“quality of education and learning outcomes for all” · “quality of education and learning...
TRANSCRIPT
“Quality of Education and Learning
Outcomes for All”
Arab States Regional Conference on Education Post-2015:
Towards Quality and Lifelong Learning for All
Sharm El Sheik, 27-29 January 2015
Dr. Caroline Pontefract,
Director of UNRWA-UNESCO Education
UNRWA, Amman
key messages
• Knowing what it is you really want to achieve –and
working outwards
• Evidence based decision making
• Systemic change: policy, organisational and
capacity
• Making resource decisions: (class size, teachers,
ICTs
• Ways of working, communicating and advocating
• Meaningful and effective capacity development
• Measuring achievement at all levels and in multiple
ways
Child
Professional support structures
Parents and wider Community
School/Head Teacher
Teacher
Strategic objectives, policies, system reporting
what is the current status…….
reforming education systems towards more quality
• A successful education reform has to focus key on education
actors—teachers, administrators, and educational authorities. (World
Bank, The Road not traveled in Reforming MENA Education).
• Achieve educational-development goals in a holistic manner, taking
into account their inter-connections as well as linkages among the
various factors and arrangements required to attain the goals of
education systems in a consistent manner across different sub-sectors
and levels of education.
• Contextualizing reform: “… the main aspects of successful reform do
not change according to countries. It is only how reform is
implemented (what to impose, what to propose, which pace to
choose) which depends on the context.” (McKinsey & Cie. Report,
2010).
working coherently
Str
ateg
ic P
lan
nin
g,
Man
agem
ent a
nd
Pro
ject
s
Go
vern
ance
Res
earc
h, D
evel
op
men
t
and
EM
IS
Par
tner
ship
s, C
om
mu
nic
atio
n
and
ICT
s
Curriculum and Student Assessment
Technical and Vocational Education and Training and Youth
Inclusive Education
Teacher Development and School Empowerment
Substantive Programmes
Supporting Programmes
making investment choices: class size
Studies highlight that there are no definitive results as to any
remarkable effect of class size on learning achievement:
• Class size in itself is not a key determinant of good quality. If
class size is around 40-45 students, reducing class size is not
correlated with significant improvement in student achievements.
• Allocation of resources for decreasing class size needs to be
reflected against more cost effective ways of improving
quality.
• Quality education means investing
and continuing to improve what happens in the classroom/schools:
changing classroom practices
through a broader approach.
making investment choices: repetition
Assumptions and research findings
Assumptions Research Findings
• It improves achievements in the
short term
• Achievements are lost over time and
repeaters fall further behind their
age peers
• It is a tool to harmonize learning
levels of a classroom
• Classrooms with repeaters are more
difficult to manage and motivate
• It is a tool for ensuring high
standards of learning outcomes
• It causes decreased confidence
and lack of motivation
• It is a tool to enable low achievers
to catch up with learning
• Repeaters are much more likely to
drop out compared to non -
repeaters
• It is a tool to motivate children for
better performance
• It negatively affects children with
learning disabilities as they become
progressively marginalized from
school
Repetition is inefficient
It’s what happens in the classroom that makes the difference…
Instructional variety and interactive strategies where:
• teachers use and incorporate pupils ideas; include appropriate and varied questioning; probe for
understanding; ask uptake questions; provide frequent
feedback Studies show that interactive strategies.
classroom interaction is the pedagogic key to quality education
• there are opportunities for collaborative group work,
peer support.
• formative evaluation of the
learning feeds back into the
process and summative
assessment demands more
than memorisation.
Get the right people to become teachers
• Attract a broad base of applicants
• Rigorous teacher selection process
• Ensure a match between the number of trainees and the number
of teachers needed
• Adequate starting salaries for teachers
Ensure appropriate training and professional support and development
• Classroom training
investing in teachers
• Communities of practice & mentoring
system
• School leadership
Ensure that the system is able to deliver the
best possible education for EVERY child
Monitor the quality of schools and ensure
independent evaluation
• High performing education systems teachers have a central role to
play in improving educational outcomes. High performing systems
provide opportunities for teachers to work together, learn from each
other and conduct action research at classroom and school level
(OECD)
• Effective professional development is which take the teacher from
their own starting point, provide opportunities to reflect on their own
practice, consider in accessible way (DVDs, observation, Case studies)
other ways of doing things, discuss and share with colleagues and try
out new ways in a supportive environment.
ensuring meaningful professional development..
• What does not make a difference:
one off or ad hoc centrally based
training programmes
Outcome Level – Basic education
measuring quality education
Children complete quality, equitable and inclusive basic education
Indicator Means of verification
Teaching and learning practices aligned with reform
criteria
Perceptional surveying
Survival rate to the end of basic education EMIS
Cumulative drop-out rate (preparatory, elementary) EMIS
Repetition in basic education EMIS
Coefficient of efficiency EMIS/ # of yrs to finish basic
Students meeting required levels in MLA tests Learning Achievement Tests
measuring quality education
Output Level – Basic education
Quality education ensured
Indicator Means of verification
Students meeting required standards in higher order
thinking skills (HOTS)
Learning Achievement Tests
Prevalence of human rights culture and practices
Perceptional surveying
Inclusive education ensured
Indicator Means of verification
Inclusive approaches embedded in educational practice Perceptional surveying
Identified children with disability receiving support EMIS
Satisfaction of users with new/upgraded schools
Perceptional surveying
Equitable education ensured
Indicator Means of verification
Gap in student performance between performance levels in
MLA testing
Learning Achievement Tests
Violence Free Schools EMIS
Schools Implementing inclusive recreational and
extracurricular activities
School Reporting
measuring quality TVET
TVET
Outcome: Capabilities strengthened for increased livelihood opportunities
Indicator Means of verification
Percentage of TVET graduates employed or continuing their
studies among active job seekers by gender
Career Guidance System
Percentage of TVET graduates working in a job in relation to
their training or studying in a relevant field – female
Career Guidance System
Degree of employer satisfaction with TVET graduates Perceptional surveying
• Ensure effective interaction between the education sector, other sectors,
and the different groups of society (participatory inter-sectoral planning) in order to identify and respond to educational-developmental needs (consultation, research etc.);
• Lead players from both, inside (managers, teachers) and outside (parents, NGOs) the education system towards coherent, integrated
action to attain these goals, through incentives, procedures, etc.
ways of working and getting things in place
• Factor a long-term perspective and sustainability concerns into the formulation of education policies and strategies;
• Teachers are key in any system driven by reform, embrace and lead on reform, taking professional responsibility for ensuring wider range of pedagogic practices in the classroom.
the right to quality education
thank you