Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers

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Teachers Matter Attracting, Developing and
Retaining Effective Teachers
The Main Policy Directions from the OECD Teacher
Policy Report
Paulo Santiago Directorate for Education
ETSA (European Teacher Student Association)
Feasibility Study Conference Lublin, Poland,
26 August 2005
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Outline of Presentation
1. The OECD Project Attracting, Developing and
Retaining Effective Teachers
2. The impact of teachers and teaching on student
learning
3. Policy context
4. Teachers aspirations and reasons for
dissatisfaction
5. Policy priorities Developing teachers
knowledge and skills
6. Other policy priorities with an impact on the
preparation and development of teachers
7. Developing and implementing teacher policy
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Part 1
The OECD project Attracting, Developing and
Retaining Effective Teachers
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OECDs Activity Attracting, Developing and
Retaining Effective Teachers
Purpose
To provide policy makers with information and
analysis to assist them in formulating and
implementing teacher policies leading to quality
teaching and learning at the school level.
Objectives

• to synthesise research on issues related to
  policies concerned with attracting, recruiting,
  retaining and developing effective teachers

• to identify innovative and successful policy
  initiatives and practices

• to facilitate exchanges of lessons and
  experiences among countries and

• to identify policy options.

? Focus is on teacher policy, not the practice
and performance level of teachers.
? Study did not address teaching/classroom
strategies per se.
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OECDs Activity Attracting, Developing and
Retaining Effective Teachers
Origins of the Project
We need to explore together strategies to
attract and retain high-quality teachers and
school principals (OECD Education Ministers,
2001)
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OECDs Activity Attracting, Developing and
Retaining Effective Teachers
Participating countries
25 countries Australia, Austria, Belgium (Flemish
and French Comm.), Canada (Quebec), Chile,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea,
Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovak Republic,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom,
United States.
10 countries visited by review teams Austria,
Belgium (Flemish and French Comm.), Germany,
Hungary, Italy, Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
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Analytical approach
OECDs Activity Attracting, Developing and
Retaining Effective Teachers

• The Activity has drawn on country experience and
  research to identify a range of policy directions
  in five main areas
• Making teaching an attractive career choice
• Developing teachers knowledge and skills
• Recruiting, selecting and employing teachers
• Retaining effective teachers in schools
• Developing and implementing teacher policy

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OECDs Activity Attracting, Developing and
Retaining Effective Teachers
Methodology

• Cross-Country Collaboration
• Country Background Reports
• National Co-ordinator
• National Advisory Committee
• Workshops and Seminars
• Country Visits (for some countries)
• Country Notes (for countries visited)
• Commissioned Papers
• Extensive Reviews of Literature
• Data Analyses.

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Part 2
The impact of teachers and teaching on student
learning
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Three broad conclusions emerge from research on
student learning
The Impact of Teachers and Teaching on Student
Learning
1. Largest source of variation in student
learning is attributable to differences in what
students bring to school their abilities and
attitudes, and family and community background.
2. Of those variables which are potentially open
to policy influence, factors to do with teachers
and teaching are the most important influences on
student learning.
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Three broad conclusions emerge from research on
student learning (continued)
The Impact of Teachers and Teaching on Student
Learning (continued)
3. It is difficult to predict who is going to be
a good teacher just by considering the more
measurable characteristics of teachers (e.g.
qualifications, teaching experience, and
indicators of academic ability and subject-matter
knowledge) .

• There are many important aspects of teacher
  quality that are not captured by the more
  measurable characteristics, such as
• Ability to convey ideas in clear and convincing
  ways
• To create effective learning environments for
  different types of students
• to foster productive teacher-student
  relationships
• to be enthusiastic and creative
• to work effectively with colleagues and parents.

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Part 3
Policy Context
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Policy Context
About half the countries report serious concerns
about maintaining an adequate supply of good
quality teachers, especially in high-demand
subject areas
Almost all countries report concerns about
qualitative shortfalls whether enough teachers
have the knowledge and skills to meet school needs
There are major concerns about the limited
connections between teacher education,
professional development, and school needs
Some countries experience high rates of teacher
attrition, especially among new teachers
Some countries have a large over-supply of
qualified teachers, which raises its own policy
challenges
In some countries there are serious concerns
about teacher morale and enthusiasm
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There are widespread concerns about long-term
trends in the composition of the teaching
workforce e.g. fewer high achievers, and fewer
males
Percentage of females among teaching staff, lower
secondary education, 2002
Source OECD Education Database, 2004.
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There are concerns about the ageing of the
teaching profession
Distribution of teachers by age group, secondary
education, 2002
Source OECD Education Database, 2004.
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Policy Context (continued)

• Many countries now have a once-in-a-generation
  opportunity to shape and benefit from substantial
  changes in the teacher workforce
• Many new teachers will be starting in the next
  5-10 years
• A younger workforce implies less budgetary
  pressure, and potentially frees resources for
  renewal and development
• But, if teaching is not perceived as an
  attractive profession for able people, and
  teaching does not change in fundamental ways,
  school quality could decline

• Policy frameworks and initiatives do make a
  difference
• Differences among countries (some countries have
  an over-supply)
• Recent improvements within countries (which
  suggests the teacher labour market is cyclical,
  and not necessarily in long-term decline)

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Part 4
Teachers aspirations and reasons for
dissatisfaction
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Aspirations of Teachers
Main reason for becoming a teacher and main
source of current job satisfaction, secondary
teachers in the private Catholic grant-aided
sector, French Community of Belgium, 1999
Source Maroy (2002).
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Reasons for Dissatisfaction
Reasons given by teachers for leaving the
profession, England, Summer 2002
Source Smithers and Robinson (2003).
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Part 5
Policy Priorities Developing Teachers Knowledge
and Skills
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Teachers Roles are changing
Teachers are now expected to have much broader
roles

• At the individual student level
• Initiating and managing learning processes
• Responding effectively to the learning needs of
  individual learners
• Integrating formative and summative assessment.

• At the classroom level
• Teaching in multicultural classrooms
• New cross-curricular emphases
• Integrating students with special needs.

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Teachers Roles are changing
Teachers are now expected to have much broader
roles (continued)

• At the school level
• Working and planning in teams
• Evaluation and systematic improvement planning
• ICT use in teaching and administration
• Projects between schools, and international
  cooperation
• Management and shared leadership.

• At the level of parents and the wider community
• Providing professional advice to parents
• Building community partnerships for learning.

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Policy priorities Developing teachers knowledge
and skills

• Developing teacher profiles
• Clear and concise standards of what teachers are
  expected to know and be able to do
• reflect broad range of competencies.
• provide framework to guide and integrate initial
  teacher education, certification, induction and
• on-going professional development.
• should be evidence-based and reflect student
  learning objectives.
• should be built on active involvement by teaching
  profession.

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Initial teacher education
Selection into teacher education
Source TIMSS, 1999.
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Initial teacher education
Selection into teacher education
Source TIMSS, 1999.
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Policy priorities Developing teachers knowledge
and skills
Initial teacher education

• Improve selection into teacher education
• Information and counselling
• Assessment of candidates
• Early school experience
• Incentives for high potentials.

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Policy priorities Developing teachers knowledge
and skills
Initial teacher education

• A flexible initial teacher education system
• Concurrent and consecutive models offer
  distinctive benefits and countries gain by
  offering both
• Modular, common elements, part-time, distance
  education
• Post-graduate degrees

• Short versus long programmes of initial teacher
  education
• Conflicting pressures between increasing length
  (e.g. as a result of broadened responsibilities
  of teachers) and decreasing length (e.g. as a
  result of shifting resources to teacher career
  development)

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Number of years of post-secondary education
required to become a teacher, 2001
Source OECD Education Database, 2004.
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Policy priorities Developing teachers knowledge
and skills
Initial teacher education

• Alternate routes for mid-career changers
• Most countries now offer alternative teacher
  education programmes for side entrants.
• Special programmes in traditional teacher ed.
  institutions
• In context of adult education
• Distance learning
• School-based programmes

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Policy priorities Developing teachers knowledge
and skills
Initial teacher education

• Strengthen partnerships between teacher education
  institutions and schools
• Overt and deliberate partnerships
• Earlier and longer field experience
• Broader field experience encompassing the full
  range of a teachers professional tasks
• More resources to support field experiences

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Policy priorities Developing teachers knowledge
and skills
Initial teacher education

• Accrediting teacher education programmes
• Means to ensure that diverse teacher education
  programmes meet the standards set by the teaching
  field at large
• Accreditation to focus more on the outcomes of
  teacher education programmes than on inputs,
  curriculum and processes
• Teacher profiles very useful mechanisms for
  clarifying expectations

• Certifying new teachers
• Certification requirements more likely to exist
  where the provision of teacher education is
  diverse
• Way to align teacher education programmes with
  school needs
• Certification to be linked to successful
  completion of probationary period
• Requirements to be more linked to output criteria

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Policy priorities Developing teachers knowledge
and skills

• Strengthening induction programmes
• Formalise induction programmes
• Qualify mentor teachers
• Provide sufficient resources for induction
• reduced teaching obligation for mentors and
  beginning teachers
• Link successful completion of induction to
  certification

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Professional Development
Teacher participation in professional development
activities in upper secondary education, 2001
Source OECD, ISUSS Database, 2003.
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Policy priorities Developing teachers knowledge
and skills

• Integrating professional development throughout
  the teaching career
• Provide incentives for lifelong learning of all
  teachers
• Entitle teachers to release time and/or financial
  support for professional development
• Create incentives e.g., link professional
  development to teacher appraisal and career
  advancement
• Link individual teacher development with school
  improvement needs

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Policy priorities Developing teachers knowledge
and skills

• Broaden the range of different professional
  development opportunities, e.g.
• peer review and action research
• mutual school visits
• teacher and school networks
• Provide more coherent framework for professional
  development, develop teachers learning
  communities
• training, practice and feedback
• follow-up rather than one shot events
• teacher portfolios

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Policy priorities Developing teachers knowledge
and skills

• Improve the provision of professional
  development
• Open up market for professional development by
  encouraging a range of providers in response to
  school and teacher demand
• Evaluate impact of different approaches to
  professional development
• Inform schools and teachers about effective
  strategies and programmes

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Policy priorities Developing teachers knowledge
and skills
Teaching needs to become a knowledge-rich
profession
Teaching needs to become a knowledge-rich
profession in which individuals continually
develop, and have the incentives and
opportunities to do so, research is integrated
into practice, and schools become professional
learning communities that encourage and draw on
teachers development
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Source OECD PISA Database, 2004.
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Part 6
Other policy priorities with an impact on the
preparation and development of teachers
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Other relevant policy priorities
Improving the image and status of
teaching General strategy must involve
publicising that teachers are highly skilled
professionals doing important work

• Initiatives
• Building stronger links between the schools and
  the community
• General campaigns in the media.

Improving teachings salary competitiveness

• Target larger salary rises
• Certain types of teachers (e.g. beginning
  teachers)
• Subjects in short-supply
• Geographical areas of shortage.

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Other relevant policy priorities
Improving employment conditions Competitiveness
of teaching as a career choice can improve if
flexible conditions of employment are provided

• Initiatives
• Providing opportunities for part-time teaching
• Opportunities to gain experience outside
  schools
• Job exchanges with industry.

Expanding the supply pool of potential teachers

• Open the profession to individuals with relevant
  experience outside education
• Recognise the skills and experience gained
  outside education
• Offer flexible opportunities for pedagogical
  preparation.

Expand mobility of teachers across educational
levels and develop strategies to attract former
teachers
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Other relevant policy priorities
Making reward mechanisms more flexible The
incentive structure needs to be used in a more
flexible manner

• Examples of initiatives
• Salary allowances for teaching in difficult
  areas
• Transportation assistance for teachers in remote
  areas
• Bonuses for teachers with skills in short
  supply
• Non-monetary strategies.

Improving entrance conditions for new teachers

• Initiatives
• Well-structured and resourced programmes of
  induction
• Selection processes that ensure the best
  candidates get the available jobs
• Reduced working load.

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Other relevant policy priorities
Rethinking the trade-off between the
student-teacher ratio and average teacher
salary Further spending on schools can be used to
either reduce student-teacher ratios or increase
teachers average salaries.
Capitalising on an oversupply of teachers

• Opportunity to be more selective about those who
  are employed
• Ensure that new skills and energy are not lost
  to the profession
• Opportunity to improve working conditions
• Ensure that the quality of teachers preparation
  is not undermined by the large number of
  candidates.

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Other relevant policy priorities
Providing schools with more responsibility for
teacher personnel development Schools need to
have more responsibility and accountability
for teacher selection, working conditions, and
development.

• Pre-requisites
• Developing school leaders skills in personnel
  management
• Providing disadvantaged schools with greater
  resources
• Monitoring the outcomes of a more decentralised
  approach
• Creating independent appeals procedures to
  ensure fairness and protect teachers rights.

Broadening the criteria for teacher selection The
selection criteria for new teachers need to be
broadened to ensure that the applicants with the
greatest potential are identified
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Other relevant policy priorities

• Using more flexible terms of employment
• Employment status based on the requirement that
  teachers renew their certificates after a period
  of time, such as every 5-7 years

• Principles
• Teachers achieve employment security by
  continuing to do a good job, rather than by
  regulation
• Periodic review provides the opportunity to
  recognise and acknowledge quality teaching
• Basis for renewal could be as simple as an
  attestation that teachers are meeting the
  standards.

• Pre-requisites
• Ensuring an open, fair and transparent system of
  teacher evaluation undertaken by individuals
  properly trained
• Ensuring that teachers have opportunities to
  improve their practice, thereby improving their
  ability to secure their posts
• Creating fair but speedy mechanisms to address
  poor performance.

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Other relevant policy priorities
Evaluating and rewarding effective teaching
There needs to be a stronger emphasis on teacher
evaluation for improvement purposes. Opportunity
for teachers work to be recognised and
celebrated and help both teachers and schools to
identify developmental needs

• Pre-requisites
• Teacher appraisal to occur within a framework
  provided by profession-wide agreed statements of
  standards of professional performance
• Evaluators need to be trained and evaluated
  themselves
• Evaluation frameworks and tools need to be
  provided.

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Other relevant policy priorities
Evaluating and rewarding effective teaching

• Evaluation can provide a basis for rewarding
  teachers for exemplary performance.
• Through speed at which teacher progresses in
  career
• Using non-monetary rewards
• Focussing on group rewards.

Pre-requisites Need to ensure that assessment
measures reflect school objectives, and take
account of the school and classroom contexts in
which teachers are working.
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Other relevant policy priorities
Providing more opportunities for career variety
and diversification
Dual Approach
(i) The creation of positions associated with
specific tasks and roles, which would lead to
differentiation of a largely horizontal kind
involving release time rather than differentiated
pay.
(ii) A competency-based teaching career ladder
associated with extra responsibilities, which
would lead to differentiation more vertical in
nature.
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Other relevant policy priorities
Improving leadership and school climate
A range of initiatives should be taken to
strengthen leadership in schools

• Improve training, selection and evaluation
  processes for school principals
• Establish leadership teams in schools
• School leaders to be trained and supported in
  conducting evaluations and linking them to school
  planning.

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Other relevant policy priorities
Encouraging greater teacher mobility Provide
incentives for and remove barriers to greater
mobility of teachers within the school sector and
from and to other sectors of activity
Improving information flows and the monitoring of
the teacher labour market
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Other relevant policy priorities
Improving working conditions
There needs to be an explicit recognition of the
wide variety of tasks that teaching actually
entails
Well trained support and administrative staff can
help to reduce the burden on teachers and free
them to concentrate on the tasks of teaching and
learning
Better facilities at school for staff preparation
and planning would help in building collegiality
and in programme provision
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Part 7
Developing and Implementing Teacher Policy
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Developing and implementing teacher policy
Essential to successful policy implementation to
engage all stakeholders in the process. Teachers
need a sense of ownership of reform.
Teachers should be more active in policy
development, and take the lead in defining
professional standards e.g. through Teaching
Councils
More extensive monitoring and evaluation of
innovation and reform is beneficial. There is a
need for pilot studies before widespread
implementation.
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Final Report Teachers Matter Attracting,
Developing and Retaining Effective
Teachers Published as an OECD Publication in June
2005
For further information www.oecd.org/edu/teache
rpolicy