacy and

numeracy teaching

The Key Characteristics of Effective Literacy and Numeracy Teaching documents quality differentiated classroom teaching for all students. The resource is organised into four headings:

Teacher knowledge

Literacy/Numeracy Focus

Assessment

Planning and Instruction

Contemplating research…….

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Research into how people learn

Three principles which, when incorporated into teaching, result in the improvement of student achievement…..

Bransford, Brown and Cocking (2000) How people learn: brain, mind, experience and school. National Academy Press. Http://books.nap.edu/books

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Learning is enhanced when teachers identify and work from learners’ current knowledge and beliefs

Learning is most effective when it results in well-organised knowledge and deep understanding of concepts and their applicability

Learning is enhanced by the ability to monitor one’s own learning

A Task:

What evidence would you need to convince yourselves that your school is enacting these three principles?

The high performance dimension…

Rigorous benchmarking

Top 2 levels (5 & 6) in maths proficiency PISA 2009

Top 2 levels (5&6) in reading proficiency PISA 2009

Aspirational or minimum standards?

• 85% HK P3 students meet minimum standards in mathematics;

• 96% in Australia (NAPLAN)

• ?

Civic Knowledge

International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2009

Selected jurisdictions

John Hattie suggests

…it is what teachers get the students to do in the class that emerged as the strongest component of the accomplished teachers’ repertoire, rather than what the teacher, specifically, does.”

(Visible Learning, 2009 pp. 34-35)

Teachers make a difference

Professor John Hattie

Meta research and evaluation……

0.4 is the average size effect of various influences on learning

Professor John Hattie

A further task:Think about assessments undertaken in your school.

Do they reflect Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Assessment as feedback

• Sharing learning intentions• Sharing success criteria• Using effective teacher feedback• Using peers to provide feedback to each other• Questioning strategically• Encouraging student self-assessment• Making formative use of summative assessment

We can learn from other education systems (schools) even though the contexts differ.

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Maths unplugged. Young colleagues compare notes (front row) in an abacus and mental arithmetic contest in Huaibei in eastern Anhui province, on Sunday. The contest for the northern part of the province attracted more than 200 participants aged between 4 and 8 years old. Photo: Xinhua

South China Morning Post Friday May 22, 2007

The Chinese motherHere are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:• attend a sleepover• have a playdate• be in a school play• complain about not being in a school play• watch TV or play computer games• choose their own extracurricular activities• get any grade less than an A• not be the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama• play any instrument other than the piano or violin• not play the piano or violin.

“There’s no imaginative play anymore, no pretend.”

The learning debate

Tiger mum – the parenting debate

Questions•Benefits of rote learning•Frequent practice•Intensive testing •Acceptance of mediocre grades•Grasping as much knowledge as possible•Encouraging individuality•Thinking critically •Asking questions•Using knowledge in real life.

“Chinese parents and teachers are increasingly aware of the need to encourage children’s individuality, while more educators in the United States are seeking to understand why U.S. children are left in the dust in global testing.”

Zhang Yiwu, Director of Cultural Research Center of Peking University

So…

Student Attitudinal FactorsConfidence in mathematics (Grade 8) (TIMSS)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

% of Students confident in Math

InternationalHong KongJapan

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…values

Mathematics, science and perseverance• TIMMSS• Besides the maths and science tests, students fill out a

survey….a long survey (120 Qs). Many students leave many questions blank

• Comparing the ranking on the tests with ranking of the average questions completed…..the rankings are the SAME ( not related!)

• Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and JapanOutliers: The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell

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Our young people will have….

• a deep understanding of what it means to be a Hongkonger and a citizen of China and of the world.

• a sense of responsibility for all in society, regardless of their background, gender, race, social or geographical group.

• perseverance and a willingness to take risks (never being defeated by failure).

• an acceptance that the answers may not be totally clear at first, and that understanding can be built.

• a willingness to collaborate and share, to listen to others’ points of view and to communicate their own viewpoint.

Perseverance

Higher performance through coaching

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“I don’t think about losing…

I don’t think about winning either.

I think about what I have to do.”

Cathy Freeman

Olympic Champion 400m 2000

World Champion 400m 1997, 1999

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Classrooms

“When locked out of the (class)room, do not peek through the keyhole. Either breakdown the door, or go away.”

- Dag Hammarskojld

“The problem with every reform in education is that they have all stopped at the classroom door.”

- Dean Ashenden

E5 Instructional Model

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Engage Explore Explain Elaborate Evaluate

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Multiple strategies for professional development

• Demonstration/master teaching (Chinese)

• Lesson study (Japanese)

• Collaborative school based model (Western)

• Professional knowledge and pedagogy upgrading

• Specialist teaching in primary mathematics and languages

• Professional education community

• Teacher education providers key partners

• Heavy resource commitment emphasising on-site support

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School Support Research – Teachers and Change

Condition % Take Up

Presentation of TheoryPresentation of Theory

Modelling and DemonstrationModelling and Demonstration

Practice and FeedbackPractice and Feedback

Onsite/Ongoing Coaching and Onsite/Ongoing Coaching and ReflectionReflection

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10-1510-15

30-3530-35

80-8580-85

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

Lau Tzu

The sustained literacy and numeracy improvement we are seeking will dependon the strength of…

• The ideas

• The organisational and infrastructure arrangements, resources, and professional capacity

• The information (communication, consultation, evidence, feedback)

ManagingExpectations

Managing Relationships

Develop Capacity(Attention to detail)

Macro Policy and Planning

(Focus on what matters most)

Leading Change for

Improvement