Teachers Matter:Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers

International analysis of the teaching professionPresentation by Paulo Santiago, Directorate for Education, OECD

Improving Quality in EducationOECD-Mexico Joint Conference

Mexico City, 8-12 December 2008

Outline of Presentation

1. Key features of the OECD Project Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers

2. The relevance and importance of teacher policy3. Making teaching an attractive career choice4. Developing teachers’ knowledge and skills

5. Recruiting, selecting and employing teachers6. Retaining effective teachers in schools7. Developing and implementing teacher policy

Session 2

Session 1

Part 1: Key features of the OECD project Attracting,

Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers

A collaborative, cross-national process to:

• Better understand the nature of the concerns

• Analyse the factors that shape the attraction, development and retention of effective teachers

• Identify policy options and the conditions under which they are successfully implemented

• Help countries to learn from each other

The OECD project’s contribution

Analytical approachThe Activity has drawn on country experience and

research to identify a range of policy directions in five main areas:

1. Making teaching an attractive career choice2. Developing teachers’ knowledge and skills3. Recruiting, selecting and employing teachers4. Retaining effective teachers in schools5. Developing and implementing teacher policy

OECD’s project “Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers”

25 participating countriesAustralia, Austria, Belgium (Flemish and French Comm.), Canada (Quebec), Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.

Methodology- Cross-Country Collaboration;- Country Background Reports;- National Co-ordinator;- National Advisory Committee;- Workshops and Seminars;- Country Visits (for some countries);- Country Notes (for countries visited);- Commissioned Papers;- Extensive Reviews of Literature;- Data Analyses.

Part 2: The relevance and importance of teacher policy

Three broad conclusions emerge from research on student learning

The Impact of Teachers and Teaching on Student Learning

1. Largest source of variation in student learning is attributable to differences in what students bring to school – their abilities and attitudes, and family and community background.

2. Of those variables which are potentially open to policy influence, factors to do with teachers and teaching are the most important influences on student learning.

Three broad conclusions emerge from research on student learning (continued)

The Impact of Teachers and Teaching on Student Learning (continued)

3. It is difficult to predict who is going to be a good teacher just by considering the more measurable characteristics of teachers (e.g. qualifications, teaching experience, and indicators of academic ability and subject-matter knowledge) .

There are many important aspects of teacher quality that are not captured by the more measurable characteristics, such as:

• Ability to convey ideas in clear and convincing ways;• To create effective learning environments for different types of students;• to foster productive teacher-student relationships;• to be enthusiastic and creative;• to work effectively with colleagues and parents.

The importance of teachers

Teachers are the most influential resource in schools – teachers vary widely in performance, and lifting teacher quality is the policy most likely to improve student performance.

Teaching is the largest single employer of graduate labour (2.6% of the total labour force in OECD countries) and constitute the most important component of expenditure on schools (64% of current expenditure on schools is allocated to teachers’ compensation, on average in OECD countries).

Many countries have concerns about the teacher workforce in terms of shortages of well-qualified applicants, and whether enough teachers have the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of modern schooling. The ageing of the profession is compounding such concerns.

Teachers’ Roles are changingTeachers are now expected to have much broader rolesAt the individual student level

• Initiating and managing learning processes;• Responding effectively to the learning needs of individual learners;• Integrating formative and summative assessment.

At the classroom level• Teaching in multicultural classrooms;• New cross-curricular emphases;• Integrating students with special needs.

Teachers’ Roles are changingTeachers are now expected to have much broader roles

(continued)

At the school level• Working and planning in teams;• Evaluation and systematic improvement planning;• ICT use in teaching and administration;• Projects between schools, and international cooperation;• Management and shared leadership.

At the level of parents and the wider community• Providing professional advice to parents;• Building community partnerships for learning.

Part 3: Making teaching an attractive career choice

Policy objectiveTeacher policy needs to ensure that motivated people with high-level knowledge and skills choose to become teachers.

Context-- Close connection with issues of retention-- Attractiveness to be seen relative to other occupations-- Focused on individuals who are currently not in the

profession-- Related to policies defining the number of teachers needed

Policy prioritiesImproving the image and status of teaching

General strategy must involve publicising that teachers are highly skilled professionals doing important work

Initiatives: Building stronger links between the schools and the community; General campaigns in the media.

Improving teaching’s salary competitivenessTarget larger salary rises:

Certain types of teachers (e.g. beginning teachers); Subjects in short-supply; Geographical areas of shortage.

Policy prioritiesImproving employment conditions

Competitiveness of teaching as a career choice can improve if flexible conditions of employment are providedInitiatives:

Providing opportunities for part-time teaching; Opportunities to gain experience outside schools; Job exchanges with industry.

Expanding the supply pool of potential teachersOpen the profession to individuals with relevant experience outside

education: Recognise the skills and experience gained outside education; Offer flexible opportunities for pedagogical preparation.

Expand mobility of teachers across educational levels and develop strategies to attract former teachers

Making reward mechanisms more flexibleThe incentive structure needs to be used in a more flexible manner

Examples of initiatives: Salary allowances for teaching in difficult areas; Transportation assistance for teachers in remote areas; Bonuses for teachers with skills in short supply; Non-monetary strategies.

Improving entrance conditions for new teachersInitiatives:

Well-structured and resourced programmes of induction; Selection processes that ensure the best candidates get the available jobs; Reduced working load.

Policy priorities

Rethinking the trade-off between the student-teacher ratio and average teacher salary

Further spending on schools can be used to either reduce student-teacher ratios or increase teachers’ average salaries.

Capitalising on an oversupply of teachers Opportunity to be more selective about those who are employed; Ensure that new skills and energy are not lost to the profession; Opportunity to improve working conditions; Ensure that the quality of teachers’ preparation is not undermined by the large number of candidates.

Policy priorities

Part 4: Developing teachers’ knowledge and skills

Policy objectiveTeacher policy needs to ensure that teacher education adequately prepares teachers for the demands of modern schooling, beginning teachers get the support they need and that practising teachers are provided with opportunities and incentives for on-going professional development throughout the career.

ContextTeachers need to be prepared for a much broader range of tasks at:

- student, - classroom,- school,- community and parent level.

Teaching needs to become a knowledge-rich profession

Initial teacher education to provide the foundations for ongoing learning, rather than producing ready-made professionals

Policy prioritiesTeacher development to be viewed as a continuum in

a lifelong learning perspective

Teaching needs to become a knowledge-rich profession in which individuals continually develop, and have the incentives and opportunities to do so, research is integrated into practice, and schools become professional learning communities that encourage and draw on teachers’ development

Developing teacher profilesClear and concise standards of what teachers are expected to know and be able to do

– reflect broad range of competencies.

– provide framework to guide and integrate initial teacher education, certification, induction and on-going professional development.

– should be evidence-based and reflect student learning objectives.

– should be built on active involvement by teaching profession.

Policy priorities

Initial teacher educationImprove selection into teacher education

• Information and counselling;• Assessment of candidates;• Early school experience;• Incentives for high potentials.

A flexible initial teacher education system• Concurrent and consecutive models offer distinctive benefits and

countries gain by offering both• Modular, common elements, part-time, distance education • Post-graduate degrees

Policy priorities

Initial teacher educationAlternate routes for mid-career changers

Most countries now offer alternative teacher education programmes for “side entrants”.

• Special programmes in “traditional” teacher ed. institutions• In context of adult education• Distance learning• School-based programmes

Strengthen partnerships between teacher education institutions and schools

• Overt and deliberate partnerships• Earlier and longer field experience• Broader field experience encompassing the full range of a teacher’s

professional tasks• More resources to support field experiences

Policy priorities

Initial teacher educationAccrediting teacher education programmes

• Means to ensure that diverse teacher education programmes meet the standards set by the teaching field at large

• Accreditation to focus more on the outcomes of teacher education programmes than on inputs, curriculum and processes

• Teacher profiles very useful mechanisms for clarifying expectations

Certifying new teachers• Certification requirements more likely to exist where the provision of

teacher education is diverse• Way to align teacher education programmes with school needs• Certification to be linked to successful completion of probationary period• Requirements to be more linked to output criteria

Policy priorities

Strengthening induction programmes Formalise induction programmes

Qualify mentor teachers

Provide sufficient resources for induction reduced teaching obligation for mentors and beginning teachers

Link successful completion of induction to certification

Policy priorities

Integrating professional development throughout the teaching career

Provide incentives for lifelong learning of all teachers– Entitle teachers to release time and/or financial support for

professional development

– Create incentives: e.g., link professional development to teacher appraisal and career advancement

– Link individual teacher development with school improvement needs

Policy priorities

• Broaden the range of different professional development opportunities, e.g.– peer review and action research– mutual school visits– teacher and school networks

• Provide more coherent framework for professional development, develop teachers’ learning communities – training, practice and feedback– follow-up rather than “one shot events”– teacher portfolios

Policy priorities

Improve the provision of professional development

• Open up market for professional development by encouraging a range of providers in response to school and teacher demand

• Evaluate impact of different approaches to professional development

• Inform schools and teachers about effective strategies and programmes

Policy priorities

Muchas Gracias por su atención

Part 5: Recruiting, selecting and employing teachers

Policy objectiveTeacher policy needs to ensure that the best available teachers are selected for employment, and that individual schools have the teachers they need.

Context-- Recruitment and selection mechanisms are critical in linking incentives to the overall quality of the teaching workforce;-- Teachers’ employment conditions need to be considered in light of public sector employment as a whole.

Using more flexible terms of employmentEmployment status based on the requirement that teachers renew their certificates after a period of time, such as every 5-7 years:Principles:

Teachers achieve employment security by continuing to do a good job, rather than by regulation; Periodic review provides the opportunity to recognise and acknowledge quality teaching; Basis for renewal could be as simple as an attestation that teachers are meeting the standards.

Pre-requisites: Ensuring an open, fair and transparent system of teacher evaluation undertaken by individuals properly trained; Ensuring that teachers have opportunities to improve their practice, thereby improving their ability to secure their posts; Creating fair but speedy mechanisms to address poor performance.

Policy priorities

Providing schools with more responsibility for teacher personnel development

Schools need to have more responsibility – and accountability – for teacher selection, working conditions, and development.

Pre-requisites: Developing school leaders’ skills in personnel management; Providing disadvantaged schools with greater resources; Improving information availability in the teacher labour market; Monitoring the outcomes of a more decentralised approach; Creating independent appeals procedures to ensure fairness and protect teachers’ rights.

Policy priorities

Broadening the criteria for teacher selectionThe selection criteria for new teachers need to be broadened to ensure that the applicants with the greatest potential are identified

Implications: Weight accorded to seniority to be reduced in some systems; Greater weight to be given to characteristics which are harder to measure – e.g. enthusiasm, commitment and sensitivity to student needs; For countries which rely on competitive examinations, there is the need for clear statements of what beginning teachers need to know and be able to do as effective practitioners.

Policy priorities

Making a probationary period mandatoryThe satisfactory completion of a probationary period of 1-2 years should be mandatory before full certificationPre-requisites :

Beginning teachers should be given every opportunity to work in a stable and well-supported school environment; The decision about certification should be taken by a panel which is well-trained and resourced for assessing new teachers.

Meeting short-term staffing needsEstablish mechanisms to make replacement teachers readily available and provide budget flexibility to employ them

Policy priorities

Encouraging greater teacher mobilityProvide incentives for and remove barriers to greater mobility of teachers within the school sector and from and to other sectors of activity

Improving information flows and the monitoring of the teacher labour market

Policy priorities

Part 6: Retaining effective teachers in schools

Policy objectiveTeacher policy needs to ensure that teachers work in an environment which facilitates success, and that effective teachers wish to continue in teaching.

Context Close connection with issues of attracting new teachers A low rate of teacher attrition does not indicate that all is well Should, or can, teaching be regarded as a lifetime career?

Evaluating and rewarding effective teaching

Pre-requisites: Teacher appraisal to occur within a framework provided by profession-wide agreed statements of standards of professional performance; Evaluators need to be trained and evaluated themselves; Evaluation frameworks and tools need to be provided.

There needs to be a stronger emphasis on teacher evaluation for improvement purposes

Opportunity for teachers’ work to be recognised and celebrated and help both teachers and schools to identify developmental needs

Policy priorities

Evaluating and rewarding effective teaching

Pre-requisites:Need to ensure that assessment measures reflect school objectives, and take account of the school and classroom contexts in which teachers are working.

Evaluation can provide a basis for rewarding teachers for exemplary performance.

Through speed at which teacher progresses in career; Using non-monetary rewards; Focussing on group rewards.

Policy priorities

Providing more opportunities for career variety and diversification

(i) The creation of positions associated with specific tasks and roles, which would lead to differentiation of a largely horizontal kind – involving release time rather than differentiated pay.

Dual Approach:

(ii) A competency-based teaching career ladder associated with extra responsibilities, which would lead to differentiation more vertical in nature.

Policy priorities

Improving leadership and school climate

Improve training, selection and evaluation processes for school principals;

Establish leadership teams in schools; School leaders to be trained and supported in conducting evaluations

and linking them to school planning.

A range of initiatives should be taken to strengthen leadership in schools:

Policy priorities

Improving working conditionsThere needs to be an explicit recognition of the wide variety of tasks that teaching actually entails

Well trained support and administrative staff can help to reduce the burden on teachers and free them to concentrate on the tasks of teaching and learning

Better facilities at school for staff preparation and planning would help in building collegiality and in programme provision

Policy priorities

Providing more flexible working hours and conditions

Create programmes that enable teachers to work part-time, take more leave opportunities, and reduce their working hours

School-systems should be more pro-active in ensuring that schools provide attractive working environments for older teachers

Professional development activities to meet the needs of older teachers; Reduced working hours; New tasks and roles in school.

Policy priorities

Part 7: Developing and implementing teacher policy

Essential to successful policy implementation to engage all stakeholders in the process. Teachers need a sense of “ownership” of reform

The teaching profession must adapt a great deal so that it can act in a constructive manner within a fast-changing society if it is to retain the confidence of society

On-going systematic dialogue and consultation are fundamental for the process of policy implementation

Priorities for implementation

Teachers should be more active in policy development, and take the lead in defining professional standards e.g. through Teaching Councils

The research and data base informing teacher policy is fragmented, and needs to be strengthened at national and international levels

More extensive monitoring and evaluation of innovation and reform is beneficial. There is a need for pilot studies before widespread implementation

Priorities for implementation

Muchas Gracias por su atención

For further information and other documentation:www.oecd.org/edu/teacherpolicy

paulo.santiago@oecd.org