Leadership

Early Career Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

This qualitative research by the NFER looks at evidence on the development needs of early career teachers (ECTs) and effective practice in meeting needs. It explores the support required by teachers in their early careers and good practice in CPD for early career teachers. The study revealed that new teachers commonly experience 'practice shock' when beginning to teach and need support from colleagues to help them acclimatise to the reality of work in schools. Leadership Briefing 13.03(147)

Recent educational policy announcements suggest there is an increasing recognition of the need to strengthen teacher training and CPD. These set out a range of commitments. These included: ensuring all new teachers have the right support in place at the beginning of their careers by increasing the length of the induction period from one to two years; developing an Early Career Framework of support and mentoring for all NQTs; and supporting the development of new specialist qualifications for experienced classroom teachers.

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      string(450) "... of the evidence on the impact of teacher professional development.The study, which includes analysis from Ambition Institute, examines 52 randomised controlled trials evaluating teacher development programmes, in order to establish their impact on pupil and teacher outcomes.  Continuing professional development (CPD), which can include training courses, mentoring, seminars and ..."
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      string(3573) "This report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI), commissioned by Wellcome, undertakes a detailed review of the evidence on the impact of teacher professional development.The study, which includes analysis from Ambition Institute, examines 52 randomised controlled trials evaluating teacher development programmes, in order to establish their impact on pupil and teacher outcomes.  Continuing professional development (CPD), which can include training courses, mentoring, seminars and peer review, can play a crucial role in improving teaching quality.Key Findings:High-quality CPD for teachers has a significant effect on pupils’ learning outcomes. CPD programmes have the potential to close the gap between beginner and more experienced teachers: the impact of CPD on pupil outcomes (effect size 0.09) compares to the impact of having a teacher with ten years’ experience rather than a new graduate (0.11). CPD also has similar attainment effects to those generated by large, structural reforms to the school system (0.1).   Evidence suggests that quality CPD has a greater effect on pupil attainment than other interventions schools may consider, such as implementing performance-related pay for teachers or lengthening the school day.Teacher CPD may be a cost-effective intervention for improving pupil outcomes: while there are other interventions with a larger impact on pupil attainment, such as one-to-one tutoring (0.28), these programmes are typically far more expensive.CPD programmes generally produce positive responses from teachers, in contrast to other interventions. Large, structural changes to the school system, while as effective at improving pupil outcomes, incur substantial costs in terms of staff turnover and dissatisfaction.Increasing the availability of high-quality CPD has been shown to improve retention problems, particularly for early-career teachers. While factors other than access to CPD tend to be behind teachers’ decisions to quit the profession, there is evidence supporting targeted CPD programmes for teachers in the early stages of their careers.Induction training and mentoring programmes are particularly effective for improving retention rates early on. Quality CPD has the potential to alleviate acute retention problems for early-career teachers.Teacher turnover is a major impediment to the effectiveness of a CPD programme: those programmes that can offer flexibility to account for volatility in the teacher labour market are more likely to be successful. Additional support for new teachers joining the CPD programme half-way through the year, could be offered to mitigate this.Professional development is more accessible for teachers and has a greater impact when it receives sustained support from school leaders. Those designing CPD programmes can also ensure continuity by adapting to any changes in school leadership.CPD programmes that make allowances for workload and limited teacher time are also likely to be more effective. High teacher workload represents one of the greatest obstacles to accessing CPD; interventions are likely to see success if they are both attractive and strive to minimise the demands placed on teachers.Link: https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/EPI-Wellcome_CPD-Review__2020.pdf"
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Leadership

The Effects Of High-Quality Professional Development On Teachers And Students

2 Apr 2020

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      string(428) "... from the Teachers’ Pay GrantEARLY CAREER CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)This qualitative research by the NFER looks at evidence on the development needs of early career teachers (ECTs) and effective practice in meeting needs. It explores the support required by teachers in their early careers and good practice in CPD ..."
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      string(5925) "a more disadvantaged student intake are less likely to receive enough additional pay grant to cover the costs of their salary increases. The funding floor causes small schools to receive, proportionally, up to twice as much additional funding as larger schools. Web LinkWinners and losers from the Teachers’ Pay GrantEARLY CAREER CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)This qualitative research by the NFER looks at evidence on the development needs of early career teachers (ECTs) and effective practice in meeting needs. It explores the support required by teachers in their early careers and good practice in CPD for early career teachers. The study revealed that new teachers commonly experience ‘practice shock’ when beginning to teach and need support from colleagues to help them acclimatise to the reality of work in schools. Recent educational policy announcements suggest there is an increasing recognition of the need to strengthen teacher training and CPD. 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In this report, examples of effective practice in high-performing jurisdictions are set alongside in-depth data gathered from teachers working in 20 schools in England that have been identified as having higher than average rates of retention of early career teachers. Key Findings: New teachers commonly experience ‘practice shock’ when beginning to teach and need collegial support to help them acclimatise to the reality of work in schools. A supportive school culture is critical to the success of early career teachers’ professional development. Early career teachers commonly report that informal conversations with colleagues in school meet their professional development needs more than formal CPD. While mentoring emerges in a positive light, there is some evidence of a perception that formal conversations with mentors are primarily evaluative, with a lesser or absent developmental function. Effective professional development should start from a clear appreciation of the objective of the development activity, benefits from collaborative learning opportunities, such as coaching and mentoring, and needs appropriate conditions, such as the right climate and culture, professional responsibility, and sufficient time and resources. ECTs and MCTs reported that their main development priorities at the start of their induction year included: behaviour management; use and understanding of assessment; pedagogical knowledge; and supporting pupils with particular needs, such as pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND). Other common, but less frequently reported development needs included subject knowledge, particularly for NQTs who were non-specialists, as well as understanding of safeguarding processes. In addition, some interviewees reported that ‘basic things’, such as what to do in a fire drill, how to take the register, and where to go for lunch, together with practical concerns such as how to manage marking workload and learning to prioritise, were also common issues that NQTs typically wanted support and guidance with. The vast majority of ECTs described having two mentors as an NQT, one, a ‘professional mentor’, who would typically be a member of the school’s senior leadership team with responsibility for coordinating the school’s induction arrangements, and the other a ‘subject mentor’, who would provide day-to-day support and coaching. This split in roles was generally valued by ECTs, as they benefitted from having two formal points of contact. All of the ECTs had taken part in structured training programmes, designed to cover core knowledge and professional skills that schools thought teachers should have developed to a certain standard during their time as an NQT. These programmes often included a common spine of topics which included: behaviour management; use and understanding of assessment; support for specific pupil groups; subject and curriculum knowledge; pedagogical knowledge; lesson planning; and safeguarding. Sessions were typically delivered once or twice a fortnight, usually within or at the end of the school day, and lasted for approximately one to two hours. The number of formal observations undertaken in schools appeared to vary, with some undertaking approximately one formal observation every half term, or six over the course of the induction year. Interviewees sometimes made distinctions between these formal observations, which contributed directly to judgements about the extent to which NQTs were meeting the expected standards, to more informal, developmental observations. These were often undertaken by the subject mentor, and sometimes by the professional mentor, and would often occur much more frequently, sometimes once a week. They would typically involve a ‘drop in’ or ‘micro’ observation, where only part of the lesson would be observed. ECTs’ and MCTs’ positive"
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Financial Management

Leadership Briefing: Report Update

24 Jul 2019

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      string(5756) "ResourceNATIONAL REVIEW OF THE EARLY YEARS AND CHILDCARE WORKFORCEOriginal DocumentNational Review of the Early Years and Childcare Workforce: Report and Consultation. This 90-page review looks at 5 main areas: Roles and Responsibilities; Qualifications and Training; Career Pathways; Recruitment and Retention; Workforce Planning. The Reviews findings are aimed primarily at managers of services, representative bodies, training providers and other organisations involved in early years and childcare.KeywordsEarly years, childcare, qualifications, training, workforceSummary This review was conducted in order to:· Examine and define the role and responsibilities of staff in the early years, childcare and play workforce;· Determining an approach to national workforce planning;· Rationalise and modernise early years/childcare qualifications, ensuring that they are appropriate for the different sectors of the workforce;· Develop vertical and lateral career pathways which provide for progression within a chosen area and lateral movement between different sectors of the workforce;· Consider the implications of these considerations for pay and conditions.The Review identified three main themes that will guide all of the changes that will affect the early years and childcare sector in the future. Those themes are leadership, worker development and flexibility:· Leadership: The lead practitioner/manager has a role in contributing to the Vision for children, facilitating partnership working with other occupational groups; and encouraging, advising and mentoring staff to develop their own skills and knowledge.· Worker development: Workers should be encouraged to develop their skills, knowledge and potential throughout their career, to ensure the right skills are present to deliver the quality services needed, so each worker has the opportunity to pursue a rewarding career in early years and childcare.· Flexibility in career choice for workers and employers should create a flexible workforce to allow the delivery of services that meet the needs of children and families in local communities. A flexible workforce which is able to work in different settings and with different professionals will be essential to deliver integrated and changing services.Main findings:Roles and ResponsibilitiesThe roles and responsibilities of the workforce are diverse, challenging and changing. Each worker should recognise they are part of a wider workforce, working in partnership with others to support delivery of an agreed set of outcomes for all children.Action: Develop a single, shared framework to encompass the diverse roles and responsibilities of the early years and childcare workforce, which links explicitly to the Vision for children.Qualifications and TrainingWhilst evidence shows that children do best in the highest quality centres, there is also evidence to show that a poor quality service can have negative effects for disadvantaged children. Critically, the single most significant factor in determining the quality of the centre is the level of qualification of the manager of the centre, and to a lesser extent the level of qualification of the wider workforce.1Action: Develop a new qualifications structure for the sector, whose main attributes will be:· One framework for the whole sector;· Services to be led by SCQF level 9 (ordinary degree or work-based equivalent) qualified professionals;· Entry and exit points at each level – supporting flexibility and movement;· College, university and work-based routes – supporting flexibility and inclusion;· Recognition and accreditation of prior learning – supporting flexibility and inclusion;· Supports progression and continuing professional development ( CPD);· Supports identification of shared skills/knowledge base across children’s services.Recruitment and RetentionTo provide the kind of services we want for children we need to have the right people in the sector.Action: The report identified a number of straightforward principles that should underpin all recruitment and retention practice:· The profile of the sector needs to be raised and professional identity established;· The need to attract the right workers to the profession;· The need to retain experienced, well-qualified staff; and· The need a workforce that more closely reflects the diversity of the Scottish population.Career PathwaysIt is important to make sure that early years and childcare is an attractive profession: one that is respected, and where there are opportunities for development and career progression.Action: There are four key principles underpinning effective career pathways:· Transparency, flexibility and choice;· Qualifications which support – rather than hinder – a diverse range of career pathways;· Rewarding workers for increasing responsibility and skill; and· Attractive to a wide section of the community.Workforce PlanningThe sector’s greatest resource and asset is the workforce. All organisations involved in delivering early years and childcare services have a role in planning for that workforce.Action: Develop an approach to workforce planning that is consistent across the country but is flexible enough both to be useful to small individual providers and to much larger organisations such as local authorities.ActionNotesAuthorRaspal Chima, Questions PublishingDate CreatedAugust 2006Enquiries to:rchima@qiis.co.uk (Authoring Unit)Month / YearPage 1 of 1©Birmingham City Council"
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Leadership

National Review of the Early Years and Childcare Workforce

1 Jan 2005

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      string(5756) "ResourceNATIONAL REVIEW OF THE EARLY YEARS AND CHILDCARE WORKFORCEOriginal DocumentNational Review of the Early Years and Childcare Workforce: Report and Consultation. This 90-page review looks at 5 main areas: Roles and Responsibilities; Qualifications and Training; Career Pathways; Recruitment and Retention; Workforce Planning. The Reviews findings are aimed primarily at managers of services, representative bodies, training providers and other organisations involved in early years and childcare.KeywordsEarly years, childcare, qualifications, training, workforceSummary This review was conducted in order to:· Examine and define the role and responsibilities of staff in the early years, childcare and play workforce;· Determining an approach to national workforce planning;· Rationalise and modernise early years/childcare qualifications, ensuring that they are appropriate for the different sectors of the workforce;· Develop vertical and lateral career pathways which provide for progression within a chosen area and lateral movement between different sectors of the workforce;· Consider the implications of these considerations for pay and conditions.The Review identified three main themes that will guide all of the changes that will affect the early years and childcare sector in the future. Those themes are leadership, worker development and flexibility:· Leadership: The lead practitioner/manager has a role in contributing to the Vision for children, facilitating partnership working with other occupational groups; and encouraging, advising and mentoring staff to develop their own skills and knowledge.· Worker development: Workers should be encouraged to develop their skills, knowledge and potential throughout their career, to ensure the right skills are present to deliver the quality services needed, so each worker has the opportunity to pursue a rewarding career in early years and childcare.· Flexibility in career choice for workers and employers should create a flexible workforce to allow the delivery of services that meet the needs of children and families in local communities. A flexible workforce which is able to work in different settings and with different professionals will be essential to deliver integrated and changing services.Main findings:Roles and ResponsibilitiesThe roles and responsibilities of the workforce are diverse, challenging and changing. Each worker should recognise they are part of a wider workforce, working in partnership with others to support delivery of an agreed set of outcomes for all children.Action: Develop a single, shared framework to encompass the diverse roles and responsibilities of the early years and childcare workforce, which links explicitly to the Vision for children.Qualifications and TrainingWhilst evidence shows that children do best in the highest quality centres, there is also evidence to show that a poor quality service can have negative effects for disadvantaged children. Critically, the single most significant factor in determining the quality of the centre is the level of qualification of the manager of the centre, and to a lesser extent the level of qualification of the wider workforce.1Action: Develop a new qualifications structure for the sector, whose main attributes will be:· One framework for the whole sector;· Services to be led by SCQF level 9 (ordinary degree or work-based equivalent) qualified professionals;· Entry and exit points at each level – supporting flexibility and movement;· College, university and work-based routes – supporting flexibility and inclusion;· Recognition and accreditation of prior learning – supporting flexibility and inclusion;· Supports progression and continuing professional development ( CPD);· Supports identification of shared skills/knowledge base across children’s services.Recruitment and RetentionTo provide the kind of services we want for children we need to have the right people in the sector.Action: The report identified a number of straightforward principles that should underpin all recruitment and retention practice:· The profile of the sector needs to be raised and professional identity established;· The need to attract the right workers to the profession;· The need to retain experienced, well-qualified staff; and· The need a workforce that more closely reflects the diversity of the Scottish population.Career PathwaysIt is important to make sure that early years and childcare is an attractive profession: one that is respected, and where there are opportunities for development and career progression.Action: There are four key principles underpinning effective career pathways:· Transparency, flexibility and choice;· Qualifications which support – rather than hinder – a diverse range of career pathways;· Rewarding workers for increasing responsibility and skill; and· Attractive to a wide section of the community.Workforce PlanningThe sector’s greatest resource and asset is the workforce. All organisations involved in delivering early years and childcare services have a role in planning for that workforce.Action: Develop an approach to workforce planning that is consistent across the country but is flexible enough both to be useful to small individual providers and to much larger organisations such as local authorities.ActionNotesAuthorRaspal Chima, Questions PublishingDate CreatedAugust 2006Enquiries to:rchima@qiis.co.uk (Authoring Unit)Month / YearPage 1 of 1©Birmingham City Council"
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Leadership

National Review of the Early Years and Childcare Workforce

1 Jan 2005