Dylan  Wiliam  (@dylanwiliam)  

Leadership  for  Teacher  Learning  

www.dylanwiliamcenter.com  

Outline  

1  Why  we  need  to  raise  educa9onal  achievement  2  How  can  we  can  know  teacher  quality  ma?ers  

without  being  able  measure  it?  

3  How  can  we  learn  from  research?  4  Why  forma9ve  assessment  is  at  the  heart  of  good  

teaching  5  Implica9ons  of  exper9se  research  for  teaching  

6  Understanding  teacher  learning  7  Solving  the  hardest  problem  of  all:  implementa9on  

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Why  we  need  to  raise  achievement  

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Automa;on  poten;al  and  wages  for  US  jobs  4  

McKinsey  &  Co  (2015)  

Why  we  need  to  raise  achievement  5  

•  In  advanced  economies,  over  the  next  20  to  30  years  –  Between  a  quarter  and  a  third  of  jobs  could  be  offshored  (Blinder,  2011)  

–  About  half  could  be  done  by  machines  (Frey  &  Osborne,  2013;  McKinsey  &  Co.,  2015)  

•  The  choice  for  young  people  – Wait  for  someone  else  to  invent  a  new  job  for  you  –  Create  your  own  

What  kinds  of  schools  do  we  need?  

School  model   Ethos   Key  process  Talent  refineries    

School  must  provide  opportuni9es  for  students  to  show  what  they  can  do    

Ensuring  good  teaching  and  syllabus  coverage  

Talent  incubators    

All  students  can  learn,  but  not  all  students  can  achieve  at  high  levels    

Drawing  out  what  is  within  the  student    

Talent  factories    

All  students  can  achieve  at  high  levels      

“Whatever  it  takes”  

Teacher  quality  

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Teaching  quality  is  not  the  same  as  teacher  quality  

•  Teaching  quality  depends  on  a  number  of  factors:  –  The  quality  of  the  curriculum  

–  The  9me  teachers  have  to  plan  teaching  –  The  size  of  classes  –  The  resources  available  –  The  skills  of  the  teacher  

•  All  of  these  are  important,  but  the  quality  of  the  teacher  is  especially  important  

•  Teacher  quality  can  be  improved  by:  –  Replacing  exis9ng  teachers  with  be?er  ones,  or  –  Inves9ng  in  the  teachers  we  already  have    

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The  “dark  maFer”  of  teacher  quality  

•  We  know  that  teachers  make  a  difference,  but  we  don’t  know  what  makes  the  difference  in  teachers  

•  Approaches  to  es9ma9ng  teacher  quality  –  value-­‐added  modeling  

–  observa9on  –  student  surveys  

•  Combining  all  three  approaches  –  Correla9on  with  standardized  tests:  0.69  

–  Correla9on  with  higher-­‐order  assessments:  0.29  –  Reliability:  0.51  

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Learning  from  research  

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Meta-­‐analysis  in  educa;on  11  

•  Some  problems  are  unavoidable:  –  Sensi9vity  to  instruc9on  –  Selec9on  of  studies  

•  Some  problems  are  avoidable  –  File-­‐drawer  problem  –  Quality  –  Varia9on  in  variability  

•  Unfortunately,  most  of  the  people  doing  meta-­‐analysis  in  educa9on  –  don’t  discuss  the  unavoidable  problems,  and  –  don’t  avoid  the  avoidable  ones  

•  For  now,  best-­‐evidence  synthesis  is  the  best  we  can  do  

Forma;ve  assessment  

BoFom-­‐up:  research  on  forma;ve  assessment  

•  Fuchs  &  Fuchs  (1986)  •  Natriello  (1987)  •  Crooks  (1988)  •  Bangert-­‐Drowns  et  al  (1991)  •  Dempster  (1991)  

•  Dempster  (1992)  •  Elshout-­‐Mohr  (1994)  

•  Kluger  &  DeNisi  (1996)  •  Black  &  Wiliam  (1998)  

•  Nyquist  (2003)  •  Brookhart  (2004)  •  Allal  &  Lopez  (2005)  •  Köller  (2005)  •  Brookhart  (2007)  •  Wiliam  (2007)  •  Hale  &  Timperley  (2007)  

•  Shute  (2008)  •  Kingston  &  Nash  (2011,  2015)  

Where  the  learner    is  going  

Where  the  learner  is  now  

How  to  get    the  learner  there  

Teacher  

Peer  

Student  

Unpacking  Forma;ve  Assessment  

Clarifying,  sharing,  and  understanding  

learning  inten;ons  

Elici;ng  evidence  of  learning  

Providing  feedback  that  moves  learners  

forward  

Ac;va;ng  students  as  learning  resources  for  one  another  

Ac;va;ng  students  as  owners  of  their  own  learning  

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Top-­‐down:  EEF  Toolkit  for  Learning  and  Teaching  15  

Interven;on   Cost   Quality  of  evidence  

Extra  months  of  learning  

Feedback   ££   ★★★ +8  

Metacogni9on  and  self-­‐regula9on   ££   ★★★★ +8  

Peer  tutoring   ££   ★★★★ +6  

Early  years  interven9on   £££££   ★★★★ +6  

One  to  one  tui9on   ££££   ★★★★ +5  

Homework  (secondary)   £   ★★★ +5  

Collabora9ve  learning   £   ★★★★ +5  

Phonics   £   ★★★★ +4  

Small  group  tui9on   £££   ★★★★ +4  

Behaviour  interven9ons   £££   ★★ +4  

Digital  technology   ££££   ★★★★ +4  

Social  and  emo9onal  learning   £   ★★★★ +4  

Educa;onal  Endowment  Founda;on  toolkit  16  

Interven;on   Cost   Quality  of  evidence  

Extra  months  of  learning  

Parental  involvement   £££   ★★★ +3  

Reducing  class  size   £££££   ★★★ +3  

Summer  schools   £££   ★★ +3  

Sports  par9cipa9on   £££   ★★ +2  

Arts  par9cipa9on   ££   ★★★ +2  

Extended  school  9me   £££   ★★ +2  

Individualized  instruc9on   £   ★★★ +2  

Aper  school  programmes   ££££   ★★ +2  

Learning  styles   £   ★★★ +2  

Mentoring   £££   ★★★ +1  

Homework  (primary)   £   ★★★ +1  

Educa;onal  Endowment  Founda;on  toolkit  17  

Interven;on   Cost   Quality  of  evidence  

Extra  months  of  learning  

Teaching  assistants   ££££   ★★ 0  

Performance  pay   ££   ★ 0  

Aspira9on  interven9ons   £££   ★ 0  

Block  scheduling   £   ★★ 0  

School  uniform   £   ★ 0  

Physical  environment   ££   ★ 0  

Ability  grouping   £   ★★★ -­‐1  

Where  the  learner    is  going  

Where  the  learner  is  now  

How  to  get    the  learner  there  

Teacher  

Peer  

Student  

Unpacking  Forma;ve  Assessment  

Clarifying,  sharing,  and  understanding  

learning  inten;ons  

Elici;ng  evidence  of  learning  

Providing  feedback  that  moves  learners  

forward  

Ac;va;ng  students  as  resources  for  one  another  

Ac;va;ng  students  as  owners  of  their  own  learning  

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Can  teachers  get  beFer?  

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General  conclusions  about  exper;se  

•  Elite  performance  is  the  result  of  at  least  a  decade  of  maximal  efforts  to  improve  performance  through  an  op9mal  distribu9on  of  deliberate  prac9ce  

•  What  dis9nguishes  experts  from  others  is  the  commitment  to  deliberate  prac9ce  

•  Deliberate  prac9ce  is  –  an  efforqul  ac9vity  that  can  be  sustained  only  for  a  limited  9me  each  day  

–  neither  mo9va9ng  nor  enjoyable—it  is  instrumental  in  achieving  further  improvement  in  performance  

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Ericsson,  Charness,  Feltovich,  &  Hoffman  (2006)  

Talent  is  over-­‐rated…  21  

Some  specific  claims  about  exper;se  

•  In  the  diverse  domains  in  which  it  has  been  studied,  exper9se:  

–  is  specific  and  limited  

–  is  only  weakly  related  to  general  ability  –  is  not  reducible  to  proposi9onal  knowledge  –  involves  automa9on  of  basic  rou9nes  

–  involves  percep9on  of  meaningful  pa?erns  

–  involves  differently  organized,  rather  than  more,  knowledge  

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Exper;se  in  teaching  23  

•  Research  shows  exper9se  in  teaching  shares  the  hallmarks  of  exper9se  in  other  domains  

•  More  importantly,  for  the  general  exper9se  research  not  to  apply  to  teaching:  –  All  the  other  areas  would  have  to  be  similar,  and  –  Teaching  would  have  to  be  different  

•  This  seems  unlikely,  so  •  As  far  as  we  can  tell,  what  is  true  for  exper9se  in  other  areas  is  likely  to  be  true  for  teaching.  

Teacher  learning    

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The  knowing-­‐doing  gap  (Pfeffer  2000)  

Statement   We  know  we  should  do  this  

We  are  doing  this  

Gelng  ideas  from  other  units  in  the  chain   4.9   4.0  

Ins9tu9ng  an  ac9ve  sugges9ons  program    

4.8   3.9  

Detailed  assessment  processes  for  new  hires   5.0   4.2  

Pos9ng  all  jobs  internally    

4.2   3.5  

Talking  openly  about  learning  from  mistakes   4.9   4.3  

Providing  employees  with  frequent  feedback   5.7   5.2  

Sharing  informa9on  on  financial  performance   4.3   3.8  

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Suppor;ve  accountability  

•  What  is  needed  from  teachers:  –  A  commitment  to:  

•  The  con9nual  improvement  of  prac9ce  •  Focus  on  those  things  that  make  a  difference  to  students  

•  What  is  needed  from  leaders:  –  A  commitment  to  engineer  effec9ve  learning  environments  for  teachers  by:  

•  Crea9ng  expecta9ons  for  con9nually  improving  prac9ce  

•  Keeping  the  focus  on  the  things  that  make  a  difference  to  students  

•  Providing  the  9me,  space,  dispensa9on,  and  support  for  innova9on  

•  Suppor9ng  risk-­‐taking  

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Strategies  for  change  (Heath  &  Heath,  2010)  

•  Direct  the  rider  –  Follow  the  bright  spots  (malnutri9on  in  Vietnam)  

–  Script  the  cri9cal  moves  (1%  milk,  25  points)  –  Point  to  the  des9na9on  (no  dry  holes)  

•  Mo9vate  the  elephant  –  Find  the  feeling  (gloves  on  the  table)  –  Shrink  the  change  (five-­‐minute  room  makeover)  –  Grow  your  people  (mindset)  

•  Shape  the  path  –  Tweak  the  environment  (popcorn  study,  one-­‐click)  

–  Build  habits  (ac9on  triggers)  –  Rally  the  herd  (free  spaces  in  hospitals)  

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Strategies  for  changing  teacher  habits  

•  Direct  the  rider  –  Follow  the  bright  spots  (volunteers  vs.  conscripts)  –  Script  the  cri9cal  moves  (structured  mee9ngs)  –  Point  to  the  des9na9on  (“Whatever  it  takes”)  

•  Mo9vate  the  elephant  –  Find  the  feeling  (the  moral  impera9ve)  

–  Shrink  the  change  (small  steps)  –  Grow  your  people  (all  teachers  can  improve)  

•  Shape  the  path  –  Tweak  the  environment  (9me  for  teacher  learning)  

–  Build  habits  (create  rou9nes  and  structures)  –  Rally  the  herd  (make  new  mistakes)  

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Ge^ng  it  done  

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A  case  study  in  one  district  

•  Cannington  –  Urban  school  district  serving  ~20,000  students  –  Approximately  20%  of  the  popula9on  non-­‐white  –  No  schools  under  threat  of  re-­‐cons9tu9on,  but  all  under  pressure  to  improve  test  scores  

•  Funding  for  a  project  on  “be?er  learning  through  smarter  teaching”  –  Focus  on  mathema9cs,  science  and  modern  foreign  languages  (MFL)  

–  Commitment  from  Principals  in  November  2007  –  Ini9al  workshops  in  July  2008  

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Progress  of  TLCs  in  Cannington  

Maths Science MFL Ash 1 — 1 — 0 — Cedar 5 ▮ 1 ▮ 3 ▮ ▮ Hawthorne 4 ▮ ▮ 10 ▮ ▮ 5 ▮ ▮ ▮ ▮ Hazel 7 — 12 — 2 — Larch 1 ▮ ▮ ▮ ▮ 0 ▮ 0 ▮ Mallow 6 ▮ ▮ ▮ 7 ▮ 3 ▮ ▮ Poplar 11 ▮ 3 ▮ ▮ ▮ 1 ▮ ▮ ▮ Spruce 7 ▮ ▮ ▮ ▮ 8 ▮ ▮ ▮ 5 ▮ ▮ ▮ Willow 2 ▮ 5 ▮ 2 ▮ ▮ ▮ ▮ Totals 44 47 21

Black nos. show teachers attending launch event; blue bars show progress of TLC

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Progress  of  TLCs  in  Cannington  32  

0  

1  

2  

3  

4  

0   2   4   6   8   10   12  

Progress  of  T

LC  

Number  of  teachers  aFending  training  event  

Correla9on:  0.01  

We’ll  know  when  it’s  working  when…  

•  Leading  indicators  of  success  –  Teachers  are  given  9me  to  meet,  and  do  so  

–  Teachers  increasingly  act  as  “cri9cal  friends”  to  others  –  The  prevalence  of  classroom  forma9ve  assessment  prac9ces  is  increasing  

–  Students  are  more  engaged  in  classrooms  –  Teachers  modify  the  techniques  in  appropriate  ways,  indica9ng  an  understanding  of  the  underlying  theory  

–  There  is  a  ship  in  the  ownership  of  the  reform  

•  Lagging  indicators  of  success  –  Increased  student  achievement  

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Key  stakeholders’  reac;ons  

•  Departmental  sub-­‐cultures  •  Unions  •  Professional  associa9ons  •  Teaching  assistants  •  Parents  •  School  Board  members  

•  Community  leaders  

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Managing  disappointments  

•  Failure:  opportunity  for  learning  or  blame  •  Falling  down:  failing  or  learning?  •  High-­‐reliability  organiza9ons  embrace  failure  

•  $1m  dollar  club  •   “A  complaint  is  a  gip”  •  Group-­‐work  is  hard  for  teachers,  …  and  for  teachers  of  teachers…  

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To  find  out  more…  

www.dylanwiliamcenter.com    

www.dylanwiliam.net    

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Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort June 15 - 17, 2016

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