Part 3: Setting objectives, sharing information, and supporting professional development

3.1
In this Part, we set out our expectations of the Ministry in setting objectives, providing information, and helping the education sector to provide professional development services and enable teachers to participate in them. We then describe our findings on the Ministry's:

• professional development objectives, strategy, and planning;
• evidence-based approach; and
• efforts to improve capability and capacity.

Our expectations

3.2
We expected the Ministry to:

• have identified the main objectives for the professional development of teachers, and have these clearly articulated in relevant documents;
• use, and make available to the education sector, evidence of what effective professional development is; and
• support teachers, schools, and providers in their respective professional development roles by building their capability and capacity where necessary.

Summary of our findings

3.3
We identified the following strengths:

• The Ministry has defined its high-level objective for professional development (namely effective teaching).
• The Ministry's allocation of funding is increasingly informed by evidence of what effective professional development practice is.

3.4
We identified the following areas for improvement:

• There is room for improvement in the capability of providers, teachers, and schools to analyse student achievement data.
• The information available to the sector about professional development opportunities and funding is fragmented and not all of the information is easily accessible.

Professional development objectives, strategy, and planning

3.5
It is important that all those involved in the professional development of teachers have a common understanding of the overall objectives of professional development.

3.6
The Ministry's high-level objective for the professional development of teachers is effective teaching. The Ministry has stated that effective teachers are those who:

• have high expectations that all students can succeed;
• know their subject well – they know what to teach;
• know how to teach well;
• reflect on the results of assessment and their own teaching to connect and adapt to their students' learning needs; and
• care about their students and what happens to them.

3.7
We acknowledge there are many influences on effective teaching beyond the professional development of teachers, some of which are outside the control of the Ministry. However, in our view, it is important for the Ministry, as a whole, to track progress against its effective teaching objective and, if possible, to track the specific contribution of professional development to the objective.

Strategy for effective teaching

3.8
We looked for a strategic or planning document outlining how professional development would meet the high-level objective of effective teaching.

3.9
The Ministry does not have a strategy or plan covering the full range of professional development initiatives over which it has some influence or control. Nor does the Ministry have a comprehensive document integrating its strategy and plans for the professional development of teachers. Therefore it is not clear how the Ministry ensures the coherence of multiple initiatives. However, the Ministry does have an internal project plan covering some of the major aspects of its professional development work.

3.10
The lack of a comprehensive strategy or plan also means that it is not clear whether, or to what extent, the current mix of initiatives and funding mechanisms are the result of deliberate decisions by the Ministry. This makes it difficult for the sector to be clear about the Ministry's future direction and for the sector to plan on an informed basis.

3.11
However, we did see evidence that the Ministry had considered the generic mechanisms it has for influencing teachers' professional development and the relative benefits and weaknesses of each of these mechanisms.

3.12
The Ministry has indicated that its priorities are spelt out in its Statement of Intent and other key strategy documents. It has noted that it has established a professional development steering group to provide a clear direction to the sector about the Ministry's plans for the professional development of teachers. The Ministry has also noted that it is actively considering professional development for teachers in the light of wider education strategies.

3.13
We would consider this recommendation to be implemented if we saw the Ministry's approach published, were satisfied with the quality and scope of the published information, and saw evidence of the Ministry confirming with the sector that it had published the information in a way that was accessible and useful.

Evidence-based approach

3.14
The Ministry's professional development activities are based on an intervention logic.¹ That is, the Ministry believes that students' outcomes can be improved by effective teaching, and that effective professional development for teachers supports effective teaching.

3.15
We saw examples of the Ministry taking an evidence-based approach to professional development for teachers consistent with its intervention logic. This included:

• funding services to build sector capability to take an evidence-based approach;
• using student achievement data to target schools for improvement services that include professional development for teachers;
• prioritising the funding of initiatives based on the evidence of their effectiveness;
• identifying studies of New Zealand professional development for teachers that have been shown to be effective; and
• requiring a provider to achieve minimum shifts in student achievement as a result of its professional development services for teachers.

3.16
The Ministry has funded a Best Evidence Synthesis (BES) module on professional learning and development,² as part of its BES series.

3.17
The professional learning and development BES, Teacher Professional Learning and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration,³ looked widely at the international and New Zealand evidence on effective professional development for teachers.

3.18
The Ministry has identified that improvements to professional development can be supported by distributing the findings of the professional learning and development BES. In its view, the primary audience is the educators of teachers, rather than teachers themselves. A report issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that a partnership of educational leaders and principals will be critical to realising the potential of the full BES series, given the highly devolved school-based management model of New Zealand's schools.

3.19
At the time of our audit, the Ministry had been considering how various stakeholders could use the professional learning and development BES, and how the Ministry could use it to inform its decision-making.

3.20
For example, the Ministry:

• had written a draft Working Theory of Action for Dissemination and Use to guide its distribution of the professional learning and development BES;
• had been working with the providers of professional development initiatives to distribute the professional learning and development BES;
• was intending to write guidelines to support schools' professional development activities; and
• was preparing a document to be published in 2008 to explain the professional learning and development BES to teachers and other audiences.

3.21
Various stakeholders told us that the Ministry did not consistently base its decisions about funding and providing professional development initiatives on the evidence it has.

3.22
In our view, it would be helpful for the Ministry to review the professional development initiatives it funds against its BES evidence and any other relevant evidence on effective professional development. We recognise that ongoing improvements to the professional development initiatives the Ministry funds will be an iterative process. However, such a review is consistent with the:

• evidence-based approach signalled in the Schooling Strategy 2005-2010;
• commitment in the Ministry's Statement of Intent 2007-2012 to applying the findings of the BES series; and
• Ministry's observation that the use of knowledge and understanding of effective professional development by teachers varies, and that this is a strategic area needing further work.

3.23
We appreciate that the time frames of some contracts may constrain the extent to which the Ministry is able to align its funding decisions with such a review. Other factors that may influence alignment with the evidence base are the availability of relevant evidence, the availability of providers already taking an evidence-based approach, and the extent to which providers' alignment with the evidence base can be improved and how long it would take to get that alignment.

3.24
The Ministry agrees that its teacher professional development initiatives should be reviewed. In its opinion, the priority of the initiatives that it will fund should be based primarily on the needs in the education sector, with evidence informing the design of specific professional development initiatives.

3.25
In its response to the draft of this report, the Ministry told us that it was writing guidelines based on the evidence about effective professional development for its managers to use when carrying out a contract review or procurement process. It also told us that it was doing other reviews to redesign the provision of some professional development initiatives, and it was preparing a programme for providers of professional development projects funded by the Ministry.

3.26
We would consider this recommendation to be implemented if we saw documented evidence that the Ministry had adequately considered the alignment of initiatives with the evidence on effective professional development for teachers when it made funding decisions.

Building capability and capacity for professional development

3.27
The Ministry is encouraging an evidence-based approach to professional development. In our view, teachers, schools, and providers need to have the skills and knowledge (the capability) and the resources and information (the capacity) to analyse student achievement data to identify areas where professional development for teachers might be needed. For this reason, we have focused on determining whether the Ministry's professional development initiatives support the capability and capacity needed for participants to carry out their roles.

Capability

3.28
A range of stakeholders, including the Ministry, have identified a need for improvement in the capability of providers, schools, and teachers to assemble and analyse student achievement data.

3.29
By capability to implement an evidence-based approach we mean the capability to:

• use information about what teaching processes and practices have been shown to improve teaching and students' achievement;
• track the outcomes of professional development initiatives in terms of students' achievements; and
• use this tracking to inform ongoing teaching practice.

3.30
The Ministry has told us that building teachers' capability to analyse student achievement data is a component of all of its professional development contracts. In its November 2007 briefing for the incoming Minister, the Ministry noted that it was making progress in strengthening teachers' capability to assess students' achievements. The New Zealand Council for Educational Research has also reported some evidence of positive changes in the monitoring of student achievement data in schools.

3.31
In its response to the draft of this report, the Ministry cited a review and redevelopment of its National Assessment Strategy⁴ as work that would address this recommendation. The Ministry told us that as a result of our audit, it has committed to speeding up its work. The Ministry also identified its In-service Teacher Education Practice (INSTEP) initiative as addressing this recommendation. The Ministry was also preparing a professional learning programme for those providing Ministry-funded professional development initiatives at the time we wrote our report.

3.32
We would consider the recommendation to be implemented if we saw documented evidence that the Ministry had reviewed and properly considered the education sector's capability to implement an evidence-based approach to professional development.

Capacity

3.33
The main constraints on teachers getting access to professional development are the same as they are for many professions – for example, the availability of appropriate, high quality professional development, the time to carry out the professional development work, and the cost of replacement staff while doing it.

3.34
How schools decide whether to make teachers available for professional development initiatives, and whether relief teachers are employed in their absence, is outside of the scope of our audit. Nevertheless, it is important that the Ministry understands the relationship between the supply of professional development initiatives and the capacity of the education sector to use those services, given the time and cost constraints. The capacity of the education sector to sustain and build on changes resulting from professional development, so that investments in professional development continue to deliver value, is also important.

3.35
We were interested in how teachers know what professional development opportunities are available and how to access them. We were provided with a range of views, from teachers who found it difficult to find information through to teachers who received a large volume of material on professional development opportunities that they did not have time to sort through. We were also told that word of mouth was an important source of information on the availability and quality of professional development.

3.36
Some information about professional development initiatives for teachers is available through various pages within the Ministry's Te Kete Ipurangi website (www.tki.org.nz). Information for principals and school leaders is available through the Ministry's Leadspace website (www.leadspace.govt.nz/).

3.37
In our view, the information on different websites about professional development is fragmented. The Te Kete Ipurangi website contains a large amount of information for parents, students, teachers, and school leaders. The Leadspace website provides a valuable resource for principals, including a list of Ministry programmes which aim to increase leadership capacity in New Zealand schools. However, at the time of our audit, there was no single, comprehensive list of the Ministry's professional development initiatives for teachers. In our view, it would be helpful if a full suite of easily accessible information was available in one place.

3.38
The Ministry has informed us that the central repository for information about all teacher professional development is the professional learning pages on the Te Kete Ipurangi website. The Ministry told us that the first phase of the redevelopment of the professional learning pages was completed early in 2008 and that planning for the second phase was under way at the time of writing our report.

3.39
We would consider this recommendation to be implemented if the Ministry created a central repository that was readily accessible, and contained all of the Ministry-funded professional development initiatives for teachers.

1: An intervention logic is a reasoned explanation (logic) of why and how an action (intervention) produces a given result (outcome).

2: Note that, whereas the BES module refers to "professional learning and development", in this report we use the term "professional development" to cover both.

3: H. Timperley, A. Wilson, H. Barrar, and I. Fung (2007), Teacher Professional Learning and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration, Ministry of Education, http://educationcounts.edcentre.govt.nz.

4: This is a strategy for the assessment of student achievement by teachers. The National Assessment Strategy is intended to help teachers to use high quality assessment information to raise student achievement and reduce educational disparities.