Improvement Flashcards
Definition of improvement
“raise student achievement through enhancing the teaching and learning process and conditions which support it.” (Hopkins, 1994).
Adoptive and Adaptive approaches
Hopkins 2002
Adoptive - top down initiatives (authoritative) often by state
Adaptive - decide and own themselves (identifies most with school improvement)
Halliger and Heck 2003
Leadership is important in ….
- establishing the purpose
- establishing structures and social networks to foster collaboration
- people-orientated in all the do
Doors to improvement
Joyce 1991
- Collegiality - developing cohesive relations
- Research - helping staff to study about effective school practices
- Site-specific information - helping staff to collect and analyse data about their schools and progress
- Curriculum initiatives - introducing changes across the curriculum
- instructional initiatives - teachers study skills and strategies
Morrison 1998
Indviduals faced with change may feel
- loss of status
- lack of clarity
- vulnerable
- loss of control
- fear of failure
Main stages of change
Fullan 2007
- Initiation
- Implementation
- Institutionalisation
Advice for success in Implementation and institutionalisation
Fullan 1991
- Taking action is preferable to planning
- Heads are not key to school improvement
- Creating ownership at the beginning is unrealistic
- Helping and supporting teachers after planning and initial in service work is more crucial than pre training
- Coercion isn’t always bad
Force field analysis
decide on factors that facilitate change and those that inhibit change.
Rate them in terms of perceived importance
Retroactive planning for change
Levacic 1999
reacting to unpredicted events, based on a cycle of feedback, review and correction
guided by a vision of a future desired direction
Fidler 1997
Strategic change is concerned with …
- whole scope of schools activities
- schools long term direction
- matching its direct to environmental pressures
Cycle of development planning
Hargreaves and Hopkins 2004
- Audit - SWOT
- construction - priorities identified and turned into targets
- Implementation - targets implemented. Difficult and complex stage of change. Requires monitoring
- Evaluation - success is checked
Reflect on the literature on school improvement and school effectiveness. Discuss the potential for change in an institution you are familiar with in terms of these two paradigms.
Learning Walks
Improvement defintion
Participative leadership
Adaptive approach
Collegial
Knowledge power resources
Observing learning and giving effective feedback.
Unannounced
Teacher quality is the single most important school variable influencing student achievement. OECD 2005
Joyce 1991
A level of cohesion
Institutionalisation - needs rigour and accountability
Culture changed - Stokeo v Steed
relinquish power
Retroactive model
School effectiveness - would need to link outcome clearly to processes.
Learning Walk issues
- Helping and supporting teachers after planning and initial in-service work is more crucial Law and Glover 2000
- Middle Leader team jobs - Joyce collegial door to imp
- Take leaders to account - styles of leadership. Sharing power
- Record keeping - Joyce collect and analyse data door to improvement
- Force field analysis.
