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NSW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Planning for school improvement

Wollongong and Wollongong North SEGsJuly 26 2011

Schools are about to develop a school plan for the next three years

Is developing a School Plan for three years a new experience for me?

I have developed School Management Plans and even School Strategic Plans but not a School Plan for three years.

So is it different?

There is good planning around emerging circumstances and bad planning about existing circumstances.


What do I know

Bad planning for existing circumstances

What do I know


Good Planning for Emergent Circumstances

• The school plan and the annual school report are public documents that provide the central component of a schools accountability requirements to its parents, the community and State and Commonwealth governments.

• There is ONE plan for the next three year planning cycle.

• Schools who receive additional resources through equity or targeted programs will integrate into the school plan the intended outcomes, targets and funding for these programs.

• The school plan will be consistent with and aligned to the education elements of the NSW State Plan and the Department’s corporate planning documents.

• School plans are endorsed by the school education director. The endorsed plan is to be made available by 31 March each year. Then put on the schools website.


What do I know

• Schools will revise targets, strategies and indicators in the second and third years when necessary. The school’s self-evaluation process will form the basis of these changes. Any changes are endorsed by the school education director.

• The development of the school plan is led by the principal but is a shared responsibility between members of the school community.

• The school plan will indicate who has responsibility (which role/group) for implementing sections of the plan and will include all available resources.

• The school reports against the school plan in the annual school report. Future directions identified in the ASR should be reflected in the revised targets of the school plan for the following year.

• The completed annual school report will be uploaded to the ASR Access Tool by 1 April each year. Then put on the school’s website.


What do I know

• School planning is a continuous, developmental and adaptive process to improve teaching and learning, acknowledged as a key influence on student achievement in NSW public schools

• The school plan is a major accountability component of the principal-ship and the school education directors role

• We will not be certain what is in the State Plan until early September when the Budget is delivered.


What do I really know

"We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized.

I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganising; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralisation."

Date:210 BC

Quote falsely attributed toGaius Petronius Arbiter

Roman Satirist

I always think of this quote around election time

The regions Key Focus Areas remain the same:

• Aboriginal Education – improved access, participation and outcomes for all Aboriginal students K-12

• Leadership at all levels – improved teacher and school leader capacity to support sustainable school improvement and student learning

• Moving the Middle to the Top – Higher expectations of student performance leading to improved performance in NAPLAN, the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate

• Student Engagement – expanded focus on school culture and practice that respects and responds to every student’s aspirations, culture, gender and learning potential.


What do I really know

Priority Areas

• Aboriginal Education

• Curriculum and Assessment

• Leadership and Management

• Literacy and Numeracy

• Student Engagement and Attainment


What might I think if I was Nostradamus

Curriculum and Assessment

Strategic Priority Implement new syllabus incorporating the Australian Curriculum

Key Strategy Support the implementation of new syllabuses


What might I think if I was Nostradamus

The Australian Curriculum is about to run over me


I do not have to be Nostradamus to know

Many principals are about to lead the development of a plan that they won’t see the end of, because they will have

retired or perhaps been promoted.


What do I also know


Perhaps I should think about


What have I learnt over the last three years about planning

Whole school focus on reading or numeracyEvidence based programs

Analysis of data – turning data into achievement Analysis of data guides teaching so that every student progresses along the learning continuum for literacy and numeracy

High expectations for student achievement High expectations of teacher performanceStrengthen the focus on achieving proficiency standards, not accepting that it is good enough to be at or just above National Minimum Standard. Planning teaching programs that are continually reviewed to build incrementally on identified student learning goals

Identifying what works, what needs improving, and what should be sustained Improvement is driven by in-school and program level evaluation to identify what is working and what needs improving, and what should be sustained


Success factors – what’s worked in National Partnership Schools

Development of leadership capacityTeam Leadership for School ImprovementConsultant Principal programReviewing the role of the executive -‘the changing role of the executive teacher’Managing and working with the different personalities/capabilities/views

in your leadership teamShared knowledge of reforms that is common and consistent. Shared vision of future

directions and strategies to achieve goals.Providing purposeful feedback

Attention to detailGood management structures – communication, decision making, financial, etc, etc

and making sure it is not just in the principals head – knowledge is known by others and skills are developed by others.

Emergent Planning rather than Strategic PlanningPlanning approach that focuses much more closely on improving student learning. A

responsive approach to planning with short timelines.


Success factors – what’s worked


What have I learnt about planning for whole school

change?

• Commence with a rigorous situational analysis

• Narrow rather than widen the focus on what needs improving

• Professional development that is collaborative and directly related to classroom practice that builds capacity

• Lifting student performance across the whole cohort

• Importance of individual learning plans

• Personal Learning plans for Aboriginal students, that incorporate ILP’s are essential


• That what has been learnt is factored into whole-school planning linked to the Public Schools Office Plan 2012-2014

• Sustain data collection and analysis to focus teaching and learning – e.g. data walls, literacy and numeracy continuum, ILPs, PLP’s

Retain the skills of data collection to continually inform teachers’ clear understanding of students needs and how they can be achieved.

Regular monitoring and review of the implementation of students’ ILPs, and class plans based on the literacy and numeracy continuums

What matters most now for sustainability


• Focus on pedagogical leadership at all levels

• NP has moved executive positions from administration to curriculum leadership, Team Leadership for School Improvement is now a regional strategy in Illawarra South East Region, staff meetings are now not about playground rosters but about teaching and learning



• Ongoing professional learning and professional dialogue to ensure continual quality assurance and shared expertise

Ongoing Professional Development focus, no longer “one off” sessions – sustained Professional Learning to ensure the integrity of the program through collaboration, reflection, evaluation, sharing practice and student work, continue to allocate time for professional dialogue.

To some extent countered the attitude we’ve done that and move onto the next new fad




• Networking with other schools

“Sharing the love”


The hard questions – transforming the school plan into action

• Are the espoused educational goals for students’ achievement integrated, shared, understood and strategies practised in classrooms?

• How are teacher/executive differences and professional learning needs addressed in a way that is professionally meaningful?

• How are teachers supported to develop the skills needed to design effective learning and assessment experiences?

• Is there a clear line of sight between reforms, strategies for improvement and evidence?

Syntax: And how do I know this is happening and what is the evidence?


Are the targets SMART


Are the targets SMARTSpecificWhat is the target?What exactly do we want to achieve by the end?What are the details? MeasureableIs there evidence that can be used to show if and how well the target has been achieved?What will be the difference in our school if the target is achieved?How will we be able to tell if we achieved it?

AchievableIs the target possible in the current situation?How essential is this target to the whole school priority area?What will successful completion of the target look like?


Are the targets SMARTRelevantWhy is the target important?How essential is this target to the whole school priority area?Is the target moving us forward? Does it improve student outcomes? Time-boundWhen should the target be achieved?How often should the target be achieved?Is there a built-in review period for long-term targets?

Formula for writing targets

(VERB) (MEASURE) from X to Y

Increase Year 9 attendance from 86% to 89%


Are the targets SMARTUseful verbs for writing SMART targets Increase Raise Decrease Reduce Expand Underpin

Cut Identify Discover Ascertain Compare Apply

Meet Involve Implement Unclear words More Improve Successfully Efficiently Regularly Aim to

Appropriate 100% Effectively Timely Complete Develop


If we do not sustain the learning from the NPLN are we in danger of not doing what matters most?

“If [we] do not share up-to-date knowledge about effective practices, the field runs around in circles.

[We have] curriculum and teaching practices that are inconsistent, many poor decisions are made, and the efforts of those who are successful are continually undermined. The educational landscape is littered with examples of successful programs and schools that were later undone by [newcomers] marching to a less-well informed drummer. . . . Schools are vulnerable to vendors selling educational snake oils when educators lack sufficient shared knowledge of learning, curriculum, instruction, and research to make sound decisions about programs and materials. Students experience a hodge-podge caused by failure of the system to provide the knowledge and tools needed by the educators who serve them.” (p.196)

Darling-Hammond, L. (2011). The flat world and education. Hawker Brownlow Education

Documents

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