Professor Sam TwiseltonMember of Advisory Panel, Director of Sheffield Institute of Education

18th February 2015

Carter Review of Initial Teacher Training

At the heart of every community lies a school and at the heart of every school are the teachers. No matter how well organised or detailed the curriculum, how grand or well-

resourced the building. What really matters most in a child’s education is the quality of the teaching.

Foreword from Sir Andrew Carter OBE

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The scope of the review

The scope of the review included all ITT routes (HEI, SCITT, School Direct as well as Teach First) and a range of subjects and phases.

The review group focused on areas it deemed particularly important; for example, subject knowledge, subject specific pedagogy, behaviour management training, and special educational needs.

The review group focused on the quality of ITT provision and not considered related ITT issues, such as recruitment and retention strategies, workforce planning or funding.

The Advisory Group

An advisory group was appointed, representing a diverse range of views, to support this work on the review. The members of the group are:

Professor Samantha Twiselton (Sheffield Hallam University)

Dr Louise Walker (Manchester University)

Sir Dan Moynihan (Harris Federation)

Judith O’Kane OBE (Bright Futures Education Trust)

Daisy Christodoulou (ARK Schools)

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The Review Process

We gathered a wide range of evidence and views through a range of activities including:A review of the existing evidence base including international evidence, Ofsted evidence and findings from the Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) survey

A call for evidence that received 148 responses from a range of individuals and institutions, including universities, professional bodies, schools, teachers and trainees

11 themed roundtable discussions with sector experts

24 meetings and discussions with experts and stakeholders

31 visits to ITT providers and schools involved in ITT, involving meetings with trainers, mentors, headteachers as well as current and former trainees

A review of course materials from ~150 programmes.

A survey of trainee and applicant opinions about ITT course information

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Key Initial Findings from national data:

Ofsted data suggests that the majority of trainees are being trained within ‘good’ partnerships: 1855 (14%) were trained by outstanding ITT partnerships

10870 (82%) were trained by good ITT partnerships

505 (4%) were trained by ITT partnerships requiring improvement

The 2014 NQT survey - quality of ITT was seen as at least good by 89% primary and 93% (please note the survey only had a 20% response rate).

HOWEVER...

NAHT teacher recruitment survey of their members found that:

For NQTs, 33.7% found it easy to recruit to the roles but 8% were unable to recruit at all

‘quality of applicants in our area’ (45%) and ‘plenty of applicants but of poor quality’ (35%) main reasons cited

Skill shortfalls identified: classroom management (73% of respondents), subject knowledge (58%) and understanding of pedagogy and child development (56%)

Comparing Different Routes - The Good Teacher Training Guide

SCITTs had the highest average score HEIs had the most highly qualified entrants but lower take-up of teaching posts than SCITTs Ofsted judge the university provision to be the best but the NQT survey shows slightly better for

SCITTs The Guide does not consider the performance of School Direct programmes

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Key Findings from the Review How does the system perform overall?

The diversity of different routes is a strength, allowing the system to meet the needs of different schools and trainees. E.g.

•undergraduate routes allow time to develop subject knowledge; •Teach First has a particular purpose in the system;•School based ITT often favoured by career changers; •HEI based by more recent graduates.

Overall the evidence we have about the system suggests that it generally performs well, with some room for improvement in particular areas.

Difficult to draw conclusions about one route into teaching being more effective than another.

The review in detail - initial themes and those that emerged

Initially in the remit:

subject knowledge

subject specific pedagogy

behaviour management training

special educational needs

Added later

focus on outcomes and wellbeing

evidence based teaching

assessment and differentiation

child and adolescent development

high quality mentoring from a strong practitioner - opportunities to learn from strong (outstanding) practitioners (including but also beyond mentors)

ITT as part of a continuum of professional development

maximising the use of school based time

resilience, workload and professionalism

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Key Findings: What does good course content look like?

  ITT is initial – forming the basis for systematic on-going development

ITT course content should have a relentless and explicit focus on pupil outcomes and well being (mission reflected in all aspects)

The most effective courses address/assess gaps and misconceptions in trainees’ subject knowledge, including subject-specific pedagogy

ITT should show why engaging with research is important and how to do this well

ITT should equip new teachers to use summative as well as formative assessment - validity, reliability, norm and criterion referencing

Trainees should be taught child and adolescent development

Trainees should be given practical advice on behaviour management

Planning should be given significant time and emphasis

ITT should include most common SEND issues and practical strategies for addressing these

ITT should have on-going focus on professionalism (including resilience and time management)

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Key Findings: What does good ITT Delivery look like?

  Beyond traditional placement models to carefully crafted and integrated school-

based experiences

Built-in opportunities to observe outstanding teaching in a range of contexts

Systematic coming together in peer groups and subject communities

Benefits of experiencing school as early as possible in the year - see ground rules etc. established - part of school community from Day 1

High quality mentoring is critically important for ITT. Outstanding teachers and subject experts, who are also skilled in deconstructing their own practice

Across all routes, schools should play a leading role in the recruitment and selection of trainees, course design and delivery, assessment of trainees and on-going review of programmes

The most effective partnerships include a range of types of schools and expertise, ideally including Special Schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) as well as a university

It is critical that progression between ITT and the NQT year is as seamless as possible

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Key Findings: How could course content be improved?

 

Address: Variability and gaps in ITT content across the system

Subject knowledge: challenges in depth and breadth – particularly the breadth of the primary curriculum and depth for smaller secondary subject groups

Evidence-based teaching: ITT doesn't always adequately teach trainees the core skills of how to access, critically interpret and use research to inform classroom practice

Assessment: the most significant improvements are needed for training in assessment – particularly in the theoretical and technical aspects of assessment

Child development is generally well covered in primary courses but lacked coverage in secondary courses

Pupil behaviour: we have found some reluctance towards articulating practical approaches

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Key Findings: How could ITT delivery be improved?

 

Careful crafting of school based experiences and exposure to expertise. Maximise early integration into school life, observation, systematic access to range of expertise, pupil shadowing, micro-teaching, contextual compare/contrast

Mentors should have greater status and recognition. Mentoring is not as good as it could be. System needs to more formally develop this role.

Greater integration from ITE into NQT and RQT needed - the link between ITT and early career professional development is often weak

Create more clarity and consistency in relation to PGCE and QTS - we have a confusing and complex system. We found an inconsistency in the number of masters credits awarded on PGCE programmes and how collaborative arrangements work with SCITTs – with no sector-agreed rationale

Skills tests that are fit for purpose. Providers and trainees expressed frustration about the skills tests, arguing that they can lead to otherwise good candidates being lost from ITT

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Key Findings: Transparency of information about ITT courses

 

Applicants must have access to clear information about ITT courses. From the evidence we gathered from potential applicants, trainees, schools and ITT providers, it is clear that the current picture is confusing.

Similarly, schools choosing to work with an ITT provider must be able to access clear information in order to make informed choices. Schools told us that it can be difficult for them to find useful information about providers.

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Recommendations:

DfE should commission a sector body (for example, the Teaching Schools Council, a future professional body (College of Teaching), or another sector body) to develop a framework of core content for ITT.

DfE should make funded in-service subject knowledge enhancement courses available for new primary teachers to access as professional development.

The Teachers’ Standards should be amended to be more explicit about the importance of teachers taking an evidence-based approach.

A central portal of synthesised executive summaries, providing practical advice on research findings about effective teaching in different subjects and phases, should be developed. A future College of Teaching would be well placed to develop this.

Alongside a central portal on evidence-based practice, a central repository of resources and guidance on assessment should be developed.

DfE should commission a sector body, for example the Teaching Schools Council, to develop some national standards for mentors.

Building on the development of school-led ITT, DfE should work in collaboration with those involved in ITT to consider the way in which teachers qualify with a view to strengthening what has become a complex and sometimes confusing system.

DfE should undertake a review of the effectiveness of the skills tests in selecting high quality trainees.

In order for applicants and schools to make well informed decisions when choosing ITT courses and providers, we recommend the development and expansion of the NCTL’s “Get into Teaching” website and gov.uk.

directly to the sector and to the government

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Recommendations:

DfE should commission a sector body (for example, the Teaching Schools Council, a future professional body (College of Teaching), or another sector body) to develop a framework of core content for ITT.

DfE should make funded in-service subject knowledge enhancement courses available for new primary teachers to access as professional development.

The Teachers’ Standards should be amended to be more explicit about the importance of teachers taking an evidence-based approach.

A central portal of synthesised executive summaries, providing practical advice on research findings about effective teaching in different subjects and phases, should be developed. A future College of Teaching would be well placed to develop this.

Alongside a central portal on evidence-based practice, a central repository of resources and guidance on assessment should be developed.

DfE should commission a sector body, for example the Teaching Schools Council, to develop some national standards for mentors.

Building on the development of school-led ITT, DfE should work in collaboration with those involved in ITT to consider the way in which teachers qualify with a view to strengthening what has become a complex and sometimes confusing system.

DfE should undertake a review of the effectiveness of the skills tests in selecting high quality trainees.

In order for applicants and schools to make well informed decisions when choosing ITT courses and providers, we recommend the development and expansion of the NCTL’s “Get into Teaching” website and gov.uk.

directly to the sector and to the government

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Next Steps

 The government have welcomed this report in a government response. There are some recommendations which government will need to consider in the long-term. In the short-term they have confirmed they will:

commission an independent working group made of expert representatives from the sector to develop a core ITT framework

commission the Teaching Schools Council to develop a set of national standards for mentors

develop the Get Into Teaching website and provide information about ITT on GOV.UK so that applicants of ITT and schools can find clearer information about provision

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Next Steps - SIoE and the ITE sector

 

• Ensure ITE programmes sufficiently reflect the content recommendations - some providers have already 'ragged' their provision against them

• Be ready to contribute/engage with mentor recognition standards

• Consider optimum structures: beyond traditional placement models to carefully crafted school-based experiences - built-in

opportunities to observe good and outstanding teaching

chances to come together in peer groups - a challenge for small subjects.

experiencing school as early as possible in the year

schools should play a leading role in all aspects of ITE - mentors as outstanding teachers and subject experts, who are also skilled in explaining their own practice

a range of types of schools, ideally including Special Schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) as well as a university.

progression between ITT and the NQT year is as seamless as possible

Clarify distinction between QTS and academic award

Address inconsistencies and confusion in relation to PGCE

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Next Steps - SIoE and the ITE sector

 

• Ensure ITE programmes sufficiently reflect the content recommendations - some providers have already 'ragged' their provision against them

• Be ready to contribute/engage with mentor recognition standards

• Consider optimum structures: beyond traditional placement models to carefully crafted school-based experiences - built-in

opportunities to observe good and outstanding teaching

chances to come together in peer groups - a challenge for small subjects.

experiencing school as early as possible in the year

schools should play a leading role in all aspects of ITE - mentors as outstanding teachers and subject experts, who are also skilled in explaining their own practice

a range of types of schools, ideally including Special Schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) as well as a university.

progression between ITT and the NQT year is as seamless as possible

Clarify distinction between QTS and academic award

Address inconsistencies and confusion in relation to PGCE