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52 stories
Week 33: School improvement
ACER is helping to ensure that every school is well resourced and passionately committed to improving outcomes for all learners.
In 2008 ACER Chief Executive Geoff Masters was commissioned by the Queensland Department of Education and Training to review primary school education in Queensland.
One result of that work was the development of the Teaching and Learning School Improvement Framework, an evidence-based tool that enables schools and school systems to take detailed and objective measurements of school practices in areas shown by international research to have a direct impact on teaching and learning outcomes.
The framework was used as the basis for an audit of every government school in Queensland in 2010. It underpins further research, consulting and review work undertaken by Geoff, Gabrielle Matters, Principal Research Fellow in the Assessment and Psychometric Research Division, and Siek Toon Khoo, Research Director of the Psychometrics and Methodology program. It also underpins school improvement work with schools and school systems across the nation by Tony McGruther, Manager of Leadership Projects at ACER.
As Tony explains, ‘Many schools have undertaken some kind of self review and strategic planning, but through our use of the framework, ACER is able to systematise the process and introduce a common, shared language for school improvement across schools.
‘The framework provides school leaders with common ways of thinking about the interconnections between the eight domains that identify the various aspects of a school’s day-to-day practices.
‘It’s the interconnection between those domains – an explicit improvement agenda; the school-wide analysis and discussion of systematically collected data on student outcomes; the culture of a school; the targeted use of school resources; the ways a school builds a professional team of highly able teachers and leaders; a school’s curriculum delivery; its approach to differentiated learning; and its support of effective teaching practices – that assists schools to develop a very accurate understanding of where they’re at, and the next steps they should take.’
School improvement, Tony notes, is a continuous process, not a one-off exercise. ‘While an audit might take two auditors six days, the outcome in essence is a snapshot that provides the school leadership team with evidence so they can look objectively at their school, and then plan a course of action that can be audited down the track.
‘Effective teaching involves differentiating the approach to suit the particular needs and contexts of students. Effective school improvement is very similar,’ Tony explains. ‘It depends on working closely with a school to obtain good evidence, recognising that each school is at a particular stage of development, has particular strengths and weaknesses, and may require different support to meet its particular needs.’
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Week 52: State of the art psychometric and statistical analysis
Week 51: Assessing civics and citizenship
Week 50: International research into teaching and learning
GOAL 1
Learners and their needs
every learner engaged in challenging learning opportunities appropriate to their readiness and needs
GOAL 2
The Learning Profession
every learning professional highly skilled, knowledgeable and engaged in excellent practice
GOAL 3
Places of learning
every learning community well resourced and passionately committed to improving outcomes for all learners
GOAL 4
A Learning Society
a society in which every learner experiences success and has an opportunity to achieve their potential
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Pursuing Quality and Equity through Evidence
The work of Australian Council for Educational Research
© 2013 Australian Council for Educational Research
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