No child left behind AND No teacher left behind.

"Benefit from the wisdom of all"   Hattie 2015

So of course I had to follow up the reading on Distractions in education, with Hattie's reading on what he thinks will work in Education.  And I am glad to say I am heading my thinking in this direction - Collaboration and building a culture in a school that asks the questions 'What does Learning look like, and how do I know I am being effective as a teacher?'

Once again, I am going to use this blog to highlight the key points I took from this paper, and put them into a mixture of his/my words.

Although some points I look at and go 'Wow, how do we do that?'.  I know that there in lies the challenge.  No more blaming, and no more using 'distractions'.  Just start the conversations and see where they lead you.

Start that culture in the staffroom, and in the classroom that insists upon High Expectations for all - no matter what their backgrounds, socio-economic status, or own low expectations (that no doubt have been built into them through the achievement hierarchys emphasised in their classrooms).

I like how Hattie states that collaboration isn't just about trading war stories and sharing resources.  But about sharing evaluative evidence, effective strategies, identifying success, building a common understanding on what 'impact and effectiveness' looks like, and sharing and learning how to become more expert.

Anyway, to the points that I will walk away with and reflect upon:

• Build a long-term, coherent, focused, system-wide attention to student learning.
• Identify, nurture, esteem, and bring together 'within' school expertise.  
• Have the uncomfortable discussions about why students aren't progressing in a classroom.
• Think about not just 'No Child Left Behind - but also No Teacher Left Behind.
• Aspire to have highly effective, expert, inspired, and passionate staff who work together to maximise effect on student learning.
• Have an arsenal to measure progress - not just one piece of evidence.  Triangulate all.
• Discuss within school/department/syndicate: 'What does one years progress actually look like?'
• Develop a common conception of progress and same expectations across the school.
• An optimal school has not just High Achievement, but also High Growth & Progress.
• Assist students to exceed their own expectations.
• Look at results and ask 'What do you see in them, and what do you do next?'
• Don't just measure achievement, also measure the Learning.
• Take responsibility for the impact you as a teacher has on every student.  Know thy impact.
• Evaluate the impact of All in the school on the progress of ALL in the school.
• Create trusting environments to ensure healthy debate on impact, & use of information/data.
• Develop conditions for collaboration in a school & a climate of evaluation.
• Communicate impact on students learning to the student and the home.
• Ask the question: what does success/impact look like before teaching the unit.
• See errors as opportunities to learn.
• Recognise what effective teaching looks like and know your high impact teachers.
• Recognise those that need support in becoming more effective teachers.
• Encourage conversations in the staffroom about Learning & Impact as opposed to Curriculum and Assessment.
• Maximise each others success.
• Schools are the unit of analysis, therefore accountability should be to the school.
• Excellence can be attained in multiple ways. 
• Equity can be defined as all students having the possibility of achieving Excellence.
• Clear focus on Nature of Learning & teaching that supports it.
• Teachers should be able to challenge each other to achieve excellence collectively.
• Build coalitions for success.

To see the full paper click here.