School Improvement Model

Professor John Hattie’s school improvement methodology centres on Visible Learning, a research-based framework that identifies the most effective strategies for improving student achievement. Hattie conducted meta-analyses on thousands of studies to calculate the effect sizes of various educational interventions, providing insights into what works best in education.

Key principles of Hattie’s approach include:

1. Focus on High-Impact Strategies: Hattie’s research ranks teaching methods by effectiveness, emphasising strategies with effect sizes above 0.4, the “hinge point” for meaningful learning impact. Techniques like feedback, teacher clarity, and reciprocal teaching rank highly.
2. Data-Driven Decisions: Visible Learning encourages educators to use evidence to guide teaching decisions, identifying practices that lead to significant gains in student achievement.
3. Student-Centered Learning: Emphasis is placed on understanding student progress, developing self-regulated learners, and fostering a growth mindset, helping students take ownership of their learning.
4. Feedback: Effective feedback is crucial; it should be specific, timely, and geared towards helping students improve.
5. Teacher Collaboration and Collective Efficacy: Hattie underscores the importance of collaborative teacher efforts, as collective efficacy (teachers’ belief in their collective ability to impact student learning) has one of the highest effect sizes in education.
6. Clear Learning Goals: Setting explicit learning objectives and success criteria help students and teachers stay focused on achieving specific outcomes.

Hattie’s methodology is widely used for school improvement and professional development, focusing on the practices with the highest impact on learning and fostering an evidence-based culture in education.

Professor Dylan Wiliam’s school improvement model centres on formative assessment as a driving force to enhance teaching and learning. His approach is built on continuous feedback and adjustment, empowering teachers to respond to students’ needs effectively in real time. 

Key Elements of Dylan Wiliam’s School Improvement Model:

1. Embedding Formative Assessment: Wiliam advocates for embedding formative assessment practices within daily teaching routines. This involves frequent, low-stakes assessments that provide immediate insights into student understanding, allowing teachers to adapt their instruction on the spot to address gaps in knowledge.
2. Feedback and Student Engagement: Effective feedback is central to Wiliam’s approach. Feedback should be constructive, specific, and actionable, helping students understand what they need to do to improve. Wiliam emphasizes that feedback should foster a growth mindset and encourage student engagement, rather than focusing solely on right or wrong answers.
3. Active Learning and Student Responsibility: Wiliam’s model promotes student responsibility in learning. By encouraging students to engage in self-assessment and peer assessment, they become active participants in their own progress. This approach builds self-regulation skills and fosters a deeper understanding of the material.
4. Teacher Professional Development: Wiliam underscores the importance of continuous professional development for teachers. He encourages teachers to collaboratively develop their assessment practices, reflect on their strategies, and implement small, sustainable changes that gradually improve instructional quality.
5. Focus on Learning Intentions: Clear learning intentions and success criteria are essential. Teachers must communicate what students are expected to learn and how they can gauge their progress, making the learning process transparent.
6. Adjusting Instruction Based on Evidence: Wiliam’s model involves using evidence from formative assessments to make real-time instructional adjustments. This ensures that instruction is responsive and tailored to meet students where they are, leading to more effective learning outcomes.

Summary of Impact:
Dylan Wiliam’s formative assessment model has been influential in education worldwide, demonstrating that small, intentional changes in assessment practices can lead to significant improvements in student achievement. By focusing on responsive teaching and empowering students, Wiliam’s model offers a practical and scalable approach to school improvement that aligns with a commitment to both teacher growth and student success.

This model is extensively discussed in his book “Embedded Formative Assessment,” and through various workshops and professional development sessions, making it a cornerstone for evidence-based school improvement strategies.

Professor Guy Claxton’s school improvement model centers around developing learning power and resilience in students, with a focus on creating lifelong learners. His approach, often called the Building Learning Power (BLP) model, emphasises teaching students how to learn effectively, not just focusing on content.

Key Elements of Professor Guy Claxton’s School Improvement Model:

• Learning Power and Resilience: Claxton’s model aims to build students’ capacity to manage their learning independently. This includes fostering resilience, curiosity, and a willingness to embrace challenges, preparing students to adapt to various learning contexts throughout their lives.
• Four Key Learning Dispositions: Claxton outlines four core dispositions, often referred to as the “4 Rs”: Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reflection, and Reciprocity. These qualities encourage students to:
  o Resilience: Persevere in the face of difficulties.
  o Resourcefulness: Use various strategies and resources.
  o Reflection: Think about their learning processes.
  o Reciprocity: Collaborate effectively with others.
• Embedding Learning Skills into Daily Practice: Claxton believes that learning skills should be embedded across the curriculum, rather than taught separately. Teachers model these dispositions in their teaching methods and create classroom environments that encourage students to practice and develop their learning abilities.
• Teacher Development: The BLP model also focuses on empowering teachers to foster these skills in students. Claxton encourages schools to adopt a reflective teaching culture, where teachers continuously improve their methods to support students’ development of learning power.
• Cultivating a Growth Mindset: Influenced by the concept of growth mindset, Claxton’s model encourages students to see intelligence as flexible and to view challenges as opportunities to grow. This helps students engage more deeply in learning, motivated by their development rather than fixed results.
• Long-Term Impact on Learning: The goal of BLP is to create a school environment where students are motivated, self-directed, and able to face challenges with confidence. Claxton’s approach not only supports academic success but prepares students with skills for life beyond school.

Summary of Impact:
Guy Claxton’s approach is particularly effective for schools aiming to improve both academic results and personal development outcomes. By fostering adaptable learning skills and a strong learning disposition, Claxton’s BLP model encourages students to become proactive, resilient learners. This model has been adopted widely in schools looking to create a culture of lifelong learning and is especially valuable for nurturing independent, resilient thinkers.

For more details, Claxton’s book “Building Learning Power” offers comprehensive insights into implementing this model in schools.

Professor Bill Lucas is a prominent advocate of creative and lifelong learning in education. His school improvement model emphasises the development of capabilities and dispositions that prepare students for life and work in a rapidly changing world. His approach is rooted in encouraging creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving across the curriculum, fostering schools as learning organisations that evolve with societal needs.

Key Elements of Professor Bill Lucas’s School Improvement Model:

Focus on Capabilities and Skills: Lucas promotes a curriculum that goes beyond traditional academic subjects to focus on building capabilities such as creativity, resilience, and collaboration. He believes these skills are essential for preparing students to succeed in dynamic and uncertain futures.

Creativity Across the Curriculum: A core component of Lucas’s model is embedding creativity in all subjects, not just the arts. This includes encouraging students to think divergently, experiment with ideas, and develop solutions to real-world problems. Lucas argues that creativity can and should be nurtured across all areas of study.

Assessment for Capability Development: Lucas advocates for an assessment approach that evaluates both content knowledge and skill development. Traditional tests often focus solely on content, but Lucas suggests using more formative assessments and project-based evaluations to measure capabilities like critical thinking and creativity.

Learning Dispositions: Drawing from research on growth mindset and lifelong learning, Lucas emphasizes cultivating dispositions such as perseverance, curiosity, and self-regulation in students. These qualities support students in becoming proactive, adaptable learners who are capable of continuous improvement.

Teacher Empowerment and Professional Development: Lucas believes that for schools to improve, teachers must be empowered and continuously supported in their professional growth. He advocates for ongoing professional development that enables teachers to integrate creative and capability-building practices into their teaching.

School as a Learning Community: Lucas promotes the concept of schools as learning communities where collaboration and reflection are central. This model encourages school leaders to build environments where teachers, students, and staff engage in collective problem-solving and innovation.

Engagement with Real-World Contexts: Lucas’s model incorporates learning activities that connect to the real world, preparing students to engage meaningfully with societal challenges. He suggests project-based learning and community engagement as ways to make education relevant and impactful.

Summary of Impact:
Bill Lucas’s model is widely recognised for promoting a balanced approach to education that values creativity and practical skills alongside traditional academics. This framework has influenced schools globally, particularly in the UK, where Lucas has been a leading voice in education reform. His work, including publications like “Educating Ruby” and his contributions to PISA’s Creative Thinking framework, underlines his commitment to cultivating well-rounded, capable students prepared to navigate and contribute to a complex world.