Evaluation for School
Improvement
Geoff Barton
Friday, November 11, 2011
PowerPoint available to download at www.geoffbarton.co.uk
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
BARTON‟S
BUMPER
BRAINTEASER
BONANZA
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
1: How many teachers does it take
to change a light-bulb?
Well hang on a minute! You can't go changing a light-
bulb just like that. You need a plan - long, medium and
short-term - or your method of changing the bulb will
be in question.
And of course, you need to be very clear what you are
trying to achieve by changing it - that will need writing
down and handing out to anybody who happens to be
watching you change the light-bulb.
Furthermore, some account will need to be made for
the fact that the light bulb may not be very bright -
you can't just discard it. You will also need to spend
time assessing your procedure after the event, with a
clear emphasis on taking the bulb-changing process to
the next stage. Oh and there is the question of
changing other bulbs on a voluntary basis after hours..
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
2: How often have you or your headteacher stood
up in staff meetings and reminded staff about
basic expectations (eg uniform code)?
Clue … 2
Answer: 2 often
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
3: Think of your own question for this punchline …
Answer: Because there‟s only one „f‟ in
Ofsted
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
How evaluation could
help to improve your
school
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Achievement and standards
Based as far as possible upon an interpretation of the data
agreed with the school, include:
the standards learners reach, including an
assessment of whether they meet challenging
targets
learners‟ progress in relation to their capabilities,
based upon a clear evaluation of their prior
attainment
an assessment of whether there is any significant
underachievement, for example between groups of
learners such as looked after children and those with
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Grade: 1 - 4
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Personal development and well-being
Include:
learners‟ spiritual, moral, social and cultural
development
learners‟ attitudes, behaviour and attendance, and
how much they enjoy their education
the extent to which learners adopt safe practices
and a healthy lifestyle, make a positive contribution
to the community and develop skills that contribute
to future economic well-being.
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EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Whole-school culture:
Some opening assumptions QuickTime™ and a
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Michael Fullan:
“20 years in teaching is … 1 year, repeated 20 times”
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EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Whole-school culture:
Some opening assumptions
• Good teaching is a set of learnable skills, not a God-given gift
• Performance management is about performance
• We should encourage experimentation and occasional disasters
• We should be intolerant of mediocrity
• A genuine evaluation culture builds improvement
• Real change comes from within
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Whole-school culture:
Some opening assumptions
1 Map out the essential skills of teaching / tutoring /
behaviour management are for your own context
2 Build everything else around them
3 Use evaluation to monitor impact
4 Use self-evaluation for teachers to reflect on their own
improvement
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
THREE GURUS
Carol FitzGibbon (Durham):
Get data into school life, without necessarily doing
anything with it
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
THREE GURUS
John MacBeath (Cambridge):
“We should measure what we value, not value what we
can measure”
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
THREE GURUS
David Reynolds (Exeter):
“Within-school variation”:
Aim to be a „high-reliability‟ organisation …
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Such complex social organizations as air traffic control towers
continuously run the risk of disastrous and obviously
unacceptable failure.
The public would heavily discount several thousand
consecutive days of efficiently monitoring and controlling the
very crowded skies over Chicago or London if two jumbo jets
were to collide over either city.
Through fog, snow, computer-system failures, and nearby
tornadoes, in spite of thousands of flights per day in busy skies,
such a collision has never happened above any city, a
remarkable level of performance reliability …
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
… By contrast, in the U.S., one of the most highly educated
nations on earth, within any group of 100 students beginning
first grade in a particular year, approximately 16 will not have
obtained either their high school diploma or a General
Education Development certificate 12-13 years later.
In Britain, just under half of all 16-year-old pupils will not have
the benchmark of 5 or more high grade public examination
passes in the national system. Obviously, many nations have
even lower levels of educational performance.
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Creating a self-evaluation culture:
Tools for school evaluation:
• Student performance data - results, targets, etc
• Staff, parent, governor feedback
• Ethos data
• Questionnaires and focus groups
• Faculty reviews - inc observation sheets
• Self-evaluation
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Staff Evaluations …
1 2 3 4
(low/poor) (high/good )
1 How would you r ate the performance 0 5 45 50
of our computer system? 2 18 56 24
2 How helpful has the ICT Support 2 2 29 67
Te am been? 2 6 37 55
3 How well have we managed cover? 2 19 56 23
0 30 45 25
4 How would you r ate student 8 26 60 6
behaviour? 2 11 78 9
5 How visible has the leadership team 6 27 52 15
been? 7 29 46 18
6 How would you r ate Geoff BartonÕs 2 8 49 41
leadership? 0 5 66 29
YES NO
7 Has a member of the leadership team 60 40
visited your tutor group? 86 14
8 Has a member of the leadership team 47 53
visited one of your lessons? 59 41
9 Are expectations on uniform clear? 93 7
91 9
10 Are our expectations about 82 18
ur
behavio clear? 93 7
11 Do you find Monday staff briefings 92 8
useful? 97 3
12 Do you find the Barton Bulletin 93 7
useful? 96 4
13 Do you find the weekly bulletin 94 6
useful? 98 2
9 Are expectations on uniform clear? 93 7
91 9
10 Are our expectations about 82 18
ur
behavio clear? 93 7
11 Do you find Monday staff briefings 92 8
useful? 97 3
12 Do you find the Barton Bulletin 93 7
useful? 96 4
13 Do you find the weekly bulletin 94 6
useful? 98 2
rmed about
14 Do you feel well info 84 16
things that are happening in school? 98 2
15 Do you attend too many meeting s? 32 68
16 Do meetings help you to do your 78 22
job better?
17 Are curriculum team meeting s 98 2
useful?
s
18 Are tutor team meeting useful? 97 3
19 Are support staff briefings useful? 100 0
20 Should we stop selling all unhealthy 71 29
food and drink?
21 Next year should tutor time be É Shorter? T he same? Longer?
54 40 6
22 Do you like the sandwiches 46 54
provided for parentsÕ evening?
s
23 Do you find assemblies interesting? 81 19
Routine monitoring …
TUTOR GROUP:
Do all students have Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
coats off? No No No No No
Are students wearing Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
proper school No No No No No
sweatshirt/polo
shirt?
Are all students Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
wearing shoes (ie no No No No No No
trainers except with
doctors’ notes)?
Is jewellery Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
acceptable (ie no No No No No No
facial piercings, no
nly
bracelets, o thin
metal necklaces)?
r
Is the tuto …
Talking to students?
Signing planners?
Taking the register?
Doing admin?
Other?
Tutor group spot-check
Week beginning 17 / 1 / 5
24 tutor groups were visited
Heads of Year have indivi dual results
YES
Do all students have coats off? 79%
Are they wearing correct school 96%
sweatshirt/polo shirt?
Are they wearing shoes (not trainer s)? 100%
Is jewellery acceptable? 88%
Is the ethos positive and purposeful? 88%
Cover work set on appropriate form
Cover work left in staffroom tray
Work was clear to follow for you
Éa nd for students?
Necessary materials were available
Lesson objective set
Work seemed appropriate
Any comments (eg student behaviour / display
/ clarity of instructions, etc):
Planners
Name TG Cover H-S-A All dates Parent signed Tutor signed Letter / hwk Homework Comments on No of
clean* signed completed last 3 weeks Last 3 boxes used consistently homework commendati
weeks written in ons
Liam Askew 9WD No Yes Yes Yes No Occasionally Yes English - none for 4 67 – but lots
weeks without
Bio – none for 5 stickers
weeks
Tech – none for 4
weeks
Leon Brown 9WD No Yes Yes Yes Yes Occasionally Yes Maths – none for 6 66 - ditto
weeks
Simon Crack No Yes No Yes Yes Rarely No Bio – none since 18
November
Hums erratic
Book sampling…
ame Year / Teacher Cover Homework Homework Presentation Types of writing General comments
Set clean evident marked GFP
YN YN YN
T hinking Clearly sequenced,
Elsom 9 WD Y Y Y G Notes challenging, high-level;
TORY Extended exemplary feedback Ğ
positive, precise, personal
T hinking V different ability of
Robotham 9 WD Y Y Y G Notes student Ğ but same strong
TORY Extended expectations; tangible
progress in studentÕs
work; supportive, positive
marking
Notes Good positive feedback;
ey Ward? 9 YE Y Y Y G Exercises evidence of regular
RAPHY marking; good range of
writing
Notes Clear and well-used
Simpson 9 HS Y Y Not G Exercises overall; good to note some
RAPHY consistently Some extended extend worrk; marking
work appears to end in late Sept
Focus groups run by Governors…
What is it like to be a tutor here?
Good bits of the job: Frustrations:
Good Year Teams Lack of time
Good communication with Year Amount of admin
Team Always dealing with the same
Trainees are helpful students
Role will be strengthened by
learning plans / target-setting days
What is it like to be a tutor here?
What impact do you have on students and how do you know?
•Informal feedback from students – eg a disruptive student who
admitted privately that he wants to do well
•Seeing decreasing number of referral slips
•Can feel a sense of progress
How would we improve?
•Year 12 mentoring can be inconsistent – role of mentors not
always clear – but principle of them is good
•Small minority – importance of planners not recognised by
students/parents
Heads of Year …
What are the key ingredients in an effective tutor?
•Know and care about students in their tutor groups
•See monitoring and target-setting as a core part of their job
•Understand the need to work with students on skills beyond
the classroom – emotions, motivation, social skills, courtesy,
how to speak appropriately in difficult circumstances
•Are well organised and manage time well
•Listen actively
•Pay attention to small details – courtesy, thanks, etc
•Treat poor behaviour as simply a choice and good behaviour
as a characteristic
•Apologise when they do something wrong or inappropriate
•Catch students being good far more than they catch them
getting it wrong
•Have genuine interest in students‟ lives and experiences
Faculty reviews
1 Do you feel supported in your work within the Faculty?
very mostly not very not at
all
2 Do you feel supported in your work within the school as a whole?
very mostly not very not at
all
3 Do you feel that there is a clear vision within the Faculty?
very mostly not very not at
all
4 Do you feel involved in the development of the Faculty?
very mostly not very not at
all
5 What currently impedes your work?
s
6 What should be the FacultyÕ main priority over the coming year?
Always Usually Some time s Neve r
1. My teaching approaches and planning have
taken account of the presence of TAs
2. The work of TAs has encouraged student
independence in my classroom
3. TAs working in my classes have ensured
that students remained engaged throughout
the lesson
4. TAs have been encouraged to offer
feedback to me about classroom
arrangements
5. I know and have taken account of the
curriculum strengths of TAs
6. TAs have been involved in the planning of
specific lessons
7. I have hade the opportunity to meet outside
the classroom with TAs who work in my
classroom
8. TAs have contributed positively to the
management of the class
9. I have been pleased with the work of TAs in
my class
10. I am aware of the special needs of the
student(s) who have been supported by TAs
Student Evaluations …
Student …
1 Do you enjoy being at school? Never Rarely Mostly Always
13 25 53 9
Never Rarely Mostly Always
2 Do you feel proud of being at this 10 18 67 5
school?
Yes No
3 Do you think behaviour here is good? 69 31
Yes No
4 Are our expectations about behaviour clear? 86 14
Yes No
5 Are our expectations about uniform clear? 78 22
Yes No
6 Do you feel you are treated with respect? 65 35
Yes No
raise and encouragement?
7 Do we give enough p 49 51
Yes No
74 26
Attitudes to learning
1 What grade did you get in English? English Literature?
2 Think of all the subjects you studied last year. Circle one of the numbers below to show
where you would place English in a rank order of the subjects you studied
1 (high) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (low)
3 Without naming teachers, please name ONE thing you liked most about English lessons
4 Without naming teachers, please name ONE thing you liked least about them
5 Looking back, how did you feel about your usual group for English for É
(a) getting on with other people?
(liked it a lot) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (liked it a little)
(b) learning effectively?
(liked it a lot) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (liked it a little)
Of all the ways the teacher gets you to learn about things which do you enjoy the most?
Activities Ğ not writin g, nothing intimidating. More discussion, needs to be variety (maths now =
all fro m books)
Biology = copy from board Ğ donÕt eve read it
n
VAKi in French to analyse own learning
If teachers drone on = some of us donÕthave the attention span
Unfairness abo ut time given to complete cours ework ie some = meet d eadlines. Oth ers = 3 month s
late so hav e extra 3 months to work on it
Too many tests in short space of time
Would help if dif ferent subject teachers could talk to each other so w e do not get all coursework
assignments at the same time.
Of all the ways the teacher gets you to learn about things, which do you enjoy least?
Vague questions that you donÕtknow what it means
I think we should b e setted for English be cause it cou ld be more challenging too lon g on one piece
of work would be helpful, disruptive people were in difficult group
Humanities Ğ go round and round in circles because donÕt have specialist teachers. Spend time
trying to mana ge behaviour
Student perception interviews
Year 9
4 girls
4 boys
Sets: 1 4 2 3 1 3 2
Rank order: 8 7 3 3 9 3 10 3
What do you like about MFL lessons?What activities do you enjoy? Why?
Fun, like ICT interactive whiteboard, playing games, practical and group work
What activities do you not enjoy? Why? What do you find difficult? What would help?
Tests Ğ some are useful and some are not
Practical lessons are good
t
DonÕ like teachers constantly talking in French. I get behind and de-motivated
DonÕ like having to speak in front of the class Ğ feel under pressure and worried
t
t
Panic when asked to speak and donÕ know how
How do you learn best? What helps you learn in other lessons?
Objectives are sometimes set Ğ but doesnÕ make any difference
t
I like to have some group work and some formal writing
Reinforcing the talking with writing rather than just talking and then moving on and talking
some more
Group work
Games
When behaviour is good. Behaviour is good in languages
How do you feel during MFL lessons?What makes you feel this way?
- Bored Ğ 1 student
- Interested Ğ 1 student
- Enjoy Ğ 1 student
- Tired Ğ 1 student
- DonÕ know Ğ 4 students
t
Consensus from interviews - languages is Ò okÓ but not a subject which students would wish to
choose to take further. Group consensus that about 30% of the lessons are enjoyable. Most students
preferred languages in the Middle School Ğ more practical, games, etc
What for you is the most important ingredient in a good
lesson?
Enthusiasm of teacher
Fun
Good class control
No disruptive students
Practical activities
Teacher interested in the subject
Sitting with a friend
Clear instructions and
expectations
What do teachers do that helps you to learn well?
Talk less and let us get on with work
Teaching us techniques for learning and
revising
Practice papers
Explain things clearly
Acknowledge different kinds of learners
Praise us
Basic ideas about how to do things
Providing lunchtime sessions
Teach me in a way that I understand
What one thing would you do to improve this school?
Longer breaks
More trips
Don‟t give coursework at the end of term
Tougher line on disruptive students
More guidance with coursework
Stop giving detentions for trivial reasons
Smarter uniform
Regular teacher evaluations by students
Clone Mr Green
Be more relaxed about uniform and jewellery
New headteacher
Hotline to support students who are struggling
Shorter lessons
Bus to Newmarket
Longer lessons
Fewer questionnaires!
Don‟t have such high expectations of students
1: Think of people in music, media, sport, politics.
Who do you see as positive role-models?
Michael Jordan; Johnny Wilkinson; Richard
Branson; Marcus Trescothick; Gary Lineker;
David Beckham; Paul Merton; Tiger Woods;
Slash; Thierry Henry; Bob Geldof; Rolling Stones
2: Think of teachers who motivate you most
successfully. What do they do?
Mr G - funny; tells us what we need to know; knows his stuff
Mr W - teaches well; encouraging; takes no rubbish from anyone
Mr W - honest; encourages everyone, not just the best
Mr P - energetic; makes lessons active
Mrs C - lively; fun
Mrs W - explains clearly; not patronising.
3: How could we encourage you to take on
leadership responsibilities around school?
•Give everyone in Year 11 someone to look after in Year 9
•Give us more responsibility
•Get us teaching younger students - eg how to play the guitar
•Better rewards policy
•Extra privileges
•Give us more say
•Rewards - eg non-uniform
•Let us run clubs.
4: Put these in rank order:
•Lessons
•Breaks / lunchtimes
•Extra-curricular activities
•Weekends
100% like weekends best
79% like lessons least (98% in bottom two)
50:50 split between breaks / extra-curricular
Parent Evaluations …
Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly DonÕt
agree disagree know
1 My c hild likes school 43 50% - 7% -
2 My c hild is making good 57% 36% 7% - -
progress
3 Students behave well 23% 57% 14% - 7%
4 My c hild is not bullied or 22% 64% - 6% 6%
harassed at school
5 Teaching is good 29% 64% - - 7%
6 I am kept well informed about 23% 50% 27% - -
how my child is getting on
7 I feel c omfortable about 23% 57% 20% - -
approaching the school with
questions or a problem or
complaint
8 Staff ex pect my child to work 50% 50% - - -
hard and do his or her best
9 The school is led and managed 50% 43% - - 7%
well
10 Staff tr eat my child fairly 23% 69% - - 8%
11 The school seeks the vi ews of 7% 67% 13% 13%
parents and takes account of
their suggestions and concerns
PARENTSÕ EVENING FEEDBAC K
We would welcome your feedback about this evening. Please hand this slip to
students at the Reception desk in the Foundation Room
1 I have found the evening:
o very informative o mostly informative o slightly informative o not informative
2 The organisation was
o excellent o good o fair o poor
3 Two ke y me ssageswe re given by
o all teachers o most teachers o few teachers o no teachers
Any other comments?:
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EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
The essential skills of good teachers
EVALUATION FOR
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
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most important ingredients
of good teachers / tutors …?
EVALUATION FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
The essential skills of good teachers / tutors
•Establish expectations based on school evaluation
•Build into school systems - observation sheets, performance
management, Faculty reviews
•Build differentiated training around them
•Add self-evaluation opportunities
Reading Writ ing Speaking & listening
Use layout and language Be clear and explicit Using a varie ty of
to make texts accessible Ğ about the conventions groupings for structured
eg white space, of the writing you expect talk Ğ pairs, same-sex,
typographical features, from students Ğ eg friendship, triads, ability
summaries, bullets, short audience, purpose, groups
paragraphs layout, key words and
phrases, level of
formality
m
Using a range of strategie s Providin g asse ss ent Setting objectives for talk
to support studentsÕ crite ria and models of and providin g language
reading Ğ eg reading aloud, appropriate text types mode ls Ğ eg level of
key words and glossaries, formality, key words and
word banks, display, paired phrases
reading, talking about texts
Eg: before answering
Spe lling Ğ marking no Using shared Providin g alternatives to
more than 3-5 key composition to show traditional Q&A
Essential spellin gs per work, writin g students how to write approaches Ğ eg open
the correct spelling in the questions, thin king time,
Literacy margin with the error big questions, no-hands,
identified; students puttin g paired consultation ti me,
these into spellin g pages in dealing with answers,
the middle of exercise prompts, answer starters
books; using starters /
word games / mnemonics /
display / rules / words
within words to support
studentsÕ spelling
Effective tutors …
•Know and care about students in their tutor groups
•See monitoring and target-setting as a core part of their job
•Understand the need to work with students on skills
beyond the classroom – emotions, motivation, social skills,
courtesy, how to speak appropriately in difficult
circumstances
•Are well organised and manage time well
•Listen actively
•Pay attention to small details – courtesy, thanks
•Treat poor behaviour as simply a choice and good
behaviour as a characteristic
•Apologise when they do something wrong or inappropriate
•Catch students being good far more than they catch them
getting it wrong
•Have genuine interest in students‟ lives and experiences
Good practice in tutor time …
•One student collecting register
•One student sorting register box, giving you
announcements
•One student each week reading out the “Thought for
the Week” and briefing students on assembly
arrangements that week
•“4-minute limelight”: One student per week talking
about an interest / passion / hobby they have. Other
students asking them questions
•End of each week: One thing I‟ve learnt this week
that I didn‟t know or couldn‟t do on Monday”
•Discussion of something in the news
•Rapid planner signing
•Informal conversation between tutor and individuals
/ small groups
Daily Tutor ti me Mentoring Wednesdays Assembly days
Students reading out Students with Students listenin g or
Thought for the Week; achievement portfolio actively participatin g
updatin g noticeboard; in front of the m,
talking quietly in groups, updatin g it, showing it
with coats off in correct to tutor or Sixth Form
unifor m; mentor
Tutor taking register with Tutor talking to Tutor actively
students in silence indi vidual students supervisin g students
about progress, using
achievement portfolio
as core document
Expectations
Never Sometimes Mostly Always
Students in my tutor group
know that they must be
properly dressed
Students are silent for the
register and take it seriously
Students listen when others
are speaking and give
positive feedback to one
another
Students are in a routine of
having their planner signed
and know that I will make an
issue of it if not
I keep my register neatly,
throw away old memos and
announcements, and try to
create a sense of order
Evaluation for School
Improvement
Geoff Barton
Friday, November 11, 2011
PowerPoint available to download at www.geoffbarton.co.uk