Quality First Teaching for All

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Quality First Teaching for All
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Quality First Teaching for ALL

• The most effective way to narrow the gaps!
• A Top Priority for Schools!
• Context and Background

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Whose gaps are we attempting to narrow?

• Pupils with special educational needs and
  disabilities
• Disadvantaged pupils (Pupil Premium)
• White working class pupils (Girls as well as
  boys)
• And . . .
• Who have you got in your school?

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Key Research

• The special educational needs and disability
  review. A statement is not enough (Ofsted,
  September 2010)
• Improving the impact of teachers on pupil
  achievement in the UK interim findings (The
  Sutton Trust, September 2011)
• Unseen children access and achievement 20 years
  on. Evidence Report ( Ofsted, June 2013)
• Underachievement in Education by White Working
  Class Children. First report of Session 2014-15
  (House of Commons Education Committee, June 2014)
• Cracking the code how schools can improve social
  mobility (Social Mobility and Child Poverty
  Commission, October 2014)

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• The special educational needs and disability
  review
• A statement is not enough
• Ofsted
• Published September 2010
• Reference no 090221

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The special educational needs and disability
review A statement is not enough

• The aims of the review were to
• evaluate the accuracy and the equity of
  identification of special educational needs
  across England and within local areas
• evaluate the extent to which the assessment of
  needs results in high expectations, swift access
  to tailored services and so improves outcomes
• establish, in different provisions and local
  areas, the strength of outcomes for disabled
  children and young people and those who had
  special educational needs as well as for children
  reaching the lowest levels of attainment
• evaluate, as part of this, the effectiveness of
  legislation, policy and the organisation of
  provision, following identification and
  assessment, in focusing on the improvement of
  outcomes for these groups of children and young
  people.

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The special educational needs and disability
review A statement is not enough

• However, we also recognise that as many as half
  of all pupils identified for School Action would
  not be identified as having special educational
  needs if schools focused on improving teaching
  and learning for all, with individual goals for
  improvement.
• Ofsted, September 2010

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The special educational needs and disability
review A statement is not enough

• At School Action level, the additional provision
  was often making up for poor whole class teaching
  or pastoral support.

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The special educational needs and disability
review A statement is not enough

• Inspectors saw schools that identified pupils as
  having special educational needs when, in fact,
  their needs were no different from those of most
  other pupils. They were underachieving but this
  was sometimes simply because the schools
  mainstream teaching provision was not good
  enough, and expectations of the pupils were too
  low.

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The special educational needs and disability
review A statement is not enough

• . . . some pupils are being wrongly identified as
  having special educational needs and that
  relatively expensive additional provision is
  being used to make up for poor day-to-day
  teaching and pastoral support. This can dilute
  the focus on overall school improvement and
  divert attention from those who do need a range
  of specialist support.

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The special educational needs and disability
review A statement is not enough

• The characteristics of the best lessons were
• Teachers thorough and detailed knowledge of the
  children and young people
• Teachers thorough knowledge and understanding of
  teaching strategies and techniques, including
  assessment for learning
• Teachers thorough knowledge about the subject or
  areas of learning being taught
• Teachers understanding of how learning
  difficulties can affect children and young
  peoples learning.
• These were the essential tools for good-quality
  teaching with any group of children or young
  people.

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The special educational needs and disability
review A statement is not enough

• . . . further changes to the system should focus
  on
• Improving teaching and pastoral support early on
  so that additional provision is not needed later
• Ensuring that schools do not identify pupils as
  having special educational needs when they simply
  need better teaching.

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Special educational needs and disability code of
practice 0 to 25 yearsJuly 2014

• High quality teaching that is differentiated and
  personalised will meet the individual needs of
  the majority of children and young people.

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Special educational needs and disability code of
practice 0 to 25 yearsJuly 2014

• Some children and young people need educational
  provision that is additional to or different from
  this. This is special educational provision under
  Section 21 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
  Schools and colleges must use their best
  endeavours to ensure that such provision is made
  for those who need it.

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Special educational needs and disability code of
practice 0 to 25 yearsJuly 2014

• Special educational provision is underpinned by
  high quality teaching and is compromised by
  anything less.
• Additional intervention and support cannot
  compensate for a lack of good quality teaching.

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Special educational needs and disability code of
practice 0 to 25 yearsJuly 2014

• The majority of pupils can make progress through
  such teaching.
• Schools should regularly and carefully review the
  quality of teaching for pupils at risk of
  underachievement.

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Special educational needs and disability code of
practice 0 to 25 yearsJuly 2014

• This includes reviewing teachers understanding
  of strategies to identify and support vulnerable
  learners and their knowledge of the special
  educational needs most frequently encountered.

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Special educational needs and disability code of
practice 0 to 25 yearsJuly 2014

• The quality of teaching for pupils with SEN, and
  the progress made by pupils, should be a core
  part of the schools performance management
  arrangements and its approach to professional
  development for all teaching and support staff.

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Special educational needs and disability code of
practice 0 to 25 yearsJuly 2014

• The first response to less than expected progress
  should be high quality teaching targeted at their
  areas of weakness.
• Where progress continues to be less than expected
  the class or subject teacher, working with the
  SENCO, should assess whether the child has SEN.

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The Sutton TrustImproving the impact of teachers
on pupil achievement in the UK interim findings
(Sept. 2011)

• The effects of high-quality teaching are
  especially significant for pupils from
  disadvantaged backgrounds over a school year,
  these pupils gain 1.5 years worth of learning
  with very effective teachers, compared with 0.5
  years with poorly performing teachers. In other
  words, for poor pupils the difference between a
  good teacher and a bad teacher is a whole
  years learning.

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Unseen Children access and achievement 20 years
onEvidence ReportOfsted, 2013
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Unseen children access and achievement 20 years
on

• This report summarises Ofsteds review which
  aimed to understand the current pattern of
  disadvantage and educational success across
  England.
• In the report, the term disadvantaged pupils
  refers to those pupils who are eligible for free
  school meals.

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Unseen children access and achievement 20 years
on

• In 1993, Ofsted identified seven urban areas
  which suffered from geographical isolation. Much
  of the provision in these areas was described as
  inadequate and disturbing by inspectors.
• According to this report, the quality of
  education has improved in some of the areas
  Ofsted identified in 1993. In others, however,
  the rate of improvement has been slow.

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Unseen children access and achievement 20 years
on

• The most successful schools recognise that
  raising academic achievement cannot be tackled in
  isolation.
• Teachers high expectations, consistently high
  quality teaching and learning and a relevant
  curriculum must be underpinned by other
  interventions that increase pupils resilience
  and readiness to learn, as well as developing
  strong partnerships with parents and carers.

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Unseen children access and achievement 20 years
on

• High quality teaching is crucial, especially for
  disadvantaged pupils.
• There are big regional variations in the quality
  of teaching in schools serving the most and least
  deprived communities.

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• Underachievement in Education by White Working
  Class Children. First report of Session 2014-15
  (House of Commons Education Committee, June 2014)

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Curriculum or quality of teaching?

• Professor Becky Francis called for flex within
  a schools curriculum so that students could
  pursue subjects for which they have a passion.
• In contrast, Dr Kevan Collins (Chief Executive,
  Education Endowment Foundation) argued that
  pedagogy trumps curriculum every time. It is
  very clear that the way you teach and how you
  teach is always more powerful than just changing
  the curriculum

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Will school improvement alone close the gap?

• Twice the proportion of poor children attending
  an outstanding school will leave with five good
  GCSEs when compared with the lowest rated
  schools, whereas the proportion of non-FSM
  children achieving this benchmark in outstanding
  schools is only 1.5 times greater than in those
  rated as inadequate.

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Its the quality of teaching that counts!

• We agree that there is much that schools can do
  to address white working class underachievement.
  Broader societal factors also have an enormous
  role to play, but this should not deflect
  attention from the central importance of
  improving school and teaching quality.

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• Cracking the code how schools can improve social
  mobility (Social Mobility and Child Poverty
  Commission, October 2014)

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A changing pattern?

• Previous research has found that differences in
  school quality can explain on average around a
  fifth of the variation in childrens educational
  attainment most of the attainment gap is
  ultimately determined by differences in the home
  environment, including family background and
  parenting. But new analysis of variations in
  outcomes for students in schools with similar
  intakes suggests that schools can make a big
  difference if more step up to the standards of
  the best.  

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Variations across schools

• Our analysis shows that
• The best performers are helping three times as
  many disadvantaged children to achieve five good
  GCSEs including English and maths as schools with
  similar levels of disadvantage.
• In the best performing schools, 60 per cent of
  disadvantaged children achieve five good GCSEs
  including English and maths compared to only 25
  per cent in the lowest performing.

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Low Teacher Expectations

• We also found evidence that some teachers
  attitudes towards disadvantaged students could
  act as a barrier to success. While it is clear
  that most teachers did not think social
  background had any influence on expectations at
  their school, over one in five (21 per cent)
  overall and one in four (25 per cent) in
  secondary schools - agreed that some of their
  colleagues had lower expectations of students
  from disadvantaged backgrounds relative to those
  of other students.

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Low Expectations

• There is also strong quantitative evidence
  showing that there are real risks of unconscious
  bias and stereotyping based on a childs
  background including their family income,
  ethnicity and SEN status. This used results from
  the Millennium Cohort Study to compare
  performance on reading and maths tests at age
  seven to teacher assessment of childrens
  ability. Students in families on low incomes were
  11 per cent less likely to be judged above
  average at reading compared to similarly
  attaining children in better off households.

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What works in the best schools?

• Building a high expectations, inclusive culture
  this means being ambitious and sharp-elbowed
  for all children, with the school leadership team
  and governors sending a clear message from the
  top that they have high expectations of all staff
  and all students. It includes implementation of a
  firm and consistent behaviour policy and a
  whatever it takes attitude to improving
  standards and results among all students not
  tolerating lower standards because of a mind-set
  that disadvantaged children cannot do any better.

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What works in the best schools?

• Incessant focus on the quality of teaching this
  means placing the provision of highly effective
  teaching, perhaps the single most important way
  schools can influence social mobility, at the
  centre of the schools approach to narrowing the
  attainment gap and raising standards. This
  includes . . . ensuring disadvantaged students
  have (at least) their fair share of the best
  teachers time not just subcontracting the
  teaching of low attainers to teaching assistants
  or focusing the best teachers on students at the
  C/D borderline or on top sets where disadvantaged
  students tend to be under-represented.

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Ofsted Inspection of Maintained Schools and
Academies from 1st September 2014

• Inspectors should consider the extent to which
  the Teachers Standards are being met.

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Teachers StandardsSeptember 2012

• Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and
  needs of all pupils
• Know when and how to differentiate appropriately,
  using approaches which enable pupils to be taught
  effectively
• Have a secure understanding of how a range of
  factors can inhibit pupils ability to learn, and
  how best to overcome these
• Demonstrate an awareness of the physical , social
  and intellectual development of children, and
  know how to adapt teaching to support pupils
  education at different stages of development
• Have a clear understanding of the needs of all
  pupils, including those with special educational
  needs those of high ability those with EAL
  those with disabilities and be able to use and
  evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to
  engage and support them.

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Reflection Time

• Do all teachers in your school have high
  expectations for disadvantaged pupils?
• Do disadvantaged pupils have access to the
  highest quality teachers in your school?
• What is the quality of teaching and learning for
  disadvantaged pupils in your school?
  (Outstanding? Good? Requiring Improvement?
  Inadequate?)
• How would your teachers match up to Section 5 of
  the Teachers Standards?
• Do all teachers understand the difference between
  a pupil who is underachieving and a pupil who
  has SEN a pupil who has significantly greater
  difficulty in learning than the majority of their
  peers?