Lorna Earl

State of the art – teacher effectiveness and professional learning

One of the key findings from decades of educational effectiveness research is the importance of the classroom level as a predictor of pupil outcomes. In this review, we therefore look at synthesising our best evidence from research on effective teaching, and its corollary, teacher development. In the 1st section, we will look at key findings from 35 years of research on effective teaching using a process-product research that has led to the identification of a range of behaviours which are positively related to student achievement. A key limitation of this research, however, is its focus on basic skills in English and maths. Therefore, in the 2nd section we review research on “new learning” and teaching for metacognitive and thinking skills. While in these 2 sections we have discussed key findings from research on teaching, including emerging knowledge on metacognition, it is important to continue to take into account ongoing developments in theories of learning. In the 3rd section of this paper, we develop the argument that a major contributing factor to this situation is that “state-of-the-art” understandings about processes and conditions that promote student learning are typically not used to construct appropriate learning environments for their teachers.

Professional learning conversations : challenges in using evidence for improvement

Acknowledgements and Contributing Authors,- Acknowledgements,- Contributing Authors,- Chapter 1: Understanding How Evidence and Learning Conversations Work,- Chapter 2: Raising Student Achievement in Poor Communities Through Evidence-Based Conversations,- Chapter 3: Structuring Talk about Teaching and Learning: The Use of Evidence in Protocol-Based Conversation,- Chapter 4: Leadership for Evidence-Informed Conversations,- Chapter 5: A Cross Grade Learner Conversation,- Chapter 6: Evidence Informed Conversations Making a Difference to Student Achievement,- Chapter 7: Honey, Wooden Spoons and Clay Pots: The Evolution of a Lithuanian Learning Conversation,- Chapter 8: Learning to Think and Talk from Evidence: Developing System-Wide Capacity for Learning Conversations,- Chapter 9: Learning Conversations Stillborn: Distrust and Education Policy Dialogue in South Africa,- Chapter 10: Using Conversations to Make Sense of Evidence: Possibilities and Pitfalls.- References,- Index.

International Trends in the Implementation of Assessment for Learning: Implications for Policy and Practice.

This paper discusses the emergence of assessment for learning (AfL) across the globe with particular attention given to Western educational jurisdictions. Authors from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, and the USA explain the genesis of AfL, its evolution and impact on school systems, and discuss current trends in policy directions for AfL within their respective countries. The authors also discuss the implications of these various shifts and the ongoing tensions that exist between AfL and summative forms of assessment within national policy initiatives.

Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions of Conceptual Orientations in Their Preservice Program

Using interviews, focus groups, and observations, we examined teacher candidates’ understanding of the conceptual orientations that defined their preservice program and practicum experience. Using Feiman-Nemser’s (1990) framework, we analyzed our data to determine the dominant perspectives of teacher candidates. Results indicated congruence between the orientations (i.e., critical/social and personal) of their preservice program and teacher candidates’ conceptions of their professional development. The results also suggested that conceptual orientations may not all be equally used in practice. Teacher candidates reported that the critical/social orientation was often not supported by their associate teachers and was particularly difficult to implement in math and science subject areas. Data also suggested that the implementation of the personal orientation depended on a prolonged experience within schools, which teacher candidates reported they were lacking. Keywords: preservice teacher education, conceptual orientation, field-based teacher education, constructivist teaching, practicum A l’aide d’entrevues, de discussions en groupe et d’observations, les auteurs ont cherche a cerner la comprehension qu’ont les futurs enseignants des orientations conceptuelles qui definissent leur programme de formation et leurs stages. Analysant les donnees recueillies a l’aide du cadre de Feiman-Nemser (1990), ils ont mis en lumiere les principaux points du vue des candidats a l’enseignement. Les resultats indiquent une congruence entre les orientations (critique/sociale et personnelle) du programme de formation a l’enseignement et les idees que se font les candidats a l’enseignement au sujet de leur perfectionnement professionnel. Les resultats donnent egalement a penser que les orientations conceptuelles ne sont peut-etre pas toutes utilisees de maniere egale dans la pratique. Les candidats a l’enseignement ont signale que l’orientation critique/sociale ne recoit pas souvent l’appui des enseignants associes et etait particulierement difficile a mettre en œuvre en mathematiques et en sciences. Les donnees recueillies semblent egalement indiquer que le recours a l’orientation personnelle suppose une experience prolongee dans les ecoles, ce qui fait defaut, comme l’ont fait remarquer les candidats a l’enseignement. Mots cles : formation a l’enseignement, orientation conceptuelle, formation a l’enseignement sur le terrain, enseignement constructiviste, stage

Challenging Conceptions of Assessment

Assessment for learning is not a tool; it is a shift in thinking about what matters in schools. It involves conceptual change on the part of teachers and leaders as they rethink what assessment is for and how to do it. This chapter focuses on how establishing the conditions for powerful interactions among professionals in assessment communities reveal their beliefs about assessment and open them to challenge and change.

Using Conversations to Make Sense of Evidence: Possibilities and Pitfalls

The education systems that form the context for the chapters in this book are all awash with increasing amounts of data. Much of the data are collected at national and statewide levels. Other data are collected in and about schools, teachers and students. The stated purposes for all this activity are typically couched in some kind of rhetoric about improving our education systems. Some advocates for an increased use of data as evidence for educational decision-making have treated the relationship between collecting data and using it as evidence for improvement purposes as relatively unproblematic. Becoming more evidence-based is simply a matter of updating our outdated systems. Robert Slavin, for example, described in an address at the American Education Research Association meeting in 2002:

Towards Data-Informed Decisions: From Ministry Policy to School Practice

This chapter describes how the province of Ontario, Canada structured a large-scale initiative to ensure that all schools in the province had access to high-quality data and to develop a culture of inquiry, in which there is widespread capacity to work with data and where using data becomes a routine part of the operation of the educational system at all levels. This initiative—the Managing Information for Student Achievement/Professional Network Centres (MISA/PNC) was created to support development in school districts to establish data systems and build capacity for using data. This chapter traces the influence of this policy initiative from ministry policy through its implementation at one regional MISA/PNC and into one of the school districts in the PNC to exemplify its influence at the district and school level. The results of this study show, for example, that policy can have a large influence on data use in schools if it combines pressure with support. In Ontario districts and schools have to provide the Ministry of Education with different data through their data systems (e.g., pressure). The Ministry provides districts and schools with professional development opportunities (e.g., support).

Thoughts on School Leadership Policy, Practice, and Future Inquiry

It has been fascinating to consider standards, accountability, assessment, and leadership in education through the lenses of a broad and diverse selection of countries. It is not our intention to summarize each standards-based reform model that was previously discussed. Rather the ensuing discussion merely highlights some of the notable trends and provides the reader with a sense of the many faces of standards-based reform, accountability, and student assessment, and draws out some implications for learning for school leaders. This chapter concludes with suggestions for future inquiry.

A Response from Canada to TLRP's Ten Principles for Effective Pedagogy.

The TLRP has provided a wealth of information that can form the foundation of conversations and debate for researchers, policy-makers and practitioners. This paper focuses on two of the issues raised by James and Pollard: (1) the methodology that they used to analyse and synthesise the learning from massive amounts of data into a coherent and defensible set of interpretations, in order to address large and important questions about pedagogy and learning and to share their learning broadly; and (2) the difficult issue of ‘Getting to the “spirit” of Assessment for Learning’.