twitter.com/ProfCoe
Can research make you a
better teacher?
Robert Coe
ResearchEd, London, 6 Sept 2014
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
2
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
3
What does ‘better’ look like?
∂
5
Teacher Professional Standards
should
 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
6
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?
7
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 (eg Muijs 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 TrustEEF Toolkit)
8
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
9
Dimensions of great teaching
1. (Pedagogical) content knowledge
2. Behaviour / control / classroom management
3. Classroom climate / relationships /
∂
expectations
4. Quality of instruction
5. Wider professional elements: collegiality,
development, relationships
6. Research knowledge
10
1. (Pedagogical) content
knowledge
11
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?
12
307
- 168
261
A pupil writes
How would
you respond?
Another says, ‘Take 8 away from both’
307
- 168
∂
299
- 160
How would you respond?
(from Ball et al, 2008)
13
2. Behaviour / control /
classroom management
14
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.
15
Time on task observation tool
∂
‘On task’ = thinking hard about what
they are supposed to be learning
16
Dealing with disruption
A. the teacher is not using any strategy at all to deal
with a classroom disorder problem,
B. the teacher is using a strategy but the problem is
only temporarily solved (the disorder reoccurs),
C. the teacher is using a strategy that has a longlasting effect
∂
(From Kyriakides et al 2009)
Use video excerpts in an
online training programme,
with a test to identify
accredited observers
17
3. Classroom climate /
relationships / expectations
18
Test your mindset
http://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
19
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)
20
4. Quality of instruction
21
The Dynamic Model (Creemers & Kyriakides, 2006)
1.
Orientation
a)
b)
2.
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
a)
b)
c)
3.
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
a)
b)
c)
4.
∂
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
a)
b)
c)
Encouraging students to use problem-solving strategies presented by
the teacher or other classmates
Inviting students to develop strategies
Promoting the idea of modelling
22
The Dynamic Model (Creemers & Kyriakides, 2006)
5.
Application
a)
b)
6.
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
a)
b)
7.
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
a)
b)
8.
Organizing the classroom environment
Maximizing engagement rates
Assessment
a)
b)
c)
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
23
Principles of Instruction (Rosenshine, 2010)
1. Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning
2. Present new material in small steps, with student
practice after each step
3. Ask a large number of questions and check the
responses of all students
4. Provide models for problem solving and worked
examples
∂ rehearsal
5. Guide student practice and
6. Check for student understanding
7. Obtain a high success rate (80%)
8. Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks
9. Require and monitor independent practice
10. Engage students in weekly and monthly review
24
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)
25
6. Research knowledge
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’
27
Effect Size (months gain)
Impact vs cost
www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit
Most promising for
raising attainment
8
May be
worth it
Feedback
Meta-cognitive
Peer tutoring
Homework
(Secondary)
Collaborative
Early Years
1-1 tuition
∂
Behaviour
Small gp
Phonics
Parental
tuition
involvement
ICT
Social
Individualised Summer
schools
learning
Mentoring Teaching
Homework
assistants
(Primary)
Performance
Aspirations
0
pay
Setting
£0
Cost per pupil
Smaller
classes
After
school
£1000
Small
effects /
high cost
True or false?
1. Reducing class size is one of the most
effective ways to increase learning [evidence]
2. Differentiation and ‘personalised learning’
resources maximise learning [evidence]
3. Praise encourages learners
and helps them
∂
persist with hard tasks [evidence]
4. Technology supports learning by engaging
and motivating learners [evidence]
5. The best way to raise attainment is to
enhance motivation and interest [evidence]
29
Key elements of good evaluation
 Clear, well
defined, replicable
intervention
∂
 Good assessment
of appropriate
outcomes
 Well-matched
comparison group
Summary
31
 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
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