What we have learned from the past 20 years of research into school effectiveness and school

improvement

Professor Tony TownsendChair of Public Service, Educational

Leadership and Management

Department of Educational Studies,

University of Glasgow

Masaryk University, Brno May 10, 2010

Before we start

Write down in a sentence or two what you think the meaning of each of the following terms is:

• Classroom effectiveness• School effectiveness• School improvement• School reform

Discuss what you have written with your neighbour. How close are your definitions?

Maybe this will help

• Classroom effectiveness – improving student achievement through learning and teaching

• School effectiveness – establishing processes that focus on student learning

• School improvement – the attempts by local education authorities to improve effectiveness across schools

• School reform – restructuring the school system to bring about large scale change

Educational Effectiveness Research

Sets out to answer the questions:

• What makes a ‘good’ school?

• How do we make more schools ‘good’?

What is an effective school?

• What criteria would you use to judge whether a school is effective or not?

• List five characteristics that an effective school would have that a less effective school would not

• Choose the two you think are the most important

Coleman et al., 1966:325

Schools bring little influence to bear on a child's achievement that is independent of his background and general social context... this very lack of an independent effect means that the inequalities imposed on children by their home, neighbourhood and peer environment are carried along to become the inequalities with which they confront adult life at the end of school. For equality of educational opportunity must imply a strong effect of schools that is independent of the child's immediate environment, and that strong independence is not present in American schools.

Rutter et al, 1979:1

• do a child's experiences at school have any effect?

• does it matter which school he goes to?

• which are the features of school that matter?

Madaus et al, 1980:22

an effective school can be defined as such...

‘to the extent that there is congruence between its objectives and achievements. In other words it is effective to the extent that it accomplishes what it sets out to do’

Edmonds, 1978:3

I define an effective school as being instructionally successful for all children excepting those of certifiable physical, emotional or mental handicap. Specifically, I require that an effective school bring the children of the poor to those minimal masteries of basic school skills that now describe minimally successful pupil performances for the children of the middle class.

Sammons, Hill and Mortimore (1995)

Townsend, 1994:48

An effective school is one that develops and maintains a high quality educational programme designed to achieve both system-wide and locally identified goals. All students, regardless of their family or social background, experience both improvement across their school career and ultimate success in the achievement of those goals, based on appropriate external and school-based measuring techniques.

McGaw et al. (1992:174)

School effectiveness is about a great deal more than maximising academic achievement. Learning, and the love of learning; personal development and self-esteem; life skills; problem solving and learning how to learn; the development of independent thinkers and well-rounded, confident individuals; all rank as highly or more highly in the outcomes of effective schooling as success in a narrow range of academic disciplines.

The legacy of school effectiveness (Reynolds, 1994)

...has had the positive effect of helping to destroy the belief that schools can do nothing to change the society around them...and... the myth that the influence of family background is so strong on children's development that they are unable to be affected by school ...has had the negative effect of creating a widespread, popular view that schools do not just make a difference, but that they make all the difference.

Teddlie & Reynolds, 2000

From the position 30 years ago that schools make no difference, there is now the assumption that schools affect children’s development; that there are observable, valuable routines and programs within the schools, and that the task of educational policies is indeed, to improve schools.

The legacy of school effectiveness (Reynolds et al 2011)

• In helping to counter the mistaken belief that schools could do nothing to change the society around them;

• In helping to rigorously study ‘what worked’, rather than be prone to follow fads and fashions about this;

• In helping to show practitioners they had power that could be used for the good over young people;

• In creating a valid, although as we noted above, somewhat limited knowledge base which could act as a foundation for training and which could avoid the need for the reinvention of the wheel by the teaching professions of different countries.

Overall it (EER) has achieved much, notably:

What does the research tell us?

• School effectiveness is context dependent

• Even effective schools might not be effective in all departments

• Schools that are effective now might not be in a few years time

• Classroom effectiveness is more important than school effectiveness

when it comes to student outcomes

The really BIG question

Where is the ONE PLACE in school where learning happens?

Not one of the places, or even the most important place,

but the one place?

School and Class Effects

Percent of Variance in Value-Added Measures of English and Mathematics Achievement Accounted for by School and Class

Effects

Class (%) School (%)

EnglishPrimary 45 9

Secondary 38 7

MathematicsPrimary 55 4

Secondary 53 8

Hill & Crevola, 1997: 9

What Helps Students Learn?

Wang, M.C., Haertel, G.D. and Walberg, H.J. (1993/1994, Educational Leadership, pp 74-79)

Analyzed 179 chapters, conducted 91 research syntheses, interviewed 61 educational researchers, considered 11,000 findings. Identified 28 areas grouped into 6 categories

What Helps Students Learn?

1. Classroom Management2. Metacognitive processes3. Cognitive processes4. Home Environment/Parental Support5. Student/Teacher social interactions6. Social/behavioural attributes7. Motivational/Affective attributes8. Peer Group9. Quantity of Instruction10. School Culture11. Classroom Climate12. Classroom Instruction13. Curriculum Design14. Academic Interactions

15. Classroom Assessment16. Community Influences17. Psychomotor skills18. Teacher/Administrator Decision Making20. Parent Involvement Policy21. Classroom Implementation and Support22. Student demographics23. Out of Class Time24. Program Demographics25. School Demographics26. State Level Policies27. School Policies28. District Demographics

What helps students learn?

student

classroom

home/community

programschool

district/system

Influences on Student Achievement

Prof John Hattie (Auckland University): Meta-analysis of over 50,000 studies

What are the effect sizes of various aspects of student learning? What are the most important things we can do to change student learning?

• Reference: Hattie, J. (2003). ‘Teachers Make a Difference: What is the Research Evidence?’, http://www.leadspace.govt.nz/leadership/articles/teachers-make-a-difference.php

Influences on Student Achievement

Influence Effect Size SourceFeedback 1.13 Teacher

Student’s Prior Cognitive Ability 1.04 Student

Instructional Quality 1.00 Large Teacher

Direct Instruction .82 Teacher

Remediation/feedback .65 Teacher

Student’s disposition to learn .61 Student

Influences on Student Achievement

Influence Effect Size SourceClass environment .56 TeacherChallenge of goals .52 TeacherPeer tutoring .50 TeacherMastery learning .50 TeacherParent involvement .46 HomeHomework .43 TeacherTeacher style .42 TeacherQuestioning .41 Moderate TeacherPeer effects .38 PeersAdvance organisers .37 TeacherSimulations and games .34 TeacherComputer-assisted instruction .31 TeacherTesting .30 TeacherInstructional media .30 TeacherAims and policy of school .24 SchoolAffective attributes of students .24 Student

Influences on Student Achievement

Influence Effect Size SourceProgrammed instruction .18 TeacherAbility grouping .18 SchoolAudio-visual aids .16 Small/Weak TeacherIndividualisation .14 TeacherFinances/money .12 SchoolBehavioural objectives .12 TeacherTeam teaching .06 TeacherPhysical attributes (class size) -.05 SchoolTelevision -.12 None/negative HomeRetention -.15 School

See also:Hattie, J. (2007). ‘Developing Potentials for Learning: Evidence, assessment, and progress’,

EARLI Biennial Conference, Budapest, Hungary. http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/education/staff/j.hattie/j.hattie_home.cfm

The Effects of Quality Teaching: accounting for variance in student achievementThe Effects of Quality Teaching: accounting for variance in student achievement

~5-10%

~50%

~5-10%

> 30%

John Hattie ( 2003, 2007)

School and Classroom Effectiveness

…one of the more powerful conclusions arising from recent research is that much of the variation between schools is, in fact, due to variation among classes

Peter Hill, 1995

What Helps Students Learn?

Hattie (2003):

It is what teachers know, do, and care about which is very powerful in this learning equation.

Effective Classrooms

• structured teaching;

• effective learning time;

• opportunity to learn, pressure to achieve and high expectations;

• physical/material school characteristics;

• parental involvement.

Smink, 1991: 3

School effectiveness is concerned with results. Researchers try to describe certain variables for school success in measurable terms. On the other hand, school improvement places the accent on the process; here one finds a broad description of all the variables that play a role in a school improvement project. Both approaches need the other to successfully modernize the system.

McGaw, Banks &Piper, 1991: 15

There is no definitive how of effective schools and so there can be no one recipe for every school to try.

Schooling is too complex a business for a recipe.

Stoll & Fink, 1992

Only when school effectiveness research is merged with school improvement research can planned change and staff development occur to empower and support growth towards effectiveness

Stoll & Fink (1996)

Effective

Ineffective

Improving Declining

Moving

Struggling Sinking

Cruising

Strolling

Stoll & Fink, 1996

Moving Schools• boost student progress

• work together to respond to changing context and to keep developing

• know where they’re going

• have the will and skill to get there

Stoll & Fink, 1996

Cruising Schools• appear to possess many qualities of

school effectiveness

• usually are high SES schools

• pupils achieve in spite of teaching quality

• not preparing students for a changing world

Stoll & Fink, 1996

Strolling Schools• neither particularly effective nor

ineffective

• moving at an inadequate rate to cope with the pace of change

• ill-defined and sometimes conflicting aims inhibit improvement

Stoll & Fink, 1996

Struggling Schools• ineffective and they know it

• expend considerable energy trying to improve

• willing to try anything

• will ultimately succeed

Stoll & Fink, 1996

Sinking Schools• ineffective, are isolated, use blame and self-

reliance

• staff, through ignorance or apathy, are unable to change

• often low SES and blame parenting

• need dramatic action and significant support

What school is your school?

• Moving (effective and improving)

• Cruising (effective but declining)

• Strolling (OK but not going anywhere)

• Struggling (not effective but getting better)

• Sinking (not effective and getting worse)

Stoll & Fink (1996)

Effective

Ineffective

Improving Declining

Moving

Struggling Sinking

Cruising

Strolling

What school is your school?

• Student achievement• Staff-student relationships• Student welfare• Literacy attainment• Numeracy attainment• Balanced curriculum• Student responsibility• School facilities and environment• Parent involvement• School leadership• Professional development• Fund raising• Marketing the school• Staff-administration relationship• Communication to parents

• Relations with the wider community• Extra curricular activities• Sporting achievement• Staff health and well-being• Student attendance• Staff involvement in decisions• Financial management• Student behavior• School ethos and climate• Curriculum development• Assessment of student progress• Reporting to parents• Relations with region/department• Staff cooperation• Inducting new staff• Student group learning• Celebrate achievement

The Dynamic Model of Educational Effectiveness (Creemers and Kyriakides, 2011)

Aptitude Perseverance Time on taskOpportunity to

learn

SESGender

EthnicityPersonality traits

Expectations Thinking style Subject motivation

Quality of teaching - Orientation - Structuring - Modelling - Application - Questioning - Assessment - Management of Time - Classroom as a learning environment

School PolicyEvaluation of School Policy

National/Regional policy for education

Evaluation of policyThe educational environment

Outcomes•Cognitive•Affective•Psychomotor•New learning

Townsend (2007, p 951)

• Redefining the concept of effectiveness to consider contextual issues that occur at various levels of education;

• Redefining the measurement of effectiveness to consider broad, rather than narrow, outcomes, based on the reality of people’s experiences of the world;

• Redefining the structures and implementation of schooling in ways that take into account the complexity of the experience;

• Redefining the experience of schooling for students based on what we now know about learning, about the impact of context and about the changes brought about by globalization and technology;

• Redefining teacher education to consider the issues of effectiveness identified above for the professional education and development of teachers and school leaders.

Future issues for SESI research

Redefining the concept of effectiveness to consider contextual issues that occur at various levels of education.

What would change if the unit of effectiveness being measured was:

The school system (an effective educational system)?The community (an effective neighbourhood)?The student (an effective student)?The family (an effective family)?The government (an effective government)?

Future issues for SESI research

Redefining the measurement of effectiveness to consider broad, rather than narrow, outcomes, based on the reality of people’s experiences of the world.

How would we measure the following:Education for survival (the building blocks for everything else)?

Understanding our place in the world (how my particular talents can be developed and used)?

Understanding community (how I and others are connected)?

and

Understanding our personal responsibility (understanding that being a member of the world community carries responsibilities as well as rights)?

Future issues for SESI research

Redefining the structures and implementation of schooling in ways that take into account the complexity of the experience

Where are the powerful decisions about education taken:Nationally?Local Authority level?School Level?Somewhere else?

If we are to focus our attention on every child, where SHOULD they be taken?

Future issues for SESI research

Redefining the experience of schooling for students based on what we now know about learning, about the impact of context and about the changes brought about by globalization and technology

Every morning in every school in the world, there are two groups of students who bring different understandings of what their day will be like. For the first group, they are going to a place they enjoy (school) to work with people they like (teachers) to do something of value (learning) that will bear fruit in the future. The second group are going to a place that they hate, to work with people they think hate them, to do something they don’t believe they can do for a future they don’t have.

Townsend, 2007, p 957

Future issues for SESI research

Redefining teacher education to consider the issues of effectiveness identified above for the professional education and development of teachers and school leaders.

There are two types of teachers, the tellers and the askers.

(Clinch 2001)

More information

If you would like more details contact

Tony Townsend:

School of Education

University of Glasgow

Phone: +44(0)141 330 4434

Fax: +44(0)141 330 5451

email: tony.townsend@glasgow.ac.uk