Monday 28 August 2017
Start Date
28-8-2017 4:00 PM
End Date
28-8-2017 5:15 PM
Subjects
Evidence based practice, Evaluative thinking, Case studies, Teacher effectiveness, Professional development, Disadvantaged schools, School leaders, School improvement, Educational leadership, Data analysis, Literacy education, Numeracy
Abstract
The NSW Literacy and Numeracy Action Plan, which operated from 2012 to 2016, provided $261 millon to improve literacy and numeracy learning in 448 the most disadvantaged and lowest performing schools across the three education sectors in NSW. A key objective of the Action Plan was to enhance teacher and school leader capacity, including the ability to apply evidence-based practices and evaluative thinking to planning and programming for teaching and learning at a classroom level, and to planning and decision-making at a whole-school level. The concept and terminology of ‘evidence-based practice’ is in common parlance in Australian schools; however, in many of the schools targeted by the Action Plan, authentic application of the principles of evidence-based practice was not well developed at the commencement of the initiative, and in some cases, often misunderstood. This presentation draws on data gathered during more than 70 schools visited and six longitudinal case studies conducted as part of the evaluation of the NSW Action Plan to develop a ‘synthetic’ case study of how successful schools have gone about building the confidence and competence of teachers and school leaders to embrace the new ways of thinking and working required to become true ‘evaluative thinkers’. What occurred in many of the schools visited can be described as nothing less than a complete paradigm shift in how they operated, providing a much richer, engaging, and relevant learning experience for their students. The case study will discuss the key role of Instructional Leaders in providing the professional learning necessary to underpin the new practices, data systems to provide authentic evidence for planning and teaching, and the implications for adoption of differentiated teaching, personalised learning and targeted interventions from adoption of the new models.
Recommended Citation
Wyatt, T. (2017, August 28). Developing evaluative thinking and evidence-based practice: A synthetic case study [Paper presentation]. Research Conference 2017 - Leadership for Improving Learning - Insights from Research. https://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference/RC2017/28august/11
Copyright Statement
Copyright Australian Council for Educational Research 2017
Place of Publication
Melbourne, Vic
Publisher
Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)
ISBN
9781742864808
Geographic Subject
New South Wales
Included in
Educational Leadership Commons, Elementary Education and Teaching Commons, Secondary Education and Teaching Commons
Developing evaluative thinking and evidence-based practice: A synthetic case study
The NSW Literacy and Numeracy Action Plan, which operated from 2012 to 2016, provided $261 millon to improve literacy and numeracy learning in 448 the most disadvantaged and lowest performing schools across the three education sectors in NSW. A key objective of the Action Plan was to enhance teacher and school leader capacity, including the ability to apply evidence-based practices and evaluative thinking to planning and programming for teaching and learning at a classroom level, and to planning and decision-making at a whole-school level. The concept and terminology of ‘evidence-based practice’ is in common parlance in Australian schools; however, in many of the schools targeted by the Action Plan, authentic application of the principles of evidence-based practice was not well developed at the commencement of the initiative, and in some cases, often misunderstood. This presentation draws on data gathered during more than 70 schools visited and six longitudinal case studies conducted as part of the evaluation of the NSW Action Plan to develop a ‘synthetic’ case study of how successful schools have gone about building the confidence and competence of teachers and school leaders to embrace the new ways of thinking and working required to become true ‘evaluative thinkers’. What occurred in many of the schools visited can be described as nothing less than a complete paradigm shift in how they operated, providing a much richer, engaging, and relevant learning experience for their students. The case study will discuss the key role of Instructional Leaders in providing the professional learning necessary to underpin the new practices, data systems to provide authentic evidence for planning and teaching, and the implications for adoption of differentiated teaching, personalised learning and targeted interventions from adoption of the new models.
Comments
Concurrent session 3C