Maximizing Student Learning

September 24, 2018

Coffee Talk

Head of School: Mr. Dan QuesnelDirector of Teaching and Learning: Dr. Linda Uveges

IntroductionPurpose of the Coffee Talks

- Parent Education- Question/Answer Session- Getting to know those on campus

Future Topics- October: Transformational Learning

Student engagementProject-based LearningDevelopment of Soft Skills

- April: Transition from Lower School to Middle SchoolResources

- Developing a resource page on the Oakwood website

Maximizing Student Learning

What does this mean?

What does this encompass?

Why is this important to Oakwood?

What would my brother want to know?

Visible Learning

• Dr. John Hattie : Professor of Education and Director of the Melbourne Education Research

Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia,

What is Visible Learning?

• Visible Learning is the result of 15 years of research and synthesizes over 800 meta-analyses (over 50,000 studies) relating to the influences on achievement in school-aged students. It presents the largest ever collection of evidence-based research into what actually works in schools to improve learning (and what doesn’t).

WHAT IS A META-ANALYSIS?

● Identify an outcome

● Identify an influence

● Research to find studies that include

○ the outcome and the influence

● Determine effect sizes

● Establish comparisons

Meta-analysis & effect size

• The vast majority of innovations or educational strategies can be said to “work” because they can be shown to have a positive effect.

• But even a student left to work on his own or with the poorly skilled teacher would be likely to show some improvement over a year.

• In 1976 Gene Glass introduced the notion of meta-analysis – whereby the effects of each study are converted to a common measure or effect size.

• An effect size of 1.0 would improve the rate of learning by 50% and would mean that, on average, students receiving that treatment would exceed 84% of students not receiving that treatment.

• At least half of all students can and do achieve an effect size of 0.4 in a year (the hinge point), so anything with an effect size of over 0.4 is likely to be having a visible effect.

http://visible-learning.org/2013/02/infographic-john-hattie-visible-learing

Influences on Achievement ?

Decreased EnhancedZero

0

Effect on Achievement over time?

Decreased EnhancedZero

0 .20

Typical Effect Size

1.0.40

Effect on Student Achievement

• from very positive effects to very negative effects on student achievement.

• average effect size of all the interventions he studied was 0.40.

• 0.40 = hinge point

• “What works best in education?”

EFFECT SIZE greater than 0.40

is seen as above the norm and leading

towards a more-than-expected growth over a year.

Hattie argues that a 0.29 difference is barely noticeable to the naked eye

He uses the argument that the difference is the same as someone 1.82m tall vs 1.80m tall

What is important is that the teacher knows if it is worth making a change

Generally less that 0.3 is a small effect 0.3-0.6 is a medium effect more than 0.6 is a large effect

BUT “a small effect that requires few resources may be more critical than a larger one that requires high level of resources”

Influences on Achievement

.40.30

.15

0

.50.60

.70

.80

.90

1.0REVERSE

Developmental

Effects

Typical

Teacher

Effects

ZONE OFDESIREDEFFECTS

Let’s try something!

Activity:I would like you to take one minute and write down what you feel is important to student achievement- then put them in rank order.Example: Homework

Examples:

Expectations Mastery Learning

Homework Challenge of Goals

Feedback Aims & Policies of the School

Ability Grouping Peer Tutoring

Teacher-Student Relationships

Generally speaking:

* less than 0.3 is a small effect * 0.3-0.6 is a medium effect * more than 0.6 is a large effect

BUT “a small effect that requires few resources may be more critical than a larger one that requires high level of resources”

Class Size Example

• Reducing from 25-30 students to 15-20 is about 0.22

• Teaching specific programs to assist students in test taking is about 0.27

• Hattie argues that the effect sizes are similar but one is much less difficult to resource

What we aim for:

• Hattie notes that “almost everything works”

• “All that is needed to enhance student achievement is a pulse.”

• His 0.4 target is based on the average effect

• He argues that schools should aim to make at least a 0.4 difference as this should be achievable

Influences on Achievement.40

.30

.15

0

.50

.60

.70

.80

.90

1.0REVERSE

Developmental

Effects

Typical

Teacher

Effects

ZONE OFDESIREDEFFECTS

Major domains/areas of impact

▪ Curricula

▪ Home

▪ School

▪ Student

▪ Teacher

▪ Teaching

Impact Ranking for

each domain

Student Domain

1.44 Self-report grades

.40.30

.15

0

.50.60

.70

.80

.90

1.0REVERSE

Developmental

EffectsTypical

Teacher

Effects

ZONE OFDESIREDEFFECTS

Teaching Domain

.9 formative evals

.77 interventions

.74 reciprocal teaching

. 73 Feedback

.40

.30

.15

0

.50 .6

0.70

.80

.901.0

REVERSE

Developme

ntalEffects

Typic

alTeach

erEffect

s

ZONE OFDESIREDEFFECTS

Teacher Effects

.88 Micro teaching

.75 Teacher Clarity

.72 teacher-student relationship.62 Professional Dev

.40.3

0.15

0

.50 .6

0.70

.80

.901.0

REVERSE

Development

alEffectsTypical

Teache

rEffects ZONE

OFDESIREDEFFECTS

Major domains/areas of impact

▪ Curricula

▪ Home

▪ School

▪ Student

▪ Teacher

▪ Teaching

Impact Ranking for

each domain

Typical “average teacher” territory ...

Rank Category Influence Studies Effects ES

70 Finances 189 681 .2369 Summer school 105 600 .2368 Competitive learning 831 203 .2467 Programmed instruction 464 362 .2466 Within class grouping 148 297 .2565 Mainstreaming 150 370 .2864 Desegregation 335 723 .2863 Exercise/relaxation 227 1971 .2862 Audio-based teaching 146 48 .2861 Home visiting by teachers 71 52 .29

Close to averageRank Category Influence Studies Effects ES

60 Reducing anxiety 69 904 .30

59 Principals/school leaders on student achievement 344 1008 .30

58 Ability grouping for gifted students 125 202 .30

57 Homework 261 275 .31

56 Inquiry based teaching 205 420 .31

55 Simulations and gaming 342 449 .32

54 Reading: Exposure to reading 145 324 .36

53 Bilingual programs 128 666 .37

52 Teacher positive expectations 635 745 .37

51 Computer assisted instruction 4481 8079 .37

Average …Rank Category Influence Studies Effects ES

50 Enrichment on gifted 214 543 .3949 Integrated curriculum programs 61 80 .3948 Adjunct aids 138 323 .4147 Hypermedia instruction 46 143 .41

46 Behavioral organisers/adjunct questions 577 1933 .41

45 Self-concept on achievement 324 2113 .4344 Frequent/effects of testing 323 1077 .4643 Early intervention 1627 9050 .4742 Motivation on learning 322 979 .4841 Small group learning 78 155 .49

Getting there …Rank Category Influence Studies Effects ES

40 Questioning 214 342 .49

39 Cooperative learning 2285 1519 .49

38 Reading: Second/third chance programs 52 1395 .50

37 Play programs 70 70 .50

36 Visual based/audio-visual teaching 468 3860 .51

35 Outdoor programs 187 429 .52

34 Concept mapping 91 105 .52

33 Peer influences 12 122 .53

31 Reading: Phonics instruction 407 5950 .53

Let’s have them ....Rank Category Influence Studies Effects ES

30 Reading: Visual-perception programs 762 5244 .55

29 Parental Involvement 694 1761 .5528 Peer tutoring 767 1200 .5527 Goals - challenging 454 671 .5626 Mastery learning 369 284 .5725 Social skills programs 540 3068 .5724 Socio-economic status 499 957 .5723 Home environment 35 109 .5722 Providing worked examples 62 151 .57

21 Reading: Comprehension programs 365 2416 .58

Exciting ….Rank Category Influence Studies Effects ES

20 Direct instruction 304 597 .5919 Time on task 64 100 .5918 Study skills 656 2446 .5917 Acceleration of gifted 60 412 .6016 Problem solving teaching 221 719 .61

15Teacher professional development on student achievement

450 1790 .64

14 Reading: Repeated reading programs 54 156 .67

13 Reading: Vocabulary programs 301 800 .6712 Meta-cognition strategies 43 123 .67

11 Teaching students self-verbalisation 92 1061 .67

The Winners ...Rank Category Influence Studies Effects ES

1 Self-report grades 209 305 1.44

2 Absence of disruptive students 140 315 .86

3 Classroom behavioural 160 942 .804 Quality of teaching 141 195 .775 Reciprocal teaching 38 53 .746 Prior achievement 3387 8758 .737 Teacher-student relationships 229 1450 .728 Feedback 1276 1928 .72

9 Providing formative evaluation to teachers 21 21 .70

10 Creativity programs 658 814 .70

2017 Release :

Collective Teacher Efficacy 1.57Response to Intervention 1.29Interventions w/ Student with learning needs: .77Evaluation and Reflection .75Teacher personality attributes .23Reduced Class Size .21

Reducing class size (0.21 - 113th)

Within-class grouping (0.18 - 120th)

Matching teaching with student learning styles (0.17

- 125th)

Ability grouping / tracking / streaming (0.12 - 131st)

Gender (male compared with female achievement)

(0.12 - 133rd)

Teacher subject knowledge (0.09 - 136th)

Whole-language programs (0.06 - 140th)

Student control over learning (0.04 - 144th)

Retention (holding back a year) (-0.13 - 148th)

Students …• Understand learning intentions

• Are challenged by success criteria

• Develop a range of learning strategies

• Know when they are not progressing

• Seek feedback

• Visibly teach themselves

Teachers• Clear learning intentions

• Challenging success criteria

• Range of learning strategies

• Know when students are not progressing

• Providing feedback

• Visibly learns themselves

• The act of teaching requires deliberate interventions to ensure that there is cognitive change in the student

• learning intentionsknowing when success occursknowing prior learningproviding meaningful and challenging experiences

Passion

• Passion is more than just being charming and joyous

• Hattie argues that passionate teachers are thrilled by achievement and frustrated by challenges.

• He argues that passionate teachers are infectious

• It requires a love of the content, a care for the subject, a desire to make others love it too, and a desire to continue to learn

• Learning is not always easy or pleasurable

• Passionate teachers can help students see the need and reward in the challenge

• This requires detailed and timely feedback. Hattie also discusses the need for fluency.

• “Overlearning” is what happens when we reach a stage of knowing what to do without thinking about it

Mastery Learning:

All children can learn when they focus on mastering tasks in a collaborative environment.

Appropriate learning conditions in the classroom include:

▪ High levels of cooperation between classmates;

▪ Focused teacher feedback that is both frequent and diagnostic;

▪ Variable time allowed to reach levels of attainment

If feedback is so important, what kind of feedback should

be taking place in our classrooms?

“The most powerful single influence enhancing achievement is feedback”

• Quality feedback is needed, not more feedback

• Much of the feedback provided by the teacher to the student is not valued and not acted on

• Students with a Growth Mindset welcome feedback and are more likely to use it to improve their performance

• Oral feedback is much more effective than written

• The most powerful feedback is provided from the student to the teacher

Setting Goals

• There is strong evidence that challenging, achievable goals influence achievement, provided the individual is involved in setting them.

• Goals have a self-energizing effect if they are appropriately challenging as they can motivate students to exert effort in line with the difficulty or demands of the goal.

Teacher – Student Relationships

• Developing a warmer socio-emotional climate in the classroom, fostering effort and thus engagement for all students, requires teachers to enter the classroom with certain conceptions about progress, relationships and students.

• It requires them to believe that their role is that of a change agent – that all students can learn and progress, that achievement for all is changeable and not fixed, and that demonstrating to all students that they care about their learning is both powerful and effective.

• Visible Learning P.128, The Contributions from the Teacher – J.Hattie 2009

Creating Independent Learners

You need two things:Great schools

Expert teachers

Great Schools

• Create a climate that all are responsible for the progress of the students

• Use information openly and intelligently

• Use research-based evidence

• Collaborate to improve learning

• Develop expert teachers

Building Teacher Quality – John Hattie, University of Auckland 2003

Quality Teachers

Meet with colleagues regularly to discuss:

• Evidence of progress of your and their students

• How to improve your teaching

• How to change your teaching

• How to do this in the light of evidence that what you are doing at present is not having the effect that you want

Building Teacher Quality (The difference between experienced teachers & expert teachers)– John Hattie, University of Auckland 2003

John Hattie on the art of teaching

• “…the act of teaching reaches its epitome of success after the lesson has been structured, after the content has been delivered, and after the classroom has been organised. The art of teaching, and its major successes, relate to “what happens next” – the manner in which the teacher reacts to how the student interprets, accommodates, rejects and/or reinvents the content and skills, how the student relates and applies the content to other tasks, and how the student reacts in light of success and failure apropos the content and methods that the teacher taught. Learning is spontaneous, individualistic, and often earned through effort. It is a timeworn, slow, gradual, fits-and-starts kind of process, which can have a flow of its own, but requires passion, patience, and attention to detail (from the teacher and the student)”.

What are the next steps?

Who we are?- Process School- Depth of learning

What do we want to be?

How are we going to get there…..?

How are we going to get there?

Growth mindset

- Figuring out what we do well and celebrating it

- Coming up with a comprehensive plan that pulls these things together

- School Strategic Plan

How are we going to get there?

Input from all areas of the school

How are we going to get there?

Changing the evaluation process for professional growth

How are we going to get there?

Growth mindset for the students and staff

- professional/personal goals- S.M.A.R.T. Goals: specific, measurable,

achievable, results-focused, and time-bound

- Reflections- Timelines

Questions?

Thank you for coming today!

The more the student becomes the teacher and

the more the teacher becomes the learner,

then the more successful are the outcomes.

-John Hattie

Resources

• www.education.auckland.ac.nz/webdav/site/education/shared/hattie/docs/EARLI-presentation-by-john-hattie.ppt

• http://visible-learning.org/

• http://visiblelearningplus.com/