Standards for Teachers in England Dr Ben Ramm Education Standards - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Professional Standards for Teachers in England

Dr Ben Ramm Education Standards Directorate

Outline of the presentation

I. Introduction: The UK Civil Service and the Department for Education (DfE) II. Education and Teacher Training in England III. Brief History of Teacher Standards in England IV. The Independent Review of 2011 V. The Teachers’ Standards 2012 VI. Questions and Answers

• I. Introduction: The UK Civil Service and

the Department for Education (DfE)

The UK Civil Service

• The United Kingdom has a permanent, impartial civil service

(numbering around 400,000 staff in total);

• Civil servants are responsible for advising Ministers,

developing and delivering policy;

• All civil servants must demonstrate the values of the Civil

Service Code: Integrity, Honesty, Objectivity, Impartiality. See: www.civilservice.gov.uk/values

The Department for Education (DfE)

• Formed in 2010, following the General Election – previously

Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF);

• The Department is responsible for education and children’s

service in England. Its vision is for:

• Remit of the Department is England only;
• Employs around 3000 staff in 12 locations (reducing to 5).

“A highly educated society in which opportunity is more equal for children and young people no matter what their background or family circumstances.”

Our Ministers

• Rt. Hon. Michael Gove MP (Conservative)

Secretary of State for Education

• Rt. Hon. David Laws MP (Liberal Democrat)

Minister of State for Schools

Since 2010 the UK has had a Coalition Government – the first since the Second World War. New challenges of working with Ministers from different parties…

The 2010 Schools White Paper: The Importance of Teaching

• Statement of new Government’s education policy – placing

quality of teaching at heart of Ministers’ priorities.

• Key principles for improving education standards:

– “Free our teachers from constraint, and improve their professional status and authority”; – “Raise the standards set by our curriculum and qualifications to match the best in the world” – “Hold [schools] effectively to account for the results they achieve”

• II. Education and Teacher Training in

England

The Schools System in England

• Compulsory education between ages 5 and 17 (18 from 2015)

– Choice of state or independent (fee-paying) education

• Primary / secondary schools

– Primary 4-11: around 18,000 schools – Secondary 11-16 (or 18): around 4,000 schools

• Approximately 450,000 teachers in England.
• New types of school being promoted by Government:

– Academies (state-funded “independent” schools) – Free Schools – Teaching Schools

Initial Teacher Training (ITT)

• Approximately 35,000 new teachers trained every year in

England, by over 200 accredited providers;

• Radical reforms give schools more responsibility for selecting,

recruiting and training new teachers;

• A graduate-level profession;
• Large variety of different routes into teaching – as an

undergraduate or graduate student, or as an employee in a school: – Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) – School Direct / School Direct Salaried – Teach First

Initial Teacher Training (ITT)

• ITT candidates must pass Skills Tests in literacy and numeracy

before starting training;

• Trainees are assessed against the Teachers’ Standards

throughout their training – successful final assessment leads to award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

• Most Newly-Qualified Teachers (NQTs) then complete period of

induction (early-career support).

• III. Brief History of Teacher Standards in

England

The early days of teacher standards: 1990s

• Pre-1992: teaching training largely responsibility of

universities; emphasis on theory rather than practice.

• New principles for training set out by Government in 1992/3:

– Much larger part for schools in teacher training; – Training courses should focus on the competences of teaching.

• Secondary education: 27 competences under 5 headings:

– Subject knowledge; subject application; class management; assessment; further professional development.

• Primary education: 33 competences under 3 headings:

– Curriculum content, planning and assessment; teaching strategies; further professional development.

A Prescriptive Approach: Circular 4/98

• Move from competences to standards, as minimum levels of

expected performance that are assessable and measurable.

• Primary and secondary standards brought together: 80

separate statements.

• Detailed curriculum for teacher training in English, maths,

science and information technology.

• A highly prescriptive, exclusive model.

Qualifying to Teach: 2002

• Problems caused by prescriptiveness of 4/98: loss of capacity

in the system as some providers withdraw or lose accreditation.

• Streamlined content: 42 statements
• Abolished “core curriculum” for ITT; placed new emphasis on

“professional values”

• Three sections:

– Professional values and practice; Knowledge and Understanding; Teaching

• Strong link with on-going development:

– “Initial training is not an end in itself, but the start of a long-term process of professional development”.

Professional Standards for Teachers: 2007

• A single framework for career progression: three common

“domains”: – Professional Attributes (4 subheadings) – Professional Knowledge and Understanding (6 subheadings) – Professional Skills (6 subheadings)

• 5 tiers, from QTS to AST: a cumulative model;
• “Core” standards set the baseline for all teachers following

initial training – used to assess end of induction;

• Provide the “backdrop” to performance management process.

Advanced Skills Teacher (A) (3 standards) Excellent Teacher (E) (15 standards) Post-Threshold (P) (10 standards) Core (C) (41 standards) QTS (33 standards) [+ Skills Tests]

The 2007 Professional Standards: 5 tiers

Higher standards used to determine pay

GTCE Code of Conduct

• Teacher regulation and discipline was, until 2012, responsibility
• f General Teaching Council for England (GTCE);
• GTCE abolished 2012; functions taken over by DfE.
• GTCE maintained a Code of Conduct and Practice for

Registered Teachers – used as basis for disciplinary procedure;

• Code comprised 8 domains;
• Some overlap with framework of Professional Standards.

See http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/11660/

• IV. The Independent Review of 2011

Changing Approach: An Independent Review

• Schools White Paper 2010:
• Dame Sally Coates, headteacher of Burlington Danes Academy

(West London) appointed to chair the review.

“The proliferation of existing teacher standards means that our expectations of teachers are unclear, and makes it hard to assess teacher performance and steer professional development. We will review existing measures of teacher performance and conduct […] to establish clear and unequivocal standards. The review will be led by excellent head teachers and teachers.”

Scoping the Review

• Independent of Government – members included heads,

teachers, academics, teacher trainers.

• Remitted to establish a set of standards which:

– are unequivocal, clear and easy to understand; – provide a tool to assess teachers’ performance and steer professional development; – focus primarily on the key areas of excellent teaching, how to address poor behaviour, and how to support children with additional needs; – encompass standards of ethics and behaviour.

• Out of scope

– pay consequences; – headteacher standards.

Advanced Skills Teacher (A) (3 standards) Excellent Teacher (E) (15 standards) Post-Threshold (P) (10 standards) Core (C) (41 standards) QTS (33 standards) [+ Skills Tests]

A Two-Stage Review

Stage 1: March – July 2011 Stage 2: July – December 2011

Agree rationale for and scope of

standards

Review evidence

• f what

works Conduct wider call for evidence Drafting and redrafting

Period

• f

engage- ment

Submit Advice to Ministers

The Review Process

Outcomes of the Review

• Stage 1 recommended that QTS and Core standards should be

replaced with the new Teachers’ Standards – Accepted by the Secretary of State; new standards ready for implementation September 2012.

• Stage 2 recommended that Post-Threshold, Excellent Teacher

Advanced Skills standards should be abolished.

• Proposed a new “Master Teacher Standard”

– Accepted in principle by Secretary of State, but no commitment to implementation.

The Master Teacher Standard

• A different format: “a coherent narrative description of the

practice which characterises truly excellent teachers”;

• “A Master Teacher is someone whose professionalism has

come to be seen as an integral part of his or her character”;

• Five headings:

– Knowledge; Classroom Performance; Outcomes; Environment and Ethos; Professional Context

• Accepted in principle, but not yet implemented.

Standards for Headteachers

• Heads MUST be assessed against the Teachers’ Standards;
• Separate set of optional National Standards for Headteachers

(last reviewed in 2003);

• Provide the basis of a qualification for heads: the National

Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH): – Was compulsory until 2012, now optional.

• A new, modular curriculum for leadership qualifications, from

middle leadership to senior system leaders.

• V. The Teachers’ Standards 2012

Teachers’ Standards 2012: Structure

• Introduction, legal standing and interpretation
• Three parts:

– Preamble – Part 1: Teaching (8 standards)

• Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils;
• Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils;
• Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge;
• Plan and teach well structured lessons;
• Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils;
• Make accurate and productive use of assessment;
• Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning

environment;

• Fulfil wider professional responsibilities.

– Part 2: Personal and Professional Conduct (3 standards)

Teachers’ Standards 2012: Uses - ITT

• In Initial Teacher Training standards are used:

– As outcome statements to structure training programmes (no formal ITT curriculum beyond the standards); – To assess trainees throughout and at the end of ITT; successful final assessment leads to recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS);

• Trainees will gather evidence to show how they are meeting the

standards throughout the training (iterative process).

• Trainees are subject to the conduct standards throughout their

ITT.

Teachers’ Standards 2012 - Uses

• After training, Teachers’ Standards are used:

– To assess Newly-Qualified Teachers (NQTs) at the end of a period of induction; – As part of annual appraisal/performance management process, providing a basis for performance objectives; – To identify areas where teachers require further development (CPD); – By Ofsted when assessing quality of teaching;

• Part 2 provides basis for misconduct/disciplinary hearings:

– Failure to adhere to the standards can lead to a teacher being “prohibited” by the Secretary of State.

Teachers’ Standards 2012: Interpretation

• The same standards set the basic requirement for teachers at

all stages of their careers – interpretation, based on professional judgement and common sense, is key;

• Relationship between the headings and bullets;
• DfE does not provide guidance on interpreting the standards;
• ITT providers are inspected by Ofsted to ensure that they are

making rigorous and consistent assessments against the standards;

• Standards are not graded – QTS is pass/fail.

Implementing the Teachers’ Standards

• A “light touch” approach compared to previous standards;
• New standards promoted through key groups:

– Headteachers (and their unions – ASCL/NAHT) – School Governors

• Relationship to new (statutory) appraisal process key to raising

awareness;

• Ofsted look at extent to which standards are being met.

Implementing the Teachers’ Standards

• Research carried out in November 2012 (sample of 1,600

teachers) found that: – 94% were aware of the new standards; – 86% knew their performance would be assessed against the standards.

• Similar survey in February 2011 found that:

– 70% of teachers had used the professional standards; – Of those, 71% had used them in relation to performance management (a great deal/a fair amount); – 47% had used them for planning/identifying development needs (a great deal/a fair amount).

Source: NFER Omnibus/TeacherVoice surveys

• VI. Questions…?

Useful Links (1)

• Teachers’ Standards (2012):

https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/teac hers%20standards.pdf

• Professional Standards for Teachers (2007):

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111218081624/http://td a.gov.uk/teacher/developing-career/professional-standards- guidance/~/media/resources/teacher/professional- standards/standards_a4.pdf

• Qualifying To Teach (2002):

https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/1025

• 2004PDF-EN-01.pdf

Useful Links (2)

• National Standards for Headteachers:

www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/NS4HFinal pdf.pdf

• The 2011 Standards Review documentation:

www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/reviewofstandar ds

• 2010 Schools White Paper:

www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/CM- 7980.pdf

• Model appraisal policy:

http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/m/model%20policy%2 0rev%2017%20may%20branded.pdf

Useful Links (3)

• Ofsted frameworks for inspection:

– Schools: www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/framework-for-school- inspection – ITT Providers: www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/initial-teacher- education-inspection-handbook

• Literacy skills test (including practice material):

www.education.gov.uk/schools/careers/traininganddevelopment/prof essional/b00211208/literacy

• Numeracy skills test (including practice material):

www.education.gov.uk/schools/careers/traininganddevelopment/prof essional/b00211213/numeracy

Contact

Ben.RAMM@education.gsi.gov.uk www.education.gov.uk / www.gov.uk Department for Education Piccadilly Gate Store Street MANCHESTER M1 2WD United Kingdom