Using Assessment Data for Improving Teaching Practice ACER Conference 17 - 18 August 2009

Using Assessment Data for Improving Teaching Practice ACER Conference17 - 18 August 2009 Professor Helen Timperley Faculty of Education University of Auckland

Formative assessment for students Allows them to answer the questions Where am I going? How am I doing? Where to next? Hattie & Timperley (2007)

Formative assessment for TEACHERS Allows them to answer the questions Where am I going? How am I doing? Where to next?

Required Conditions • Relevant assessment data • Beliefs, knowledge and skills of teachers • Beliefs, knowledge and skills of school leaders

Relevant Assessment Data • Provides teachers with curriculum relevant information about; • Where their students are at • What their students need to learn next • In a timely manner • Can be of many different kinds

Beliefs, knowledge and skills of teachers • Inquiry habit of mind • Data can inform teaching and learning (not labels for students) • Sufficient knowledge of the meaning of the data to make appropriate adjustments to practice • Sufficient pedagogical content knowledge to make relevant adjustments to practice

Beliefs, knowledge and skills of leaders • Skilled enough to have conversations about the data with teachers; • Inquiry habit of mind • Data can inform teaching and learning • Know enough to lead the changes required for teachers to use data; • Engage in systematic evidence-informed cycles of inquiry

Relationships of Respect and Challenge • Context for learning is social if to have a system change rather than patches of brilliance • Probing meanings, challenging interpretation of the evidence and reasoning • Respect for the capacity of all to learn and improve

Relationships of Respect and Challenge Evidence-informed Conversations Using Relevant Data Inquiry Habit of Mind Evidence-Informed Conversations about Data Earl and Timperley (2000)

How the Process Can Work: Two Sources of Evidence • The theory Professional Learning and Development Best Evidence Synthesis iteration (2008) 2. Thepractice Literacy Professional Development Project (LPDP) in NZ • 300 schools • On average 2-3 times expected rate of progress • Bottom 20% 3-4 times expected rate of progress

Teacher inquiry and knowledge-building cycle to promote valued student outcomes What knowledge and skills do our students need? What knowledge and skills do we as teachers need? What has been the impact of our changed actions? Deepen professional knowledge and refine skills Engage students in new learning experiences

Teachers Inquiring into Students’ Knowledge and Skills • What do the students already know? • What sources of evidence have we used? • What do the students need to learn and do? • How do we build on what they know?

Within the LPDP Project • Students assessed using assessment Tools for Teaching and learning (asTTle) • Facilitated interpretation of how to score it and what the results mean with teachers and leaders -at the same time as …

Teachers Inquiring into Own Knowledge and Skills • How have we contributed to existing student outcomes? • What do we already know that we can use to promote improved outcomes for students? • What do we need to learn and do to promote these outcomes? • What sources of evidence / knowledge can we utilise?

Within the LPDP Project • With expert facilitators, the teachers: • Relate student data to programme emphases; • Respond to a scenario of (mostly ineffective) practice and discuss results; • Interpret a set of hypothetical data and discuss different interpretations Facilitators also observe teaching practice and analyse it with teachers

Deepen Professional Knowledge and Refine Skills Three principles: • Focus on the teaching / learning links; • Explicit that the purpose is to improve learning • Integrate knowledge and skills • Curriculum, assessment, pedagogical • Theory and practice (over-assimilation) • Multiple opportunities to learn and apply (1 – 2 years) • Engage teachers’ existing ideas about students, assessment, curriculum and how to teach it

Three Fields of Knowledge (NCSL) What We Know The knowledge of those involved. What practitioners know What Is Known The knowledge from theory, research and best practice New Knowledge The new knowledge that we can create together through collaborative work

Within the LPDP Project • Students are the “touchstone” throughout; • Facilitators work with school literacy leaders to develop teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge; • Flexible but specific to develop adaptive expertise; • Teachers’ beliefs (theories of practice) engaged

Promoting change in teachers’ beliefs and assumptions

Judging Impact • How effective is what we have learned and done been in promoting our students’ learning and well-being? • Means the use of assessment information on a daily, weekly, term by term and annual basis • Using a range of assessment tools

Assessment Information is NOT a single event • Pervades all aspects of the cycle • Identifying what students need to learn • Identifying what teachers need to learn • Checking impact of changes to practice

Beliefs, knowledge and Skills of School Leaders • Teachers cannot do it alone • To lead effectively, leaders must know their class so they can: • Create a vision of new possibilities • Lead the learning • Organise the learning opportunities

FIVE DIMENSIONS OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP Derived from Quantitative Studies Linking Leadership with Student Outcomes

If leaders are to lead the learning: Must know their class of teachers • What do the teachers already know? • What do the leaders need to learn and do to make a difference to teacher learning and valued student outcomes? • How are the leaders systematically building on what the teachers already know and can do? • How are they checking impact

Leaders’ inquiry and knowledge-building cycle to promote valued teaching practices and student outcomes What knowledge and skills do our teachers need? What knowledge and skills do we as leaders need? What has been the impact of our changed actions? Deepen professional knowledge and refine skills Engage teachers in new learning experiences

Within the LPDP • Literacy leaders willingly engage and recognise their need to learn if they are to teach others • Principals less so • Tend to focus on structures and processes to promote others’ learning

What about us as system leaders? • Who is your class and how well do you know them as learners? • What do we need to learn and do to make a difference in ways that impact on valued student outcomes? • How are we systematically building on what those for whom we have responsibility already know and can do? • How are we checking impact?

System leaders’ inquiry and knowledge-building cycle to promote valued teaching practices and student outcomes What knowledge and skills does our class need? What knowledge and skills do we as system leaders need? What has been the impact of our changed actions? Deepen professional knowledge and refine skills Engage our class in new learning experiences

Conclusion • Teachers can use data to improve teaching practice in ways that work for students • Requires • Curriculum-relevant assessments • All layers of the system to know their learners • Development of the beliefs, knowledge and skills needed for each to enact their responsibility throughout the system

References Earl, L. & Timperley, H. (2009). Professional Learning Conversations: Challenges in Using Evidence. Springer. Timperley, H. & Parr, J. (2009). Chain of Influence from Policy to Practice in the New Zealand Literacy Strategy. Research Papers in Education, 24(2), 135-154, Timperley, H., Wilson, A., Barrar, H. & Fung, I. (2008) Teacher Professional Learnng and Development: A Best Evidence Iteration. http://educationcounts.edcentre.govt.na/goto/BES

Using Assessment Data for Improving Teaching Practice ACER Conference 17 - 18 August 2009