Jaap Scheerens Presentation at the German Rector’s conference, Essen, 21 January, 2014 J.Scheerens@utwente.nl

Interesting variations in description and perceptions of teacher training and development across EU countries

How important are these variations for differences in educational performance?

The answer: apparently not very much, but what is behind this, and how should this conclusion be further qualified?

Initial teacher training in EUROPEResults from macro (country) level

studiesMicro-level studies addressing

teacher training effectsContinuous Professional

DevelopmentConclusions

Figure A1: Structure of Initial Teacher Training Education for primary and lower secondary education. Source EU, 2013

Figure A2b: Level and minimum length of initial teacher training for lower secondary schools Source, EU (2013)

Other relevant descriptive characteristics:

Length of practical training as part of ITT

Relative duration of subject matter mastery and pedagogy

Descriptive variations obviously do not say anything about effectiveness, yet, examples from other countries might inspire effectiveness enhancing reforms, e.g.- Thinking about more pedagogy in TT in France

- Practical TT in England

- Introducing any form of teacher appraisal in the Netherlands

OECD, 2005, Figure 3.8, PISA, 2000 data, OECD, 2013 table IV 1 12c

Facet of school resources

Positive impact

Proportion of teachers with a third level qualification

Belgium, Germany,

Switzerland and the United Kingdom (2000)

----------------

Austria, Slovenia (2013)

ETS (2010): filters used along the teacher education and development pipeline

Concurrent/

Consecutive

Bachelor/

Master

Number of selection methods applied

Finland Mixed M, 5 years 4

NL Mixed B, 4 years 2

Poland Mixed B, 4 years 1

Belgium Concurrent B, 4 years 2

Germany Concurrent M, 3 ½ year 1

Selective recruitment

Salary Multiple career paths, bonuses

System’s control and performance evaluation

Training

Singapore Top 30% high school

Average Yes Yes ?

Finland Top 20% high school

Modest No No “rigorous”

Korea Top 5% college entrance

Highest in the world

? modest ?

At country level there is no substantial evidence of a teacher training effect, in terms of quantity, level, and organization. No comparable information on TT content.

Apart from the very weak methodology, this lack of effects is probably due to the limited variation in teacher training facilities across countries

Teachers matter, but which changeable (trainable) teacher characteristics determine teacher quality?

This is the question of teacher effectiveness (1), which should not be confused with teaching effectiveness (2)

Re 1) relatively stable dispositions and behavioral repertoires

Re 2) manifested processes

In educational research we usually have to do with naturally occurring variation to make inferences on the effects of schools and teachers.

Overall effects of schools or teachers indicate what it matters whether a student goes to school A or school B, or is taught by teacher A or B, i.e. expressed as the amount of total variance in student achievement “explained” by schools or teachers

School effects are in the order of 8- 10 %, after adjustment for student background

Teacher effects are in the order of about 15% (Impression from various studies)

School effects may be seen as containing teacher effects; Luyten, 1994 found that about ¾ of the school effect depended on teacher/subject effects

Literally hundreds of research studies have focused on the importance of teachers for student achievement. Two key findings emerge. First, teachers are very important. No other measured aspect of schools is nearly as important in determining student achievement. Second, it has not been possible to identify any specific characteristics of teachers that are reliably related to student outcome. (Hanushek, 2010)

Hattie, (2009, ch.7) reports an overall teacher effect of d = .35, an effect of teacher training of d = .11, and teacher subject matter knowledge, d = .09

Walsh (2001) “there is no evidence that school systems should reward teachers for obtaining master’s degrees outside a subject area or that teachers should feel compelled to obtain such degrees. This is a firm conclusion of the research. Given the inability of formal teacher preparation to produce measurable results, policymakers should be skeptical about a strategy for improving teaching that relies on changes in formal pre-service education”

Wayne and Youngs (2003) “In the case of degrees, coursework, and certification, findings have been inconclusive, except in mathematics”

Goldhaber en Hansen, (2010) “Studies typically find that less than 10 percent of the variation in teacher effectiveness can be attributed to readily observable credentials like degree and experience levels”

Walsh (2001) “The teacher attribute found consistently to be most related to raising student achievement is verbal ability. ”

The importance of the overall teacher effect and the lack of solid knowledge on malleable teacher characteristics suggest a selection over an ITT and CPD improvement strategy

Some results from TALIS, 2009Characteristics of CPD in high

performing countriesSome results from micro studies

Teachers’ Professional Development.Europe in international comparison

J. Scheerens, (ed.)

European Union, 2012

While 89% of teachers report that they had taken part in "structured professional development activity" over the last 18 months, it is a source of concern that more than 25% of teachers in Denmark, Iceland and the Slovak Republic report they have participated in no professional development at all during this period (Source: EU 2010).

Percentage of teachers who undertook some professional development in the previous 18 months

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Spai

n

Slov

enia

Aus

tral

ia

Aus

tria

Lith

uani

a

Mal

ta

Est

onia

Kor

ea

Mal

aysi

a

Mex

ico

Pola

nd

Bel

gium

(Fl.)

Irel

and

EU

(TA

LIS

) Ave

rage

TA

LIS

Ave

rage

Bul

gari

a

Hun

gary

Nor

way

Port

ugal

Ital

y

Bra

zil

Icel

and

Den

mar

k

Slov

ak R

epub

lic

Tur

key

% EU Non-EU Averages

Participation

It is striking how positively teachers view the impact of all development activities. However, fewest teachers participate in the types of development (qualification programmes, collaborative research) which they deem to have the highest impact. More detailed analysis show that experienced impact depends on time spent and variation in participation.  

Types of professional development

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Courses andworkshops

Educationconferences and

seminars

Professionaldevelopment

network

Individual andcollaborative

research

Mentoring andpeer observation

Observationvisits to other

schools

Qualificationprogrammes

%Participation Impact

Participation and perceived impact of professional development activities

Duty or Optional

PD plans obligatory

Responsibility for PD monitoring

Finland Duty Not Not regulated

NL Optional Not Not regulated

Poland Necessary for promotion

Compulsory Local/regulated

Belgium Duty Compulsory Local/Inspection

Germany Duty Not Top/inspection

Mixed results from individual studies and meta-analyses on professional development effects:

Timperley et al. (2007) cited in Hattie, 2009, p. 120 report an average effect size of d = .66

Garet et al, (2008) and Garet et al. (2010) report no significant effects of intensive PD programs

Lomos et al. (2011) found an overall effect size of d = .22 for the effects of “professional learning communities”

Continuous professional development could be seen as a more flexible lever for enhancing student performance.

Results from meta-analyses are mixed, but educationally significant effects from program evaluation studies appear to be feasible

Joint effects of teacher composition and good training practice mean that better training can easily follow in the wake of higher selectivity (but what about equity?)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Proportion of between-school variance explained by school climate (%)Proportion of between-school variance jointly explained by school climate, student characteristics and school context (%)Proportion of between-school variance explained by student characteristics and school context (%)Between-school variance explained by student characteristics, school context and school climate, policies and resources (%)

Figure 3.3 Differences between schools in student performance in reading literacy explained by school climate Proportion of between-school variance in student performance in reading literacy explained uniquely by school climate, jointly by school climate, student characteristics and school context

and uniquely by student characteristics and school context

Note: Countries are ranked in descending order of proportion of between-school variance explained by student characteristics, school context and school climate, policies and resources. Results for countries shaded are not statistically significant.1. Response rate too low to ensure comparability. Source : OECD PISA database, 2000. Table 3.3.

%

There is likely to be underutilized potential in making the work of teachers more evidence based (using the knowledge base of teaching effectiveness), with initial training and continuous professional development as important vehicles to realize this.

Subject matter mastery Rich repertoire of teaching strategies Deep understanding of learning and

motivating students

Able to work in highly cooperative ways

Strong skills in technology and use of technology

Teachers as researchers

Structure and classroom management

e. g. opportunity to learn

Supportive classroom climate

e.g. appropriate expectations

Cognitive activation

e.g. thoughtful discourse

Higher effect sizes for “teacher as activator”, (direct instruction, meta-cognitive strategies, feedback) as compared to “teacher as facilitator” (e.g. inquiry-based teaching, individualized instruction)

There are important “other” reasons to care about optimizing teacher training and teacher professional development than effectiveness: modernization (ICT applications) coping with new challenges (like inclusive

education) improving quality of life, and moral

support of teachers

Align teacher training and development policies with other “teacher strategies”, including (next to training and development) recruitment, induction and working conditions of teachers at large.

Align teacher policies with other levers for educational improvement, like curriculum strategies and evaluation and assessment strategies.