Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers

1. Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers Lessons from the OECD Teacher Policy Report Paulo Santiago Education and Training Policy Division Directorate for Education, OECD Improving Learning Through Formative Assessment International Conference OECD - CERI Paris, 2 February 2005

2. Outline of Presentation 1. The OECD Project Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers 2. The impact of teachers and teaching on student learning 3. Policy context 4. Teachers’ roles are changing 5. Policy priorities: Developing teachers’ knowledge and skills 6. Other relevant policy priorities

3. OECD’s Activity “Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers” Purpose To provide policy makers with information and analysis to assist them in formulating and implementing teacher policies leading to quality teaching and learning at the school level. Objectives • to synthesise research on issues related to policies concerned with attracting, recruiting, retaining and developing effective teachers; • to identify innovative and successful policy initiatives and practices; • to facilitate exchanges of lessons and experiences among countries; and • to identify policy options.  Focus is on teacher policy, not the practice and performance level of teachers.  Study did not address teaching/classroom strategies per se.

4. OECD’s Activity “Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers” Participating countries 25 countries Australia, Austria, Belgium (Flemish and French Comm.), Canada (Quebec), Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States. 10 countries visited by review teams Austria, Belgium (Flemish and French Comm.), Germany, Hungary, Italy, Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

5. OECD’s Activity “Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers” Analytical approach The Activity has drawn on country experience and research to identify a range of policy directions in five main areas: • Making teaching an attractive career choice • Developing teachers’ knowledge and skills • Recruiting, selecting and employing teachers • Retaining effective teachers in schools • Developing and implementing teacher policy

6. The Impact of Teachers and Teaching on Student Learning Three broad conclusions emerge from research on student learning 1. Largest source of variation in student learning is attributable to differences in what students bring to school – their abilities and attitudes, and family and community background. 2. Of those variables which are potentially open to policy influence, factors to do with teachers and teaching are the most important influences on student learning.

7. The Impact of Teachers and Teaching on Student Learning (continued) Three broad conclusions emerge from research on student learning (continued) 3.It is difficult to predict who is going to be a good teacher just by considering the more measurable characteristics of teachers (e.g. qualifications, teaching experience, and indicators of academic ability and subject-matter knowledge). There are many important aspects of teacher quality that are not captured by the more measurable characteristics, such as: • Ability to convey ideas in clear and convincing ways; • To create effective learning environments for different types of students; • to foster productive teacher-student relationships; • to be enthusiastic and creative; • to work effectively with colleagues and parents.

8. Policy Context • About half the countries report serious concerns about maintaining an adequate supply of good quality teachers, especially in high-demand subject areas • There are widespread concerns about long-term trends in the composition of the teaching workforce e.g. fewer “high achievers”, and fewer males • There are major concerns about the limited connections between teacher education, professional development, and school needs • Some countries experience high rates of teacher attrition, especially among new teachers • Some countries have a large over-supply of qualified teachers, which raises its own policy challenges

9. Policy Context (continued) • In some countries there are serious concerns about teacher morale and enthusiasm • Almost all countries report concerns about “qualitative” shortfalls: whether enough teachers have the knowledge and skills to meet school needs • The ageing of the teaching profession is compounding policy concerns

10. Teachers’ Roles are changing Teachers are now expected to have much broader roles At the individual student level • Initiating and managing learning processes; • Responding effectively to the learning needs of individual learners; • Integrating formative and summative assessment. At the classroom level • Teaching in multicultural classrooms; • New cross-curricular emphases; • Integrating students with special needs.

11. Teachers’ Roles are changing Teachers are now expected to have much broader roles (continued) At the school level • Working and planning in teams; • Evaluation and systematic improvement planning; • ICT use in teaching and administration; • Projects between schools, and international cooperation; • Management and shared leadership. At the level of parents and the wider community • Providing professional advice to parents; • Building community partnerships for learning.

12. Policy priorities: Developing teachers‘ knowledge and skills Developing teacher profiles Clear and concise standards of what teachers are expected to know and be able to do • reflect broad range of competencies. • provide framework to guide and integrate initial teacher education, certification, induction and on-going professional development. • should be evidence-based and reflect student learning objectives. • should be built on active involvement by teaching profession.

13. Policy priorities: Developing teachers‘ knowledge and skills Initial teacher education • Improve selection into teacher education • Information and counselling • Assessment • Early school experience • Incentives for high potentials • Provide more flexible forms of initial teacher education • Modular, part-time, distance education • Alternate routes for mid-career changers • Strengthen partnerships between teacher education institutions and schools • Overt and deliberate partnerships • Earlier and broader field experience

14. Policy priorities: Developing teachers‘ knowledge and skills Strengthening induction programmes • Formalise induction programmes • Qualify mentor teachers • Provide sufficient resources for induction • reduced teaching obligation for mentors and beginning teachers • Link successful completion of induction to certification

15. Policy priorities: Developing teachers‘ knowledge and skills Integrating professional development throughout the teaching career Provide incentives for lifelong learning of all teachers • Entitle teachers to release time and/or financial support for professional development • Create incentives: e.g., link professional development to teacher appraisal and career advancement • Link individual teacher development with school improvement needs

16. Policy priorities: Developing teachers‘ knowledge and skills • Broaden the range of different professional development opportunities, e.g. • peer review and action research • mutual school visits • teacher and school networks • Provide more coherent framework for professional development, develop teachers’ learning communities • training, practice and feedback • follow-up rather than “one shot events” • teacher portfolios

17. Other relevant policy priorities Providing schools with more responsibility for teacher personnel development Schools need to have more responsibility – and accountability – for teacher selection, working conditions, and development. • Pre-requisites: • Developing school leaders’ skills in personnel management; • Providing disadvantaged schools with greater resources; • Monitoring the outcomes of a more decentralised approach; • Creating independent appeals procedures to ensure fairness and protect teachers’ rights. Broadening the criteria for teacher selection The selection criteria for new teachers need to be broadened to ensure that the applicants with the greatest potential are identified

18. Other relevant policy priorities Evaluating and rewarding effective teaching There needs to be a stronger emphasis on teacher evaluation for improvement purposes. Opportunity for teachers’ work to be recognised and celebrated and help both teachers and schools to identify developmental needs • Pre-requisites: • Teacher appraisal to occur within a framework provided by profession-wide agreed statements of standards of professional performance; • Evaluators need to be trained and evaluated themselves; • Evaluation frameworks and tools need to be provided.

19. Other relevant policy priorities Providing more opportunities for career diversification Teaching would benefit from a career ladder based on skills, responsibilities and performance. There needs to be more opportunities for career diversity and mobility (between schools, between roles, and between teaching and other careers) Teaching needs to become a knowledge-rich profession Teaching needs to become a knowledge-rich profession in which individuals continually develop, and have the incentives and opportunities to do so, research is integrated into practice, and schools become professional learning communities that encourage and draw on teachers’ development

20. Other relevant policy priorities Improving leadership and school climate A range of initiatives should be taken to strengthen leadership in schools: • Improve training, selection and evaluation processes for school principals; • Establish leadership teams in schools; • School leaders to be trained and supported in conducting evaluations and linking them to school planning.

21. Other relevant policy priorities Improving working conditions There needs to be an explicit recognition of the wide variety of tasks that teaching actually entails Well trained support and administrative staff can help to reduce the burden on teachers and free them to concentrate on the tasks of teaching and learning Better facilities at school for staff preparation and planning would help in building collegiality and in programme provision

22. Final Report Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers To be published as an OECD Publication in early 2005 For further information: www.oecd.org/edu/teacherpolicy