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How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better and the implications for England
Sir Michael Barber London Centre for Leadership in Learning Institute of Education, 22 March 2011
The Opportunity
“There come rare moments, hard to distinguish, but fatal to let slip, when all must be set upon a hazard� (G M Trevelyan 1909)
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Systems at all performance levels can improve substantially in as short as 6 years
2000 2006
PISA scores, average1, 2000–06
+75% SYE2
412
440
+65% SYE2
460
Chile Initial performance
Poor
485
Latvia Fair
+75% SYE2
497
525
Saxony Good
+25% SYE2 533
542
Hong Kong Great
1 Average Across math, science and reading PISA scores 2 One school-year-equivalent (SYE) corresponds to 38 points on the PISA scale SOURCE: PISA; McKinsey & Co interventions database
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The strategy needs to change as a system improves
Journey
Theme
Poor to fair
Achieving the basics of literacy and numeracy
Fair to good
Good to great
Great to excellent
Getting the foundations in place
Shaping the professional
Improving through peers and innovation
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Poor to fair journeys focus on achieving basic literacy and numeracy Theme
Intervention types
Providing scaffolding and motivation for low skill teachers and principals
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Scripted lessons Instructional time on task Coaching on curriculum School visits by centre Incentives for high performance
Getting all schools to minimum quality standard
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Targets, data, and assessments Infrastructure Textbooks and learning resources Supporting low performing schools
Getting students in seats
▪ ▪
Expand seats Fulfil students’ basic needs
Systems included Chile (2001–05) Madhya Pradesh (2006+)
Minas Gerais (2003+) Western Cape (2003+)
Ghana (2003+)
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Following implementation of the literacy reform in 2006, Minas Gerais improved literacy levels and rose to the top of Brazil’s national assessment Percentage of 8 year olds reading at recommended level
Percentage of 8 year olds reading at poor levels1
86
+76%
73
49 31
-81%
14 6
2006
2008
2010
2006
2008
2010
From 2007 to 2009, Minas Gerais also rose from 5th place to 1st place among Brazilian states on Brazil’s national (IDEB) assessments 1 Poor performance level is defined by assessment as students are only able to read words SOURCE: Brazil PROALFA reading assessment
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Taking a system from good to great requires reshaping the teaching profession
Theme
Intervention types
Raising calibre of entering teachers and principals
▪ ▪
Recruiting Preparation and induction
Raising calibre of existing teachers and principals
▪ ▪ ▪
Professional development Coaching on practice Career pathways
▪ ▪
Self-evaluation Curriculum flexibility/systemset standards
School-based decisionmaking
77
Long Beach math scores on the California STAR examinations improved significantly between 2004–09
2004
2007
2005
2008
2006
2009
% of students proficient and advanced
+20%
54
58 59
62 60
+34%
+50%
67 69
65
56 57
67 69
61
50
+75%
57
60
53
46 48
56
60
63
47 36
Grade 2
SOURCE: Long Beach Unified School District
Grade 2
Grade 2
Grade 2
88
The balance of capability-building and accountability also shifts
100
100
50
55
50
Poor to fair
45
Fair to good
100
67
33
Good to great
Professional development and training Accountability
100
78
22 Great to excellent
99
Top performance goes together with narrowing the achievement gap as Singapore shows
Chinese Overall Indian Malay
% of pupils who sat the Primary School Leaving Exam and achieved eligibility for secondary school by ethnicity
100 95 90 85 80 75
70 65 1987 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 2006
SOURCE: Singapore Ministry of Education
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We know what works in the world’s top performing systems
6 key features of high performing school systems
1 Set challenging standards and measure them 2 Apprentice and develop teachers effectively 3 Make entry into teaching highly selective 4 Attract, select and develop excellent school leaders 5 Tackle failure decisively 6 Data-informed policy at every level
11
Top-performing systems are becoming more rigorous about the identification, selection and training of principals
“One of the key revelations of the last ten years is that school leadership…is a strategic issue” (official in Singapore 2010)
“School leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning” (Leithwood et. al. 2006)
“We are making schools engines for building talent” (New York City leader 2010)
12
Across diverse systems school leaders have much in common Principals saying that supporting the development of individual staff makes a major contribution to the success of their school % of respondents 91 82
79
81
80
78 72
Global
New Zealand
Ontario
New York
Netherlands
Singapore Alberta
71
Victoria
13
They also have significant differences High-performing group, % of principals working with teachers to support their development every day % of respondents 52
30
30
26
24 16
5
Global
New York
Ontario
Alberta
Victoria
Singapore
New Zealand
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There is a trend towards selecting earlier and more rigorously
Ontario
All school boards are required to have a succession and talent development plan. A number have developed sophisticated systems for identifying and nurturing leadership talent including York, which has identified 800 potential future leaders for its 200 schools
Singapore
Schools are responsible for identifying potential leaders, normally during their first five years of teaching. Once identified, teachers are put onto a “leadership track� which provides them with a series of opportunities to progressively take on greater leadership responsibilities, combined with a set of formal training programs.
SOURCE: Interviews
15 15
Learning by doing and discussions with peers are most helpful % of high-performing principals citing each experience as having a major impact on their development
Learning through experience Learning from the experienced
Being identified as a potential leader
74
Opportunities to take on responsibility
70
Discussions with peers
65 58
Working as a deputy head 47
Coaching Mentoring Formal training
45 39
16
Focused networks are increasingly adopted to develop school leaders New York: Networks and clusters 1,600 schools
▪
60 networks
▪ 6 clusters
DSSI
▪
▪ ▪
SOURCE: Interviews
A school joins one of 60 networks consisting of ~35 schools A school can join any network in the city Networks provide both operational and instructional support Network staff include the Network Leader and 10–12 team members Networks are accountable: – Upwards to cluster leaders – Downwards to schools
17
System transformation requires sustained political and strategic leadership Years of tenure Median of strategic leaders in our sample systems
6.0
Strategic leader
U.S urban superintendent average
2.8
Median of political leaders in our sample systems
7.0
Potential leader England education secretary
SOURCE: McKinsey & Co interventions database
2.0
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For England there are clear messages
▪ Focus and consistency in direction ▪ Consistency in classroom-level practice ▪ Building collective capacity ▪ Revising our standards as part of the National Curriculum ▪ Further strengthening leadership development
19
90 per cent of success is implementation
Be clear what you want to achieve
Priorities
Plans
Establish routines to drive delivery
Plan implementation
Routines
Relationships
Create the right relationship with key stakeholders
SOURCE: Michael Barber; Instruction to Deliver
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