Quality in schools: a case to develop school based policies and approaches PISA team Department of Education – Ghent University – Belgium Beijing – July 24-25,

Structure Context Quality and school autonomy School level quality assurance System level quality assurance Research Example: pupil language background School performance feedback system Discussion

Context Belgium: inhabitants 3 regions ~language (Dutch, French, German) Each region its own educational administration! –Flanders 5.5 million inhabitants

Data for Flanders !!!

Context: structure of education

Context Compulsory education for all children from 5 to 18 Freedom of Education Education is costless Choice: everybody can organize education IF they respect “standards” (government, city, province, schurch, private organisations, …) Equal opportunities in education

Context ~ Quality Assurance Financial support for education Final attainment goals: guiding principle School autonomy Participation of parents and external partners More info:

Context ~school autonomy National Government City/province School Teacher

Context ~ school autonomy Government –Defines “final goals of education” –Defines basic organisational criteria (e.g., minimum two evaluations/year, …) Government does NOT define curricula, learning materials, teaching approach, evaluation approach, examinations, number of hours/subjects,

Context ~ school autonomy Consequences –Schools can be very different –Schools can make choices in view of context, type of learners, geographical issues, philosophy, organisation, … –Parents can make a choice for a “specific” school

School autonomy Example of differences Ghent City schools Large % of migrant population

School autonomy: example

Ni hao

Reflecting and talking about different characteristics of all families Diversity in staff School autonomy: example

School level quality assurance Each 7 years complete review of school Schooldoorlichting “X-ray of the school” Objective: prove that you have the adequate orgabnisation to attain the final objectives

School level quality assurance What is quality of a school? Quality ≠ test scores of pupils –Example: compare school X in a poor area with large unemployment and school Y in a rich urban area. Can we say that – based on exam results that Y > X? Schools can differ in output! Key question is “added value”.

School level quality assurance X-ray of school: CIPO-Model ContextInputProcesOutput

School level quality assurance School prepares a “self study report” and centres on CIPO –School variabels, tacher variables, student variables, context variables School “visitation” by team of educational experts (formerly inspection team) Contex t InputProcesOutput

School level quality assurance Visitation Discussions with all actors Documentation: agenda, instructional materials, infrastructure, tests/assessment, instructional approaches, administration, strategic plans, profesisonal development, team, Three days Contex t InputProcesOutput

School level quality assurance Result: –Positive report –Positive with minor remarks (6-12 months time) –Negative (2%/year) No more subsidizing; closing of school or merging with other school Results are PUBLIC!! Contex t InputProcesOutput

System level quality assurance National level (peilingsproeven) –Specific test (math, language, French, …) –Sample of Flemish schools –Conclusions ate curriculum level: final attainment goals International level –PISA –PIAAC

Research: school autonomy focus Marzano, Pickering & Pollock: What works at school? 35 years meta-analysis of research Factors at –school level –teachers’ level –pupils’ level

Quality ≠ attention to be paid to one or a set of factors! Quality = school factors X teacher factors X pupil factors Decisions about factors should be interlinked! Need for a policy at school level! School quality

Performance and development of the pupil Home situation Background knowledge Motivation Feasible program Challenging objectives and effective feedback Involvement parents and society Safe, orderly environment Collegial and professional culture Directing and redesigning programs Pedagogical actions and didactic approach Class management

School quality After controlling for differences in pupils, the impact of factors at teacher level is decisive: 67% of differences in pupils is due to differences in teacher variables!!

Example: language differences Example of differences Ghent City schools Large % of migrant population

Example: language differences Flemish cities ~large concentration of migrant children (Turkish/Moroccan) Hard to find a solution for the low school results of this group of children –More drop-out –More school failure –More restarting in same grade –Overrepresented in professional SE

Example: language differences ‘Dutch only’policy in language of instruction Problem: mother tongue of % children ≠ Dutch –Mother tongue critical to develop cognitive schema –Develop basic knowledge in mother tongue and transfer to second language (Cummins).

Example: language differences City of Ghent: experiment in primary education ~formal place to mother tongue of migrant children. Project “Development of academic competences through the development of the mother tongue”

Example: language differences Objectives project: –Development positive attitude towards languages –Well-being of all children –Enhance language skills in general of all children Target group –Kindergarten –Grade 1 and 2 of primary school

A multilingual supervisor supports the home language of the children and translates to the teacher.

Stimulating the development of Dutch vocabulary through the use of the mother tongue

Ex. Turkish translations of books to take home

Reading aloud in the home languages

Example: language differences Preparation year: Start project: Duration of the project:

School performance feedback project Tests are available; e.g., math, language, sciences, … Norms are available that link performance to school, pupil variables Schools can compare performance with “comparable” schools

School performance feedback project Tests Background info pupils, teacher, school Typical test results 1.Teacher selects test items 2.Teacher administers test 3.Teacher enters school, class, pupil information 1.Teacher enters pupils responses 2.Teacher gets results 3.Teacher gets info abbout added value

Quality in schools: a case to develop school based policies and approaches PISA team Department of Education – Ghent University – Belgium Beijing – July 24-25,