Today, I want to focus on leadership. Leadership is fundamental to. educational success. Since becoming Education Minister some two and a

Transcription

1 PISA Speech Leadership Matters. Today, I want to focus on leadership. Leadership is fundamental to educational success. Since becoming Education Minister some two and a half years ago, I have time and time again stressed the importance of leadership at every level within the education system. I said when the PISA 2009 results were published that I believed that there had been system wide failures. I said at the time that I thought there had been a failure of leadership throughout the system. To my mind there is no doubt; PISA 2009, along with other evidence, was our wake-up call. We had worrying evidence that our education system was not delivering in the way our young people deserve. As the next assessments approach, my officials are focussing on strategies to improve the weaknesses identified in PISA. You have heard today from Michael Davidson about what Wales can learn from other countries that have improved their PISA performance. You have heard today from Professor David Reynolds how Wales can improve through using international research from effective schools, effective teaching and school improvement. There is a rich vein of evidence and research on which we can draw and learn. 1

2 I know my ambition for Wales to climb the PISA rankings is a significant challenge, and it would be unrealistic to expect significant improvements in the 2012 PISA results. Systemic change takes time if it is to have a lasting impact. Experience tells us that quick fixes are seldom sustainable. However, I have set a challenging target for the Welsh education system. We should aim to be in the top 20 of school systems measured in the PISA scores in PISA provides the benchmark. But this is about equipping our young people with the skills they need for future study and the workplace. This is why good performance in PISA is so important and why we are investing our time, effort and expertise towards raising performance across the board. There has been progress since I set out a 20 point action plan to secure a step change in education and this is already well under way. We have already achieved some milestones, in terms of professional development for practitioners, a higher level of accountability in the system through the School Standards Unit and banding of secondary schools and a new focus on literacy and numeracy. However, these gains have been achieved through direct leadership at Welsh Government level. When I am clear that here in Wales, ours is not a good system aiming to become great. Ours is a fair system aiming to become good. I stated right up front that I was going to have more direct input. 2

3 My role is to raise standards and create excellence, to widen opportunities and spread equality of outcomes by using the levers of legislation and funding that are available to government. In Estyn s Annual Report , the Chief Inspector Ann Keane states that: Many of the weaknesses I have identified can be traced back to failures of leadership. There is a strong link between outcomes, provision and leadership and management. Where leaders and managers are making sure that whole-school policies and procedures are being applied consistently, this reflects positively in the provision and in the standards pupils achieve. It is usually because there are some weaknesses in the work of leaders and managers that schools are found to need follow-up monitoring by Estyn. She went on to say: The quality of leadership and management is a main driver for improvement. Self-evaluation is only fully effective where leaders and managers can identify priorities for improvement because they monitor provision and assess outcomes robustly. There is a challenge of leadership for local authorities. We know from recent Estyn inspections that local authorities can do better in terms of performance. Generally, local authorities do not work well enough to challenge schools with high reserves or deficit budgets. As a result, pupils in these schools do not 3

4 gain the full benefit of the resources that are being provided for their education. So leadership is key. I said in my March speech on Learning from the best we will go at the pace of the system leaders, not at the pace of the slowest. And by the system leaders, I meant leading headteachers and leading practioners in Wales. I announced the creation of the Practitioners Panel, and under the chairmanship of Dr Dylan Jones, headteacher of Ysgol Bro Morgannwg, we have now had two meetings of this Panel of leading headteachers and they have given us valuable input across a range of activities. I also announced just two weeks ago that we would be establishing our online digital learning platform Hwb, supported by a National Digital Learning Council to ensure that it best meets the needs of teachers and learners across Wales. In addition to the learning platform for Wales and the creation of a National Digital Learning Council, we will be seconding a team of sector-leading practitioners to support schools in delivering a world-class digital curriculum. We will direct the Digital Leader Team to focus on raising standards in literacy and numeracy through the use of digital technologies and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. We advertised for these posts last week. So as I said, we are moving at the pace of the fastest, not the slowest. Over recent years we have been pursuing a widespread and comprehensive set of educational reforms: 4

5 Curriculum reforms, including the Foundation Phase, learning pathways and the Welsh Bacc Assessment reforms, including the annual tests in literacy and numeracy from 2013 Professionalising teaching, with the Master s in educational Practice, bringing best practice from around the world to teachers, supported with online resources including, plc online Systemic reform, through the consortia arrangements Reforms to pedagogy involving teaching methodologies that address the problem-solving or meta-cognitive skills reflected in preparations for the 2012 and 2015 PISA testing rounds All of these reforms are underway and we are looking at how we draw together our school improvement agenda in a coherent way into an overall improvement plan, and preliminary work on this was shared with the Practitioner s Panel on Monday, with clear targets and a delivery map for each part of the education system. Alongside this, I want to be sure that the reforms we have introduced are clear to all and the leading research on which we are drawing to deliver systemtransforming experience to teachers is well-grounded, including the approach to pedagogy demanded by PISA. I will be seeking expert educational input to draw that together, looking at international experience from those societies which have sought to deliver reform strategies on multiple levels simultaneously as we are doing. 5

6 In March 2011, all local authority leaders across Wales gave me assurances that education was their number one priority and that a radical overhaul was needed to address the systemic failure in schools. Their leadership is key in delivering this agenda. I am pleased that local authorities have committed to working together collaboratively, to take full responsibility for challenging and supporting schools, and to drive out inefficiencies in the system so that more money is freed up to go to the frontline. I am keen that we do not lose momentum. For to budgets for schools, both within the Education Department and through the Revenue Support Grant have been protected by 1% above the rate of change in the Welsh budget. In respect of , the budget data collected from authorities has confirmed that the commitment has been met. I welcomed the commitment that local authorities made to increase the proportion of money delegated to schools to 80% by 2012 and 85% by 2014, as a means of moving funding and decisions on funding as close as possible to the point of delivery. To date, local authorities have engaged in an entirely positive process and undertaken a fundamental review of the monies they spend on schools themselves and seeing whether those functions could be better delegated to 6

7 schools. Recently Directors of Education have confirmed that they are on track to meet this commitment and I fully expect all local authorities to achieve the 80% delegation rate by this September. Local authorities gave a commitment to having school improvement regional partnerships in place by September Detailed business cases have already been approved by each local authority Cabinet and we have provided 4m seed funding to support their transition from 22 school improvement services to four. Last month I met local authority leaders in Wales again and reinforced with them the priorities we have and their need to ensure that their authorities are delivering in respect of regional consortia this September. I also shared with local authority leaders the research from the Sutton Trust which set out the most effective strategies to ensure school improvement. I wanted all local authority leaders to know how effective schools can make a difference to the attainment of pupils from deprived backgrounds. The Sutton Trust set out what existing international evidence says about the effectiveness of approaches from improving the attainment of pupils from deprived backgrounds in order to help schools make best use of resources targeted at these pupils. The top five approaches with a high impact for a low-moderate cost include: Effective feedback information given to the learner or teacher about the learners performance relative to learning goals which then redirects 7

8 or refocuses the learning action to achieve the goal. The estimated impact is equivalent to nine months of progress in a year. Self-regulation strategies teacher approaches which make learners manage their own motivation towards learning and learners think about their own learning more explicitly in the classroom. The estimated impact is equivalent to eight months of progress in a year. Peer tutoring/peer assisted learning approaches in which learners learn in groups to provide each other with explicit teaching support. The estimated impact of this approach is equivalent to six months progress in a year. Homework reading and preparing for work to be done in class or practising and completing that already taught or started, extended activity to develop pupils inquiry skills or revision for tests. Estimated impact is again significant and equivalent to at least five months of progress in a year. And finally, Assessment for learning developing a clear understanding of what it is learners need to learn and evidence about their current level of performance. The estimated impact of this approach is equivalent to at least three months of progress in a year. Professor Alma Harris in her Leading System Transformation paper stated that system reform will only be successful if the leadership capacity for change, at all levels in the system, is established and sustained. This requires leadership of learning in every school, in every local education authority and in 8

9 every classroom. It requires a collective commitment to move the system forward through leading the improvement of learning and teaching. This collective commitment can be seen in the context of system leadership. We are increasing capacity and capability within the system through the recruitment of system leaders within the four regional consortia. This is an important development and a welcome resource to schools. The deployment of system leaders to support the school improvement agenda will work in tandem with Estyn s formal inspection regime and the interrogation of data by the Welsh Government s School Standards Unit. System leaders within each consortium will provide: Monitoring, challenge, intervention and support; Whole school intervention and support; and Curriculum and pedagogic intervention and support. It is essential that system leaders are able to drive through improvements by their leadership. We must recruit exemplars of best practice the very best school improvement officers, the best headteachers key people who are able to lead the way. The Welsh Government is working with ADEW, Estyn and the Welsh Local Government Association to develop a National Training Framework for System Leaders to ensure consistency. In order to achieve a step change in performance, system leaders need to seize the challenge. 9

10 System Leaders must work together across consortia to share knowledge and expertise to ensure a level of consistency in practice and to ensure improved outcomes in pupil attainment, achievement and wellbeing. They must lead in tackling the variation in outcomes within and between schools and local authorities. System leadership is an active engagement between leaders within a school and leaders across schools in order to build capacity and bring about system transformation. School leaders must be willing to take on wider system roles to support the success and attainment of learners which may be in schools other than their own. Each regional partnership has committed to the identification and deployment of system leaders to support the school improvement agenda. We expect these to be recruited over the next few months. I am looking to local authorities to ensure these are people genuinely capable of being seen by Headteachers as system leaders, not people of limited classroom or school leadership experience. There are other leadership challenges facing us. The leadership of the Welsh Joint Education Committee is also facing a challenge. The proposals for a return to O levels and a two-tiered system of qualifications that were leaked 10

11 on 21 st June to the media, and which were not denied by the Secretary of State for Education in England, were announcements from which I was keen to distance Wales. I have made it clear that decisions about the future of qualifications in Wales will be made on the basis of evidence and to reasonable timescales; and I know the Minister for Education in Northern Ireland whom I met yesterday shares these principles. However, Michael Gove s stated preference for a move away from a competitive market for qualifications, to a situation where each qualification is offered by a single awarding organisation is clearly something that would have substantial commercial implications for WJEC and other awarding organisations. Representatives of local government here today, with a mutual interest in the future of WJEC, will wish to be mindful of these challenges. The WJEC is likely to lose a significant share of its market in England. It needs to refocus and reprioritise. If it does not, I may need to act. We know that effective practitioners are the single most important factor in raising achievement in schools. As McKinsey states: the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. McKinsey also states: School reforms rarely succeed without effective leadership, both at the level of the system, and at the level of individual schools. 11

12 It is no surprise that the evidence suggests that strong school leadership is particularly important in producing improvement. Therefore, in developing those actions that must be taken in the short term have focused on professional practice. The Welsh Government has set out its expectations for headteachers. Head teachers are required to meet the Leadership Standards. The Leadership Standards also serve as an optional tool to support teachers who wish to develop their leadership skills. Revised performance management regulations were introduced from 1 st January 2012 which have further sharpened the focus on improving practice including, for head teachers, greater consideration of overall school performance. Our Practice Review and Development model which is an integrated system of professional standards, performance management and continuing professional development designed to improve the quality of teaching. My aim is to develop one simple, consistent system of professional standards, professional development and performance management. These elements should work together as a coherent system to drive school improvement through improved standards of teaching and leadership Professional standards have been revised and were launched in September 2011 and include a specific focus on the national priorities for education in Wales. All teachers are required to meet the Practising Teacher Standards. 12

13 Our new Masters in Educational Practice will produce highly skilled teachers who have a thorough knowledge of a range of strategies to improve outcomes; who understand the theories and concepts that underpin these strategies; and who, as a consequence, are able to deliver more effective teaching and learning in the classroom. It may be that we will need to move on from the NPQH to a Master s in Leadership in due course. The Masters in Educational Practice will involve teachers taking part in action research rather than being a taught, theoretical and academic qualification. Introducing a Masters at this point in a teacher s career will help to address the inconsistency in the quality of Induction teachers receive across the country. It will also provide a positive step towards reducing in-school and between-school variation in teacher quality and learner outcomes. By equipping teachers with these qualifications, we will create a strong leadership system supported by system leaders who will advise and create that vital network of communication between local authorities, consortia and local schools on improvement. In this way we are creating and supporting networks of effective practice within, between and across schools focusing on teaching and learning, with a strong drive to improve outcomes for all. Leadership at all levels of the system is required if we are to translate our ambitions into reality. 13

14 One year ago, I warned that local authorities had a year to start to demonstrate that they were delivering. Regional working is in place. But local authorities have to demonstrate they are both delivering improved performance and that they are delegating 80% of their budgets to schools by September 2012 and 85% by September They have to demonstrate that they are getting a grip of corporate ICT support to schools and HR support to headteachers, as well as regional school improvement services. They have to get a grip of issues such as school organisation, including catchment alignment and Welsh-medium provision. I warned local authorities that there would be a further review by 2013, as recommended by the Task and Finish Group on the Structure of Delivery of Education. I said that if they couldn t demonstrate that they were delivering, then more radical restructuring of education delivery on a regional basis should follow. This autumn I will establish a review of the delivery of education to follow up the Task and Finish Group s report. Finally, let me say this. The purpose of leaders, American champion Ralph Nader once said, is to create more leaders. Getting leadership right is key to reform and we will drive that agenda forward. 14