Higher Education Summit, Auckland 10 th March 2011 Peter Coolbear Educational leadership in today’s higher education sector

What’s my perspective? March 2011 From an agency charged with improving teaching and learning What do we see? The brilliant co-existing with the indifferent Great ideas gaining traction: great ideas never getting off the runway Variability in organisational performance Decisions made on assertion and anecdote Practice inertia (unquestioning continuation of historical practices) Misalignment of resources with learner needs

Plan of this presentation The changing policy context for tertiary teaching and learning How should we think about educational leadership in this changed context – what are the dimensions of educational leadership? Proposition: We need to move to a more evidence-based, model of educational leadership at all levels within tertiary organisations March 2011

Levels of Educational Leadership March 2011 At individual practitioner level Middle management Senior management Governance System

The context: an ambitious “value for money” reform package around educational performance There’s a new game in town! It’s no longer about inputs and systems …. It’s about outcomes and many of the outcomes could be better

The context: an ambitious “value for money” reform package Publication of Educational Performance Indicators New quality enhancement processes based on self- assessment and external evaluation and review Targeted review of qualifications pre-degree and a new model for the tertiary qualifications framework Specific governance expectations Capped funding

Underlying drivers for these reforms Massification of Tertiary Education - massive increase in expenditure Tertiary education as an investment: what’s the RoI: –for the individual? –for the nation? Perceptions of waste and duplication of effort Perceptions that resources spread too thinly for effective spend Accountability issues International comparisons Deadweight costs Lack of trust? Expectations of new technologies

Student success 7 year completion rates of NZ students enrolling in 2003 Level of studyNZ European MāoriNZ PacificNZ Asian Diploma L Bachelors L Masters L Source: MOE census data for 7 year completion rates all domestic students, all f/t + p/t (September 2010)

Variability in provider performance MeasureITPPEPUniversityWānanga Qualification completion rates (all levels) 34-65%*0-100%63-77%*37-63% Course completions (all levels) 50-78%21-100%77-87%42-80% Source: TEC Educational Performance Indicators for 2009 (September 2010) * Range excludes significant distance providers

The skills of Educational Leadership March 2011 Professionalism Evidence-based decision making Ability to share vision and values across the organisation Bravery In the end, it’s about people

The functional dimensions of Educational Performance: Public data External Reputation Self - evaluation March 2011 Educational leadership needs to address all three:

Public data March 2011 TEC EPIs Value-add measures Participation rates Level of academic challenge Employability

External Reputation March 2011 Community perceptions and positioning Employer endorsement of graduate outcomes National recognition of educational excellence / initiative / innovation Peer reviewed research Consultancy / outreach

Self- evaluation March 2011 Evaluative questioning Evidence gathering Evidence collation and interpretation Benchmarking Acting on the evidence

Ako Aotearoa undertaking work with ACER and New Zealand Universities and ITPs Universities: data interpretation 10 polytechnics – NZ report due March March 2011

Average student engagement scale scores by qualification type in ITPs March 2011

Targeting and prioritising from evidence about what works and what doesn’t work What are the best value for money interventions to improve learner outcomes? What can we stop doing without much impact on learner outcomes? What should we be doing to further build our reputation / key partnerships / establish points of difference? What evidence should we collect to support the stories we tell?

How do we grow Educational Leadership in our organisations? March 2011 A learning organisation grows leaders Is managerial numeracy a problem? A professional association for tertiary educational leadership? How do we improve the attractiveness of middle management positions in educational organisations?

Where does Ako Aotearoa fit in? Support development of practice Leadership in evidence-based change Strengthen the research base on which tertiary education practice and policy develops in the future Identify and share good practice Raise professional expectations of tertiary teachers and organisations

March 2011