LCLL Annual Lecture 2011

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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

33

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

44

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

66

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

10

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

14

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

18

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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