Curriculum, Quality and Inspection:
The role of Governors in the scrutiny of
teaching, learning, assessment, and
learner outcomes
AoC Governance Workshop
Saturday 25 April 2015
Steve Sawbridge, AoC Regional Director
Objectives
•
To understand the responsibilities of Governors in relation to the
scrutiny of teaching, learning and assessment
•
To understand the roles of Ofsted and the FE and Sixth Form College
Commissioners
•
To know what sources of information and data are available to support
Governors in assessing the effectiveness of teaching, learning and
assessment
•
To review current practice and share experience on current approaches
used at individual colleges
•
To identify how Governors could improve their scrutiny of teaching,
learning and assessment
•
To understand Governors’ responsibilities in relation to maths and
English
What we’ll cover
•
Introduction and ice-breaker – what makes for a good learning
experience?
•
Governors’ responsibilities for teaching and learning – Ofsted, the
Commissioner and the College Code
•
How good is your college? – how do you know?
•
What can data, inspection and other information tell us?
•
Developing an approach to monitoring the quality of teaching and
learning and supporting its improvement
•
Maths and English – a renewed emphasis
•
Reflection and next steps
Some cautions
• Teaching, learning and assessment is the core business of
the college
• Many, if not most, Governors are from non-educational
backgrounds
• Governors are volunteers but carry significant
responsibilities
• Post-16 education is complex
• Colleges are (generally) non-selective institutions
… … So the responsibility needs to be strategic
Activity
• Thinking of a learning experience you’ve had in
the past
• How good was it?
• What did you achieve?
• What did you do as a result?
• What could have been improved?
Ofsted and Inspection : the CIF
Inspects all publicly funded provision – the Common Inspection Framework
for Further Education and Skills
Assesses and grades a college’s Overall Effectiveness based on judgements
(and grades) for:
•
Outcomes for learners
•
The quality of teaching, learning and assessment
•
The effectiveness of leadership and management (including Governance)
Colleges and providers are graded as:
•
Outstanding
•
Good
•
Requires Improvement
•
Inadequate
New inspection framework from September 2015
Overall effectiveness
The judgement on overall effectiveness is based on how effective and efficient the
provider is in meeting the needs of learners and other users, and why. Inspectors will
use all the available evidence and take into account judgements on:
•
outcomes for learners
•
the quality of teaching, learning and assessment
•
the effectiveness of leadership and management
Inspection and Governance
Inspectors will consider the effectiveness of Governance including how well
Governors:
•
know the College and understand its strengths and weaknesses through
appropriate involvement in self-assessment
•
support and strengthen College leadership and contribute to shaping its strategic
direction
•
provide challenge and hold the senior leader and other senior managers to
account for improving the quality of learning and the effectiveness of
performance management systems
•
work efficiently, including through having a systematic approach to meeting
statutory duties and approving and monitoring priorities that are focused on
improving teaching, learning and assessment
Handbook for the inspection of further education and skills, Ofsted, January 2015
FE Commissioner – early warning signs
•
Average student attendance rates are below 85%-90%
•
Success rates (Retention * Achievement) are 5% below benchmark and
not improving
•
Teacher observation grades of good or better, independently verified,
are below 80%
•
Student surveys/focus groups show levels of satisfaction below 90%
•
Quality Improvement plans or post inspection action plans do not state
clearly for each issue the college's starting position; the targeted
outcome; actions that will be taken to achieve that outcome; milestones
along the way; monitoring arrangements and the individual responsible
for overseeing delivery
Intervention criteria
The Skills Funding Agency may refer a college to the FE
Commissioner where:
•
It is rated as inadequate for financial health or control
•
It is judged by Ofsted as ‘Inadequate’
•
The college fails to meet minimum standards of performance
based on success rates
Minimum Standards of Performance
Based on:
•
success rates (% of learners who stay the course x % of learners
who achieve a qualification)
•
the % of learners who fail to achieve the minimum standard
(the tolerance level)
SFA declares annually:
•
the level of success rate to be used as the minimum standard
(the threshold)
•
the tolerance level
Activity
How do you currently scrutinise the effectiveness of
teaching, learning and assessment?
List the criteria that you use?
How good is teaching, learning and assessment at your
college?
What is your evidence?
Outcomes for learners
Inspectors will make a judgement on outcomes for learners by evaluating the extent
to which:
•
all learners achieve and make progress relative to their starting points and
learning goals
•
achievement gaps are narrowing between different groups of learners
•
learners develop personal, social and employability skills
•
learners progress to courses leading to higher-level qualifications and into jobs
that meet local and national needs
Quality of teaching, learning and assessment
Inspectors will make a judgement on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment
by evaluating the extent to which:
•
learners benefit from high expectations, engagement, care, support and
motivation from staff
•
staff use their skills and expertise to plan and deliver teaching, learning and
support to meet each learner’s needs
•
staff initially assess learners’ starting points and monitor their progress, set
challenging tasks, and build on and extend learning for all learners
•
learners understand how to improve as a result of frequent, detailed and accurate
feedback from staff following assessment of their learning
•
teaching and learning develop English, mathematics and functional skills, and
support the achievement of learning goals and career aims
•
appropriate and timely information, advice and guidance support learning
effectively
•
equality and diversity are promoted through teaching and learning
Effectiveness of leadership and management
Inspectors will make a judgement on the effectiveness of leadership and management
by evaluating the extent to which leaders, managers and, where applicable, governors:
•
demonstrate an ambitious vision, have high expectations for what all learners can
achieve, and attain high standards of quality and performance
•
improve teaching and learning through rigorous performance management and
appropriate professional development
•
evaluate the quality of the provision through robust self-assessment, taking
account of users’ views, and use the findings to promote and develop capacity for
sustainable improvement
•
successfully plan, establish and manage the curriculum and learning programmes
to meet the needs and interests of learners, employers and the local and national
community
•
actively promote equality and diversity, tackle bullying and discrimination, and
narrow the achievement gap
•
safeguard all learners
Some principal evidence sources
• Inspection
• Self-assessment
• Lesson observation profiles
• Success rate data
• Value-added
• Satisfaction surveys – students
• Satisfaction surveys – employers
• Progression and Destination data
Success rates - aggregated
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/sfa-national-success-rates-tables-2013-to-2014
Success rates by institution
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/sfa-national-success-rates-tables-2013-to-2014
FE Choices
FE and Skills Governors’ Data
Dashboard
Why a Data Dashboard for governors?




The lack of consistent, sector-wide measures of learners’
destinations, including into sustainable employment, has
hindered college governors’ ability to evaluate the wider impact
of their college’s work in the local area.
A key challenge, therefore, remains for college governors to
hold their college to account for the quality of provision and for
its true impact.
Governors need to know what happens to their learners after
they leave.
The Ofsted Data Dashboard for FE and skills aims to ensure
that governors have accessible data to hold leaders and
managers to account.
Improving Governance| 21
What we are not trying to do:


provide an in-year view of what is happening in providers

suggest that the only things governors need to do their job
effectively are some high level measures of past
performance.
provide data about, for example, a provider’s workforce or
finances
Advisory Group on Gernance|
Improving Governance| 22
The FE and skills Data Dashboard
broad questions



What are the success rates for:
- individual subject areas?
- different levels?
What is happening:
- with study programmes?
- with apprenticeships?
- with employability programmes?
How well do learners progress:
- to further training?
- to higher education?
- to employment and within employment?
Improving Governance| 23
The FE and skills Data Dashboard - Live
version
http://dashboard.ofsted.gov.uk/
Improving Governance| 24
Activity – sustaining improvement
What strategies could the Governing Body adopt
to ensure that the quality of teaching, learning
and assessment is being continuously
maintained?
What actions do you need to take?
GCSE maths and English
Condition of funding
All full time students starting their study programme, who attained
a grade D in maths and/or English GCSE or equivalent qualification,
who are not enrolled on GCSE courses or approved IGCSE in these
subjects will be removed from lagged student numbers in future
years.
The institution will lose the basic national funding rate per student
for the relevant year. The initial reduction will be in 2017 to 2018
academic year at 2017 to 2018 funding rates.
More at: https://www.gov.uk/16-to-19-funding-maths-and-english-condition-of-funding
The core business
•
•
Learners are engaged in learning, training or study which is
matched to:
•
their objectives
•
their learning needs
Learners achieve their intended learning outcome which might
be:
•
a qualification
•
progression to employment or further study
•
or both
•
Learners express satisfaction with their experience
•
Learners develop wider skills which support their personal
development