1 / 17

Commission on School Reform 13th April 2016

This report highlights the positive achievements of the Commission on School Reform and identifies key priorities for improvement in Scottish education. It focuses on areas such as attainment, inclusion, professional development, curriculum, and teacher quality. The report also discusses concerning trends and challenges faced by the education system.

gmckay
Download Presentation

Commission on School Reform 13th April 2016

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Commission on School Reform 13th April 2016

  2. OECD - some positives Above average levels in PISA science and reading Around average in PISA maths Achievement levels spread relatively equally Schools are highly inclusive Upward trends in attainment and positive destinations Positive attitudes among students Risk behaviours are reducing

  3. Much to be pleased about Well qualified profession Comprehensive strategy for professional development Focus on outcomes Commitment to equity Forward looking curriculum Clear improvement agenda Political consensus

  4. National Improvement FrameworkKey priorities Improvement in attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing Improvement in employability skills and sustained, positive school leaver destinations for all young people All in the context of Curriculum for Excellence

  5. Teacherpolicies The past The most effective systems Student inclusion Some students learn at high levels All students learn at high levels Curriculum, instruction and assessment Routine cognitive skills for lifetime jobs Learning to learn, complex ways of thinking, ways of working Teacher quality Taught to teach established content High-level professional knowledge workers Work organisation ‘Tayloristic’, hierarchical Flat, collegial, differentiated and diverse careers Teacher evaluation and accountability Primarily to authorities Also to peers and stakeholders

  6. OECD - some concerns • Declining absolute and relative performance in international surveys • Growing proportion of low achievers and shrinking proportion of high achievers in mathematics • Decline in reading and numeracy in SSLN • Sizeable minority of schools at or below ‘satisfactory’ in HMI reports

  7. Scotland’s performance in PISA

  8. Scotland is not short of good ideas… but it has a poor record in realising the benefits from them… because governments lack an understanding of how to bring about change in complex systems

  9. Implementing Curriculum for Excellence The emphasis has been on: • Detail rather than principles • Mechanisms rather than big ideas • Experiences and Outcomes • Assessment • New qualifications and examinations

  10. …. But what is important? A long-term direction of travel Focus on outcomes Emphasis on skills Constructivist pedagogy Valuing of learning outwith school Balance of disciplines and IDL Personalisation Active learner engagement Continuity 3-18 Flexibility in the senior phase

  11. Down the plughole Why do good ideas often yield mediocre results? Lack of courage Parental caution Media hostility Fear of change Poor management Lack of support Failure to sell ideas Lack of resources Fear of inspection Ideology

  12. Prerequisites of effective change Strategic clarity Improved research and data Responsiveness to classroom needs Empowerment at school level Containment of workload Effective use of early adopters Ambition Courage

  13. Evidence-based policy? No independent evaluation of CfE Withdrawal from PIRLS and TIMSS Equivocal attitude to research Data poor compared with other countries including England A culture that prefers: - consensus to evidence - monitoring to explanation

  14. Accountability and responsibility Teachers are accountable to people to whom they have no strong feelings of responsibility… …but they have strong feelings of responsibility to parents, communities, fellow professionals and, above all, children to whom they are not accountable.

  15. An emerging agenda Transformational change requires effective processes and also…. Trust in teachers Collaboration and networking An effective supportive ‘middle’ Positive accountabilities

  16. Transformational change A transformed education service would be - Intellectually ambitious and culturally rich Capable of tackling socio-economic disadvantage Able to relate knowledge, understanding and skill Focused on intrinsic motivation Informed by a strong learner/customer focus Organisationally and technologically sophisticated Eclectic in its delivery methods

More Related