Quality and Standards in Human Services in Ireland - the NESC ...

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CONCLUSION 101OECD countries (Looney, 2011). Effective teacher appraisal systems could indicategood teaching and assessment practices and identify areas for improvement.Looking at the TALIS survey again, this seems to be a weakness within Irish schools.Forty-three per cent of teachers of lower secondary education reported that theyhad never received feedback from the principal about their work in the school in theprevious five years (the average score in this category across 23 countries was 22per cent). And 52 per cent of such teachers reported that they had never receivedfeedback from other teachers or members of the school management team abouttheir work in the school in the same period (OECD, 2009a: 177–78). Feedback andappraisal leading to enhanced teaching performance has been among the mostsignificant innovations introduced in the approach taken to educational reforms inVictoria, Australia (see Box 6.1).These innovations are dependent on and help to build a framework of standards.Teachers need data and standards to assess accurately their progress in teachingbut standards need to be complemented by formative models of assessment thatare able to diagnose problems of student learning. If the introduction of theNational Literacy and Numeracy Strategy is to be of benefit, further work is neededto progress data generation and standards within schools. This would involveestablishing some sort of mechanism that would both ensure consistency ofsummative assessments and criteria for formative assessment. Taking such a pathwould allow both the ends or goals – achievement of adequate literacy andnumeracy – and the means – quality teaching practices – to be clarified andmodified on an ongoing basis. None of the foregoing is guaranteed and isdependent on establishing some mechanism to explore what quality teachingmeans and how this might best be attained.6.7 Refashioning the Practice of TeachingIn turn, these institutional changes are dependent on being embraced andanimated by a significant cohort of teachers and this would represent a significantcultural shift. Brown (2010) in a survey of every second-level principal in the countryreports that just under one-third of principals engage in any form of self-evaluationon a regular basis (cited in (McNamara & O'Hara, 2012: 13). Their view of evaluationis that it is a response to an external intervention, that requires collation of policiesand plans. Enquiring into how these policies influenced and were affected by thedaily regime of schooling was not seen as a concern for teachers. Expressing such asentiment, one principal has remarked that;When we get all this stuff together we don’t have time to worry aboutwhat is happening to it on an ongoing basis. That happens anyway inthe everyday life of the school. Policies take on a life but this life doesnot necessarily have to be recorded and anyway I am not sure if wecould record it even if we wanted to. After all we are teachers and notresearchers! (ibid.).
CONCLUSION 102Box 6.1Raising Standards in Victoria’s SchoolsIn 2003, the Labour government of Victoria, Australia, identified a need to take action to improveeducational outcomes for all students. Problems included high variations in outcomes between classesin particular schools; variations in outcomes between schools with similar student intakes, and a heavyconcentration of poor outcomes in some schools. A number of interlocking strategies were identifiedas pivotal for reform. These included:1. Focusing on student learning: Achieved through (a) improved reporting on studentachievement; and (b) development of broad assessment processes against which definedstandards of learning at key points were measured.2. Building Leadership Capacity: Victoria’s schools fared badly on effective performancemanagement so that constructive feedback was not deployed and support to minimizeunsatisfactory performance was lacking.3. Establishing a Performance & Development (P&D) Culture: An accreditation scheme basedon self-assessment that stresses the use of multiple sources of feedback on teacherperformance (see diagram) and its use in customised teacher-development plans.4. Providing Mentoring and Peer Support: Through the P&D scheme, teachers began toobserve and give feedback on their peers’ performance.5. Encouraging Improvement through External Reviews: Schools with differing levels ofperformance were subject to graduated interventions.One example of the changes introduced is demonstrated by the diagram below, which shows theinternal review process introduced into schools and how it differs.Based on the internal review, regional offices can allocate schools to one of four increasingly intensiveexternal reviews: negotiated; continuous improvement; diagnostic; and extended diagnostic. Reviewsvary according to the time external teams spend in the school and the nature of problems withinthem. In conjunction with this team and the regional network leader, schools identify the requisite keyimprovement strategies. A further component of reform is the requirement that Victoria’s highestperformingschools take on further responsibility by sharing their knowledge and capacity with otherschools.The Victoria schools reform programme has been identified as an example of ‘effective large scalereform ... from which others can learn’ (OECD, 2008: 204–8) and as an example of a ‘world-classservice’ (UK Government's Cabinet Office's Strategy Unit, 2009). This is not to say that obstacles toreform do not persist. In particular, there is a need to use disaggregated data to focus attention ondisadvantaged pupils and isolated schools. And more could be done to involve families andcommunities.
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National Economic and Social Counci
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iiMembership of the National Econom
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vList of Figures1.1 Standards and A
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VIIOECDOrganisation forEconomic Coo
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Executive SummaryVII
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYXIIIgo in building
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INTRODUCTION 21.1 BackgroundThis re
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INTRODUCTION 41.3 Involvement of Se
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INTRODUCTION 6particular reference
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INTRODUCTION 8All State primary and
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INTRODUCTION 10 To promote equity a
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INTRODUCTION 12school boards will b
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INTRODUCTION 141.11 Current Context
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INTRODUCTION 16Box 1.4DES Capacity
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INTRODUCTION 18
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LEGISLATION AND THE IRISH SCHOOL SY
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STAKEHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES 26The
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STAKEHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES 28insp
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STAKEHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES 30prof
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STAKEHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES 36(ORP
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STAKEHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES 38even
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STAKEHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES 42Box
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STAKEHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES 48to e
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Page 69 and 70: Quality ofcurriculumprovisionQualit
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Page 107 and 108: CONCLUSION 926.1 IntroductionThis c
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Page 111 and 112: CONCLUSION 96the function of Boards
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Page 119 and 120: CONCLUSION 104has prompted concerns
Page 121 and 122: CONCLUSION 106National Literacy and
Page 123 and 124: 108BibliographyBanks, J. & Smyth, E
Page 125 and 126: 110National Council forCurriculum a
Page 127 and 128: 112National Economic and Social Cou
Page 129 and 130: 11463. Population and Labour ForceP
Page 131 and 132: 116121. The Euro: An IrishPerspecti
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