1 SUPPORTING PEDAGOGICAL CHANGE IN NMR SCHOOLS PROJECT Briefing of NMR secondary schools 11 February, 2010 Jean Russell, Graeme Jane, Graham Marshall

Enhancing pedagogy: enhancing learning (See the Guide, Section A) 1.Focus of school improvement: improved student learning 2.Many influences on learning: most powerful is quality of teaching students experience 3.Focus of this project: enhancing pedagogy 4.Twin approaches: - whole-school level (LfLQs) - individual classroom level (FTLQ) Jean Russell, 11 February,

Jean Russell, 11 February, The Feedback on Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (FTLQ) (See the Guide, pp.4-7)  Research literature: aspects of teaching that have significant impact  Value of targeted feedback  The feedback: two sets of perceptions of the classroom  The questionnaire

The four domains of the FTLQ (See the Guide, p.6) Feedback on Teaching & Learning Domains Nature of Student Work Development Of Student Skills Classroom Culture Classroom Organisation Jean Russell, 11 February, The four domains of the FTLQ

Scales within the four domains: Examples (See the Guide p.6) Nature of Student Work  Value of Work scale  Challenge of Work scale  Work Interest scale  Work Activities scale Development of Student Skills  Information Skills scale  Higher Order Thinking Skills scale  Collaborative Skills scale  Metacognitive Learning Skills scale  Metacognitive Self-evaluative Skills scale  Decision-making Skills scale Jean Russell,11 February,

Items within a scale: Illustration The Feedback scale (See other examples in the Guide, pp.19-26)  Our teacher organise assessment of work so we get prompt feedback on what we’ve done.  Our teacher shows us where we could have detected errors in our work ourselves.  The teacher makes specific comments on our work that show us how to improve it.  Our teacher gives us individual feedback on whether we’re putting enough effort into our work.  The teacher gets us to explore one another’s answers to questions. Jean Russell,11 February,

Principles and conditions of use (See the Guide, p.7)  Teacher are to participate voluntarily.  Student feedback is confidential to the teacher, though sharing of information within a triad is assumed.  Individual student responses are confidential.  An individual class shouldn’t be involved in questionnaire completion for more than one teacher.  Evaluation by teachers of value of using the FTLQ Jean Russell, 11 February,

Jean Russell, 11 February, The process (See the Guide, Section B)  Choosing your classes  Preparing your classes for the questionnaire  Doing the questionnaire yourself  Following up with classes

Jean Russell, 11 February, Interpreting and using the results (See the Guide, Section C)  The results as presented in the automatic online reports  Interpreting the results  Selecting a focus: domain and scales  Professional Learning Plans and the mentoring triad  Evidence of progress: Term 2 and Term 3

The Leadership for Learning questionnaires in Secondary Schools Research Context: Leader and Teacher Surveys and what they mean 10

What underlies the Questionnaires?  the need for the leadership to focus on teaching and learning and connect everything the school does to this  the school leadership and leadership team have an impact on the quality of teaching in the school through the influence they have on teachers;  the quality of teaching has impact on the quality of student learning and its outcomes. SEE Guide to the Leadership for Learning Questionnaires Pp

Data – what do they tell us?  Leaders – what they think of the teaching and learning culture they are creating in the school and what they think of their own leadership practices  Teachers – what they think of the teaching and learning culture in the school and what they think of the leadership practices  We are able to compare Leader & Teacher perceptions (SEE Guide Pp 6-7) 12

Need to link these data to other data  Data in annual School Level Report  Other data on student achievement – e.g. literacy & numeracy  External feedback – e.g. Community  School Context (Socio–economic, demographics etc) 13

This is information you can use to  Help shape your school improvement strategies  Monitor progress and success of these improvement strategies 14

Two matching scales for leaders and teachers Scale – interconnected items covering a dimension Leaders – what leaders think of their  Efficacy and the school culture  Leadership improvement practices Teachers – what teachers think of  Their efficacy and the school culture  The improvement practices of the leadership (SEE Guide Pp 6-7) 15

Leaders - 1. Leadership Efficacy and Culture Scale Three groups of questions  Leader efficacy – how much they feel they can make a difference (influence) to teaching and learning  Teacher Learning Culture – what leaders think of the professional culture of the staff  Student Learning Culture – what leaders think of the values that underpin the school learning culture 16

Note: Leadership Perceptions of their own Efficacy  An Important starting point for school improvement strategies e.g. “As a member of the leadership team I take responsibility for enabling (influencing) staff to improve student learning”.(Q 3)  Importance of self confidence – the belief of leaders that they can make a difference (based on an understanding of how to) 17

Leadership views of the teacher and student learning culture  Questions are the same for leaders and teachers Teacher Learning Culture – what leaders think of the professional culture of the staff e.g. “This school motivates teachers to work hard” (Q 19) Student Learning Culture – what leaders think of the values that underpin the school learning culture e.g. “In this school teachers believe that all students can learn” (Q 10) 18

Leaders - 2. Leadership Improvement Practices Scale One group of questions  What leaders think of the practices they employ to influence teachers to improve teaching and learning e.g. “I communicate a clear vision for improved student learning to our staff” (Q 21) 19

Data: Teacher views on Leaders (Secondary) (SEE Guide Pp and Appendix 1) Leadership Scale Benchmark ScoresSchool Scores

Leadership and school improvement  Fundamental importance of leadership to any school improvement  Leaders’ approaches and perceptions always change before teachers’ approaches and perceptions  Improvement starts with the leadership – principal and other leaders 21

How to treat the data  Comparison between leader and teacher perceptions  Look for other patterns – school means compared with benchmarks  Note where benchmarks come from  Note importance of standard deviation – a measure of the diversity of views  Cross-reference with other school data (SEE Guide Pp and Appendix 1) 22