Identifying and rewarding teachers’ professional learning Lawrence Ingvarson Australian Council for Educational Research
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Proposition The extent to which the Chartered Teacher status promotes effective professional learning will depend on the extent to which it is a credible assessment of performance in relation to professional standards Scriven: The usefulness of formative evaluation is enhanced by the validity of the summative evaluation process Improving Learning
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Characteristics of effective professional learning (Hawley & Valli, 1999)
Professional learning is based on analyses of the differences between actual student performance and goals and standards for student learning
The content of professional development focuses on what students are to learn and how to address the different problems students may have in learning the material
Professional development involves teachers in the identification of what they need to learn and in the development of the learning experiences in which they will be involved. Improving Learning
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When do teachers' opportunities to learn affect classroom practice? When such opportunities are:
grounded in the curriculum that students study connected to several elements of instruction i.e., not only curriculum but also assessment extended in time, possibly including follow-up during the school year
David K. Cohen and Heather C. Hill Instructional Policy and Classroom Performance: The Mathematics Reform in California http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=10377 Improving Learning
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Effective professional learning ď Ź
Use any methods that increase the frequency and quality of conversations that teachers have about their practice, the content they are teaching and how well students are learning that content
ď Ź
Use any methods that increase the amount of feedback teachers receive about their practice in relation to standards for good teaching Improving Learning
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A Standards-based Professional Learning and Certification System Main components:
Teaching standards that articulate what teachers should get better at and provide direction for professional development over the long term
Career paths that value teaching and provide substantial incentives and for teachers to attain these standards
An infrastructure for professional learning that enables teachers to gain the knowledge and skill embodied in the teaching standards
A voluntary system of professional certification based on valid methods for assessing teacher performance Improving Learning
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Current Australian approaches to recognising accomplished teachers
WA - The Level 3 Classroom Teacher
SA – The Advanced Skills Teacher 1 and 2
NT – The Teacher of Exemplary Practice Program
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Recognition via alternative career path Salary
Administration
Advanced skill teacher 1.47X
X
Years of Teaching
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Current approaches to recognising accomplished teachers Limitations: Weak influence on retention. Not attracting or affecting many teachers. Recognition value weak Low impact on implementation of best practice. Not enough emphasis on teaching performance (e.g. NT TEP scheme) The idea of “alternative” career path has not worked. Views of leadership have changed.
Future: Mainstream schemes for recognising good teachers. Make certification a prerequisite for promotion to all positions above top of scale
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Professional Certification An endorsement that a professional body gives to a member who has attained a specified set of performance standards It is: available to all members of the profession based on assessment of performance; it is not an academic qualification portable - belongs to the person (not a job or position or classification specific to a school or employer) voluntary
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Emerging Standards-based Career Structure
SALARY
School leader
2.5x
Leading teacher
2x
Accomplished teacher
1.25x
x
Registered teacher
Provisionally registered teacher
Graduation standards
Registration standards
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AT Certification standards
LT Certification standards
School leadership Standards
Evidence of Professional Development www.acer.edu.au
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What are teaching standards? Two meanings: ď Ź
What we value about education (standards as flag, rallying point, etc)
ď Ź
What teachers should know and be able to do to promote quality learning opportunities (standards as measures)
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Essential components of teaching standards Definition of good teaching
What teachers should know and be able to do
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Methods for capturing evidence of teaching
Tasks or exercises that provide evidence of a teachers’ practice and thinking
Methods for judging the evidence against the standards
Evaluation criteria to identify accomplished/ non-accomplished teachers www.acer.edu.au
Australian Science Teachers’ Association
National professional standards for highly accomplished teachers of science – March 2002
http://www.asta.edu.au
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Questions for NBPTS Standards Committees 1. 2. 3.
4.
5.
What makes your teaching field unique from other fields? What are major issues of your field – past, present and future? Describe features of accomplished teaching in your field? Describe the different contexts in which teachers in your field work. How do these contexts affect their approach? How do accomplished teachers in your field address issues of - diversity? ESL? Technology? Improving Learning
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An example a set of standards : High School Science Domain 1: Preparing the way Domain 2: Establishing a for productive student learning favorable context for learning
•Understanding students •Knowledge of science •Instructional Resources
•Engagement •Learning environment •Equitable participation
Domain 4: Supporting teaching and learning
Domain 3: Advancing student learning
•Assessment •Family and community outreach •Contributing to the profession •Reflective practice
•Science inquiry •Expanding fundamental understandings •Contexts of science
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A definition of standard – for performance assessment purposes (Sykes, 1991) A standard is a tool for rendering appropriately precise the making of judgements and decisions in a context of shared meanings and values.
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Methods for capturing evidence of teaching
samples of students' work over time plus commentary; video recordings of classroom practice; and documentation of accomplishments outside the classroom Written assessments (of PCK) Student evaluation
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Portfolio Entry 1: Designing Science Instruction Provide evidence of a unit of work which shows how you link learning activities together to promote students' understanding of one important scientific concept along with the development of one or more related process goals. Choose students who represent different kinds of challenges for you. Choose three instructional activities, related instructional materials, two student responses to each activity, and submit a Written Commentary.
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Portfolio Entry 2: Probing Student Understanding ď Ź
ď Ź
Provide video recording of a lesson in which you introduce an important concept in science, and demonstrate how you use classroom discourse and questioning to elicit students' initial conceptions of an important concept in science and how you use their understanding to influence your instruction. Also provide a Written Commentary that provides a context for the video recorded discussion and describes, analyzes, and reflects on the discussion, student understanding, and your teaching.
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Portfolio Entry 3: Inquiry Through Investigation ď Ź
ď Ź
Provide a video recording of a lesson in which you conduct an investigation of an important scientific concept and demonstrate how you support students in a scientific inquiry discussion as they interpret data that have been collected during the course of the investigation. Also submit a Written Commentary that provides a context for the video recorded discussion and describes, analyzes, and reflects on the discussion and students' development of inquiry skills.
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NBPTS approach to assessment Valid assessment of accomplished practice must: ď Ź allow for the variety of forms sound practice takes, ď Ź sample the range of ways teachers know their content, and ď Ź provide appropriate contexts for assessments of teaching knowledge and skill. The most valid teacher assessment processes engage candidates in the activities of teaching - activities that require the display and use of teaching knowledge and skill and that allow teachers the opportunity to explain and justify their actions. Improving Learning
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NBPTS: principles underlying the assessment development process
Tasks should be authentic and, therefore, complex; Tasks should be open-ended, allowing teachers to show their own practice; Tasks should provide ample opportunity and encouragement for analysis and reflection; Subject-matter knowledge should underlie all performances; Tasks should encourage teachers to exemplify good practice; Each task should assess a cluster of standards; and Each standard should be assessed by more than one task.
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Example of a written assessment exercise Assessment Centre Exercise 4 – Misconceptions (30 minutes)
Focus: This exercise focuses on candidates‟ ability to
Prompts: Candidates are asked to identify the
recognise student misconceptions and to appropriately address them through subsequent instruction misconception(s) in a piece of student work, to develop the next lesson to address the misconception, and to develop an assessment to judge whether the student‟s understanding has changed following instruction. Improving Learning
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Middle Childhood/Generalist (Age Range: Students 7-12) Example of a written assessment exercise: Supporting Reading Skills ď Ź
In this exercise teachers demonstrate their ability to analyse and interpret student errors and patterns of errors in reading. Teachers are asked to analyse and interpret a transcript of a given student's oral reading of a given passage. Teachers are also asked to identify and justify appropriate strategies to address the identified student's needs.
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Assessing the evidence
The portfolio entries are anonymous Trained assessors are peers They rely solely on the evidence and do not „fill the gaps‟ Trained assessors identify and use benchmark portfolio entries They decide „How good is good enough – based on the standards?‟
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Scoring rubrics and scale‌ .75-1+ 1.25
1.75-2+ 2.25
2.75- 3+3.25
3.75-4+4.25
1 family
2 family
3 family
4 family
Limited evidence
Clear evidence
Little or no evidence
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Clear, consistent, convincing evidence
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Teachers’ views of the NBPTS certification process (Sample: 10,000 teachers 2001)
the certification process had made them better teachers (92%),
was an effective professional development experience (96%),
equipped them to create better curricula (89%),
improved their ability to evaluate student learning (89%),
enhanced their interaction with students (82%), parents (82%) and colleagues (80%) Improving Learning
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“The National Board Certification process was by far the best professional development I have been involved in. I did not realise how much I still needed to learn about impacting student learning. I learned so much through hours of analysing and reflecting.” “I gained valuable insight of myself as a teacher. The process helped me to assess my teaching abilities as no administrator could have. Most importantly, my students benefit from my self-improvement.” “Working with other teachers in my school who were also working on certification was rewarding”
“It was the hardest thing I have ever done and it is something I am so glad that I tried. I am immensely proud of the work I turned in – even if I did not make the needed grade. It has made me a better teacher and colleague.”
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