Te Kotahitanga Conference / 26 November 08

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Te Kotahitanga Using Research and Development (R
D) to make a much bigger difference for our
children and our society
Adrienne Alton-Lee PhDChief Education
AdviserIterative Best Evidence Synthesis (BES)
ProgrammeMinistry of Education
Te Kotahitanga Conference / 26 November 08
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• Hutia te rito o te harakeke
• Kei hea te komako e ko
• Ki mai ki ahau
• He aha te mea nui o tenei ao
• Maku e ki atu
• He tamariki, he tamariki, he rangatahi

Te Kotahitanga Conference / 26 November 08
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The Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis (BES)
Programme is a catalyst for collaborative
knowledge building and use across policy,
research and practice in education

• Why best? How (dare) best? Valued outcomes
  for diverse students as a touchstone.
• Bodies of evidence (R D) about what works and
  why in education, what makes a bigger
  difference, and what does harm?
• More positive impact for diverse students, less
  stress for educators.
• http//www.educationcounts.govt.nz/goto/BES

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Our Challenges

• 21st Century Challenges
• The silent revolution

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Our Educational History
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The effect of the interaction between schooling
and Maori ethnicity in New Zealand
Harker, R. (2006). Ethnicity and school
achievement in New Zealand. Some data to
supplement the Biddulph (2003) BES.
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Making a bigger difference effect sizes as a
way of judging comparative magnitude of impact
A benchmark In our own New Zealand studies, we
have estimated the yearly effect in reading,
mathematics, and writing from Years 4 to 13 (N
83,751) An effect size of .35 although this is
not linear In some years and for some subjects
there is more or less growth. The inference for
the argument is that teachers typically can
attain between .20 to .40 growth per year and
that this is to be considered average. They
should be seeking greater than .40 for their
achievement gains to be considered above average,
and greater than .60 to be considered
excellent. Hattie, J. (forthcoming). Visible
teaching Visible learning A synthesis of 800
meta-analysis on achievement. London
Routledge.
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Figure Trends and Patterns in NZ Certificate of
Achievement, equivalent attainment Level 2 and
above
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The decrease in engagement from years 7-10
remains particularly stark for Maori learners.
Penny Bishop (2008)
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Reading Literacy New Zealands High Mean and
Large Variance
Source OECD (2001) Knowledge and Skills for
Life, Appendix B1, Table 2.3a, p.253, Table 2.4,
p.257
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Maori School Leavers with NCEA Level 2
Qualification or above
Wharekura and All Maori (1998-2006)
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Maori Excellence in Education

• 2003 first national assessment of the quality
  of research in the tertiary sector The
  Performance Based Research Funding (PBRF) Quality
  Evaluation
• Maori educational research identified as national
  strength
• Linda Tuhiwai Smith and Graham Hingangaroa Smith
  transformational strategy at tertiary level to
  develop a national cohort of Maori PhDs
• Commitment to research development to make a
  bigger difference for Maori in education
  kaupapa Maori research
• Professor Russell Bishops determination to use
  research as a tool for change international
  recognition Handbook of Qualitative Research
  (3rd ed.)
• Continued

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Maori Excellence in Education

• Dr Mere Berryman Poutama Pounamu Research
  Development Centre assessment tools
  strategies to make several years of difference in
  student gains over business-as-usual in early
  literacy in Maori English medium
• Collaborative approach Aunty Nan He
  tamariki, he tamariki, he rangatahi

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The role of classroom practice in the
persistence of inequality

• Best evidence syntheses document substantial
  evidence over
• some decades of centrality of culture to
  educational processes
• and the inequitable teaching of Maori learners
• Fewer teacher-interactions,
• Less positive feedback contrast with Maori
  medium
• More frequent negative desists contrast with
  Maori medium
• Under-assessment of capability
• Mispronounced names
• Absence of Maori themes/contexts in curriculum
• Lack of access to Te Reo Maori
• The negative effects of racism on those who
  engage in it and those who experience it

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Average Number of Talk More Invitations per
Child-Morning (Clay, 1985)
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Social Studies A Study of Cultural
Differences
Year 8 Joe is Pakeha, Ricky is Maori Teacher
Because White people ... Joe (talking to
Ricky) Honkies. Ricky (talking to Joe) Shut
up! Teacher Europeans, we were ... Joe
(talking to Ricky) Nigger! Teacher Watch
this way please, Ricky! were often wanting
to get things ... Joe (talking to Ricky) Black
man! Samoan! Teacher East Indies Joe
(talking to peer) Ricky, theyre going to play
cricket! Shut up! prove it! Get stuffed,
Ricky.
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Social Studies A Study of Cultural
Differences
Joe (kicks Ricky under the table) You kicked me
first you nigger! Ricky (talking to Joe) Did
not you honky honk. Im not a nigger Joe
(talking to Ricky) Shut up! Teacher Ricky,
could you try and watch here please? Joe
(talking to Ricky) God, youre dumb! Now Ill
prove that youre dumb. Ricky removed from
the class to work alone after complaint from
Pakeha boys to the teacher that he disrupted
their work.
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Interviews
Ricky Sometimes people (are) racist to me
cause I annoy them. Sometimes Sometimes
I just get up and hit them and they stop.
Interviewer You say the English are more
advanced? Ricky Oh well, the Indians
just had bows and arrows I think and they
(the English) had guns.
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Teacher and Co-author
I thought it was Heart-rending because I
would have liked to have thought that I was tuned
in to what was happening in the classI just
didnt know Prior to doing this research I
wouldve said Yes, you know, Im fully aware
of these things. It comes as a real blow to
find that in actual fact youre not necessarily
doing things that are line with what you
believe. I believe that (the outcomes) are
extremely positive because theyve increased my
level of awareness. Theyve altered my
actionIts altered the things that I think are
important when Im devising a curriculumIts
altered the way I treat other people
too. Alton-Lee, A. Nuthall, G., Patrick, J.
(1993). Reframing classroom research A lesson
from the private world of children. Harvard
Educational Review 63(1). p.80
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Published in Unterrichtswissenschaft (2001)No.3
New Zealand Year 10 class in a social studies
discussion about Civil Rights Rosa Parks
husband Father a White American mother a
Black American Unidentified student calls
out Mongrel! What different strategies could
the teacher use in response to the call out of
the unidentified student? What would be the
likely implications?
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Published in Unterrichtswissenschaft (2001)No.3
Teacher Who is that person? Tim Me. Its
true Teacher Who said mongrel? Why did you
use that term? Tim Because dogs and stuff
like that Teacher (to whole class) Listening,
thank you. Listen. Tim Because dogs and stuff
like that Not as a racist Lily Yes, youre
a racist.
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Published in Unterrichtswissenschaft (2001)No.3
Teacher Hang on a minute. Ive just heard a term
to describe Raymond Parks mongrel and
Ive reacted to that and I am asking the
person, whos Tim who said it, to explain
why he said it. Tim? Tim Well,
um Simon I know why Teacher Hang on. Give
him a minute. Tim Because he was he had
different different um colours in him, like
animals and stuff theyve got different colours
in them. I wasnt using it as a racist, saying
that Blacks are dogs
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Published in Unterrichtswissenschaft (2001)No.3
Teacher Anyone like to comment because I
thought it was important for us to talk about
it. Yes, Simon? Simon I dontlike
whenIts not bad is it? I dont think there is
anything wrong with that. Teacher Okay, Simon
thinks that it is quite acceptable for me to
put the word Simon Oh, no. I thought Tim was
saying it under his breath or something.
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Published in Unterrichtswissenschaft (2001)No.3
Teacher OK. Yes? (Jon) Jon Umwell.(becomes
inaudible during interruption) 2 senior staff
arrive for a uniform check they move up and
down the rows doing a visual check Teacher Can
we just listen to this please? Despite the fact
that there is some distraction in the
classroom. Can we just listen to what Jon is
saying because it is a really important point.
Thank you, John. Jon Um, Tim was just
looking at it from a White perspective, maybe
and not from his own point of view.
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Published in Unterrichtswissenschaft (2001)No.3

• Teacher Ok. Do you think it is acceptable or
  not acceptable?
• Nuku who is wearing sports shoes rather than
  standard shoes
• exits the class as he is directed by staff
  checking uniforms to get
• his shoes from his school bag
• Jon Well, no, not really. Because it is just
  not thats what you use for dogs.

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Negation of Pasifika Funds of Knowledge in NZ
Intermediate Classroom Cultures
Discussion of sharks in peer group in
intermediate class in science Kurt Theyre
cold blooded. And they like shallow water. Teine
Yeah, they do. Robin They like warm
water? Teine Yeah they do. In Samoa, the sun
shines on the sea, and you can see some
sharks. Kurt (laughing and exaggerating Teines
accent) In Samoa, the sun shines on the
sea. Teine (Tries to slap Kurt) Other times
when Teine referred to her country of origin, the
other students simply ignored her. So long as she
talked about things that were part of their
common experience, she seemed an integral part of
the social group, but the moment her unique
experiences came up the conversations stopped.
Nuthall (2007, p. 146)
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Culture is central to classroom processes
across the curriculum
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Evidence about Impact of Teaching on Variance in
Student Outcomes
Recent research on the impact of schools in
student learning leads to the conclusion that
8-19 of the variation in student learning
outcomes lies between schools with a further
amount of up to 55 of the variation in
individual student learning outcomes between
classrooms within schools. In total approximately
60 of the variation in the performance of
students lies either between schools or between
classrooms with the remaining 40 being due to
either variation associated with the students
themselves or to random influences. Cuttance, P.
(1998) in International Handbook of Educational
Change pp1158-1159) See also Timperley
Alton-Lee (2008) Reframing teacher professional
learning An alternative policy approach to
strengthening valued outcomes for diverse
learners. Review of Research in Education Vol.
32 Chapter 10 p.328 Note The Complexity of
Community Family Influences BES (2003)
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Figure 3. Variation in student performance
within and between schools for 38 countries on
the PISA Mathematics Literacy Scale (2003)
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Education Leadership Best Evidence Synthesis
Iteration (BES)forthcoming 2009

• Professor Viviane Robinson
• Hedley Beare Award for William Walker Oration
• Dr Margie Hohepa
• Dr Claire Lloyd
• International Quality Assurers
• Professor Michael Fullan
• See the first analysis for this BES the
  William Walker Oration on the BES website
• http//www.educationcounts.govt.nz/goto/BES

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The impact of different leadership activities on
student outcomes
What makes a much bigger difference in
educational leadership?
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Teacher inquiry and knowledge-building cycle to
promote valued student outcomes
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New Zealand Teachers Making a Difference in Te
Kotahitanga Schools
Te Kotahitanga Longitudinal Impact NCEA Level 1
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Success in NCEA Level 1, 2005-2006 12 Te
Kotahitanga schools
69.0
62.5
39.0
63.9
48.4
32.1
22.6
18.8
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The Evidence of Hard-Forged Change

• 3rd of 4th phase school self-monitoring
• Reports from principals

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Teacher Professional Learning and Development
Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration (BES)

• Professor Helen Timperley, Aaron Wilson, Heather
  Barrar Irene Fung, University of Auckland.
• http//educationcounts.edcentre.govt.nz/goto/BES
  from November
• Synthesis of findings of 97 studies or groups of
  studies of professional development that
  influenced valued outcomes for students
• P. 259 Te Kotahitanga case

• Leaders
• Ensure new information is understood
• Engage with dissonance
• Ensure opportunities to learn are productive
• Provide incentives for teachers to enact new
  learning in practice
• Ensure site-based leaders working with effective
  external expertise

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The Struggle for Change An acknowledgement

• Not evangelical not magic - enormous effort by
  educators
• Te Kotahitanga a case in the Teacher Professional
  Learning and Development BES because the model
  exemplifies the findings of what works (but
  depends on the conditions)
• Te Kotahitanga requires organisational support,
  conditions and a professional learning community
  for effective professional learning
• Without sufficient pedagogical expertise, the
  pro-active commitment of principal, senior,
  middle level and teacher leadership TK has been
  less successful
• Teacher engagement in learning more important
  than initial volunteering
• If teachers theories are bypassed rather than
  addressed then change unlikely hence importance
  of the TK processes hui, GEPRISP, Effective
  Teaching Profile, opportunities to reflect and
  apply

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The Struggle for Change An Acknowledgement

• Te Kotahitanga a world leader also in
  cross-curricular focus
• Challenge for availability/capability building of
  knowledgeable expertise
• Maintaining momentum with loss of expertise,
  staff and leadership changes in context of
  expertise scarcity, continuities dependent upon
  political context, and ongoing public attacks

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Key Messages Educational Leadership BES

• The more leaders focus their relationships, their
  work and their learning on the core business of
  teaching and learning, the greater their
  influence on student outcomes
• Importance of relationships to every other
  leadership activity
• See William Walker Oration online BES website

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Leadership Dimensions Findings of the
Educational Leadership BES
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Emeritus Professor Christine Sleeter, then Vice
President of the American Educational Research
Associations Division K (Teaching and Teacher
Education)
I see more potential to make significant and
sustained improvements in schools for students
from historically underserved communities in this
project (Te Kotahitanga) than in any other
project that I have had contact with.
March 28,
2005.
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The Challenges of Scale Up

• Breadth
• Te Kotahitanga is available now in 33 schools
• Political will principal, AP, DP and teacher
  demand
• Success of spread will depend upon
• Leadership
• Focus on Maori student outcomes
• Depth
• Use of evidence
• Ownership
• Need for a national learning community across
  policy, research practice to support Te
  Kotahitanga capability building across New
  Zealand schools.
• The debate about the best use of money

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Te Kotahitanga an R D Activity

• Educational R D as a percentage of total
  expenditure on education is on average less than
  0.3 in six countries for which data are
  available. This is a very small figure when
  education is compared with other knowledge
  sectors, for example, the health sector where
  between 5-10 of the total health expenditure in
  public and private sectors are directed to R
  D.
• New Zealand for R D even lower than that for
  other OECD countries at between 0.17- 0.20
• At the same time New Zealand invests far less
  in research and development of any kind than
  other developed countries, and has far lower R
  D personnel per million population than Australia
  or Western European countries. New Zealand is
  successful educationally, but is, by R D
  standards, not becoming a knowledge economy.
• OECD Country Review for New Zealand R D (2003)
  (p. 89)

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Public Sector Financing of Research 2007-08
MORST
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The simple answer in the discussion of economic
implications of education is that cognitive
skills have a strong impact on individual
earnings. More than that cognitive skills have a
strong influence on economic growth The
important thing for policy is simply that the
intervention actually improves achievement.
Hanushek Woessman (2008) The role of
cognitive skills in economic development.
Journal of Economic Literature 46(3) 607-668.
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Hanushek Woessman (2008)
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Our new BES By Associate Professor Graeme
Aitken and Dr Claire Sinnema

• Body of evidence about how to
• Make connections to students lives
• Align experiences to important outcomes
• Build and sustain a learning community
• Design experiences that interest students
• Take an inquiry approach

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Making a bigger differenceEvidence from three
BESs

• e.g. Complex instruction - middle school
  evidence-base
• Structured, productive cooperative group work
  open ended problem solving
• 1.06 effect size for achievement higher order
  thinking over 4 months
• Strengthened social skills
• Reduction in peer racism bullying
• Reduces teacher stress supports teacher inquiry
  
• Bilingual tasks
• Defined group roles
• Managing self, relating to others, participating
  contributing
• Cohen Designing Groupwork 1994 Strategies for
  the heterogeneous classroom
• Awaiting NZ R D with bilingual tasks

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Video Clip from Te Mana KoreroTeacher
Pedagogical Leadership Collaborative Learning
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• Hutia te rito o te harakeke
• Kei hea te komako e ko
• Ki mai ki ahau
• He aha te mea nui o tenei ao
• Maku e ki atu
• He tamariki, he tamariki, he rangatahi

Te Kotahitanga Conference / 26 November 08