Can research make you a better teacher?

1. twitter.com/ProfCoe Can research make you a better teacher? Robert Coe ResearchEd, London, 6 Sept 2014

2. Before we start … • I’m not saying • What has worked will always work • All research should be RCTs • Teaching is like following a recipe • Teachers must become researchers • I am saying • Good teachers need high-level skills and the practical wisdom to make good decisions • Professional development that promotes research knowledge and mindset may help develop such skills and wisdom • We should evaluate this robustly

3. I am assuming If you are not trained and accredited in a validated lesson observation protocol • Don’t grade lessons • Be very cautious about giving feedback What you think is ‘good teaching’ may not be

4. What does ‘better’ look like?

6. Teacher Professional Standardsshould • Be based on best evidence about pedagogy, teacher effectiveness, learning theory • Reflect diversity of teacher needs/contexts/stages (one size doesn’t fit all) • Include protocols for demonstrating when they are met that are • Clear and operationalisable • Consistent across different raters, schools, etc • Demonstrably predictive of valued pupil outcomes

7. Evidence-based standards for effective teaching? • Evidence about relationships between teacher skills, knowledge & behaviours and ‘effectiveness’ • Evidence about what can be changed (and how) • Based on ‘best’ theories of • Pupil learning • Pedagogy & teaching effectiveness • Behaviour change (individual, institutional, systemic) • Most important: does focusing on these things lead to improvement?

8. What kinds of skills, knowledge, behaviours, qualities and competences are required to be an excellent teacher? • Sources of evidence • Evidence and theory from cognitive science about learning: how our brains acquire, make sense of and use information (eg Willingham: Why don’t students like school; Bransford et al., 2000 ) • Evidence from educational effectiveness research about teacher behaviours associated with learning gains (egMuijs et al 2014: State of the art – teacher effectiveness and professional learning ) • Evidence from intervention studies about what can be changed, and its effect on outcomes (eg Sutton Trust-EEF Toolkit)

9. How might we move forward? • Review the best existing evidence about what excellent teaching looks like • Review existing frameworks / protocols / evaluation instruments for identifying excellent teaching • Develop/collect some self-assessment + feedback + discussion tools to allow teachers to assess and develop their skills/knowledge/practice in a range of dimensions • Evaluate the impact (on a range of valued outcomes) of using them

10. Dimensions of great teaching • (Pedagogical) content knowledge • Behaviour / control / classroom management • Classroom climate / relationships / expectations • Quality of instruction • Wider professional elements: collegiality, development, relationships • Research knowledge

11. 1. (Pedagogical) content knowledge

12. California, 1875 Divide 88 into two such parts that shall be to each other as 2/3 is to 4/5 (from Shulman, 1986) England, 2012 What is 643 divided by 0.1?

13. 307 - 168 261 How would you respond? A pupil writes Another says, ‘Take 8 away from both’ 307 - 168 299 - 160 How would you respond? (from Ball et al, 2008)

14. 2. Behaviour / control / classroom management

15. Pupil survey (from Tripod) • Student behavior in this class is under control. • I hate the way that students behave in this class. • Student behavior in this class makes the teacher angry. • Student behavior in this class is a problem. • My classmates behave the way my teacher wants them to. • Students in this class treat the teacher with respect. • Our class stays busy and doesn't waste time.

16. Time on task observation tool Next observation 1.2s Jimmy Bone-Idle On task Off task Not clear ‘On task’ = thinking hard about what they are supposed to be learning

17. Dealing with disruption • the teacher is not using any strategy at all to deal with a classroom disorder problem, • the teacher is using a strategy but the problem is only temporarily solved (the disorder reoccurs), • the teacher is using a strategy that has a long-lasting effect (From Kyriakides et al 2009) Use video excerpts in an online training programme, with a test to identify accredited observers

18. 3. Classroom climate / relationships / expectations

19. Test your mindsethttp://mindsetonline.com/testyourmindset/step1.php • You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you can’t really do much to change it. • No matter who you are, you can significantly change your intelligence level. • You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic intelligence • You can change even your basic intelligence level considerably

20. Other aspects of climate • Attributions to effort or ability • Students’ motivational goals (mastery vs performance) • Teacher expectations • Quality of relationships (teacher-students) • Response to failure (grit)

21. 4. Quality of instruction

22. The Dynamic Model (Creemers & Kyriakides, 2006) • Orientation • Providing the objectives for which a specific task/lesson/series of lessons take(s) place • Challenging students to identify the reason why an activity is taking place in the lesson. • Structuring • Beginning with overviews and/or review of objectives • Outlining the content to be covered and signalling transitions between lesson parts • Drawing attention to and reviewing main ideas • Questioning • Raising different types of questions (i.e., process and product) at appropriate difficulty level • Giving time for students to respond • Dealing with student responses • Teaching modelling • Encouraging students to use problem-solving strategies presented by the teacher or other classmates • Inviting students to develop strategies • Promoting the idea of modelling

23. The Dynamic Model (Creemers & Kyriakides, 2006) • Application • Using seatwork or small-group tasks in order to provide needed practice and application opportunities • Using application tasks as starting points for the next step of teaching and learning • The classroom as a learning environment • Establishing on-task behaviour through the interactions they promote (i.e., teacher–student and student–student interactions) • Dealing with classroom disorder and student competition through establishing rules, persuading students to respect them and using the rules • Management of time • Organizing the classroom environment • Maximizing engagement rates • Assessment • Using appropriate techniques to collect data on student knowledge and skills • Analysing data in order to identify student needs and report the results to students and parents. • Teachers evaluating their own practices

24. Principles of Instruction(Rosenshine, 2010) • Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning • Present new material in small steps, with student practice after each step • Ask a large number of questions and check the responses of all students • Provide models for problem solving and worked examples • Guide student practice and rehearsal • Check for student understanding • Obtain a high success rate (80%) • Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks • Require and monitor independent practice • Engage students in weekly and monthly review

25. Measuring quality of instruction • Requires ‘high inference’ judgements • May be no alternative to extensive training (eg CLASS, Danielson FFT) • Worth trying: • Specify skills and context (eg Y9 algebra, questioning to check understanding) • Peer review of video excerpts • Rating using ACJ (Adaptive Comparative Judgement)

26. 6. Research knowledge

27. How research might help • Research knowledge • Informs pedagogical practice • Informs decisions about strategy and policies • Informs attempts to implement and embed more effective practices • Research mindset • Robustly evaluates ongoing performance on a range of outcomes • Evaluates the impact of any changes made • Adopts a critical perspective: ‘show me the evidence’

28. www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit Impact vs cost Most promising for raising attainment 8 May be worth it Feedback Meta-cognitive Peer tutoring Early Years Homework (Secondary) 1-1 tuition Effect Size (months gain) Collaborative Behaviour Small gp tuition Phonics Parental involvement Smaller classes ICT Social Summer schools Individualised learning Small effects / high cost After school Teaching assistants Mentoring Homework (Primary) Performance pay Aspirations 0 Setting £0 £1000 Cost per pupil

29. True or false? • Reducing class size is one of the most effective ways to increase learning [evidence] • Differentiation and ‘personalised learning’ resources maximise learning [evidence] • Praise encourages learners and helps them persist with hard tasks [evidence] • Technology supports learning by engaging and motivating learners [evidence] • The best way to raise attainment is to enhance motivation and interest [evidence]

30. Key elements of good evaluation EEF DIY Evaluation Guide • Clear, well defined, replicable intervention • Good assessment of appropriate outcomes • Well-matched comparison group What could you evaluate?

31. Summary

32. We need a wider understanding of ‘great teaching’ that is based on research evidence • Tools to help evaluate teaching quality could be made widely available • Clarify and make explicit what teachers need to learn • Monitor progress against these learning aims • Focus attention and effort on approaches that are likely to make a difference • We still need to evaluate whether using these tools leads to any improvement • Ultimately, ‘great teaching’ is evidenced by better learning, so high-quality assessment is key