Control teaching and learning quality

QC requirements and procedure Quality Control (QC) is undertaken to ensure that the standards are being met. Department Heads and School Boards take responsibility for monitoring and evaluating the teaching and learning process with an emphasis on improvement more than governance. The ultimate goal is to ensure that students have the best learning opportunities possible and receive adequate training for the future. Teaching and learning quality control must be a continual process with the application of a variety of methods. The process must begin with an analysis of how well students are achieving the standards. In order to do so, the School Boards and Department Heads must fully understand the curriculum standards and have an existing body of knowledge related to standards-based assessment. The School Boards and Department Heads develop and implement a cycle of quality control, including investigation, evaluation, teaching review, reflection and training. The school leaders must set a routine for data reporting.  For example: monthly reports and semester reports from teachers to Department Heads and from Department Heads to the School Boards. Based on the reports, the leaders direct and monitor the development of the intervention plan/ supporting schemes for students who grapple with learning. Listening to student, and parent feedback is an important part of quality control in education. Students are often full of valuable information about how teachers manage a classroom and how it could be improved. Parents can also contribute lots of ideas to the improvement of teaching and learning based on their observation of their children's study at home. The School Boards and Heads of Department must deploy a variety of communication channels to collect student and parent feedback, such as surveys, meeting with students, and parent conferences, etc.

Observation and feedback Observations can be formal or informal. Per semester, for each teacher, at least 2 formal observations are conducted by the Head of Department or School Board. There is no fixed, required number of informal observations, which are often called pop-ins as they may last about 15 minutes each. The number, frequency and length of pop-ins varies depending on the level of support that the administrators think is needed for the teacher. Purposes of observations The marked difference between formal and informal observations in terms of purposes is that formal observations are associated with job-performance evaluation whereas informal observations do not affect it. Informal observations focus more on helping teachers to improve. However, both kinds of classroom observations do share some common purposes, including: to improve instructional quality and teaching effectiveness. After these observations, teachers are provided with constructive critical feedback aimed at improving their instructional strategies and classroom management. Teachers are also encouraged to share their self-assessment of and reflection on their teaching o perform an investigation into how learning is taking place in the classroom, spotting any issues in the learning environment to provide timely measures to address to detect possible inequalities in instruction among different groups of students to identify the areas for professional training Use of Classroom Observation Rubric (COR) COR is a tool for observing and evaluating the lesson based on a framework that sets out criteria and standards for different levels of performance and describes what performance would look like.  Final assessment of an observed lesson is the sum of scores given to all criteria. In formal observations, all criteria in the COR will be assessed whereas it is not compulsory to do so in pops-in. The evaluation platform allows observers to select what set of criteria they would like to make judgements on during the pops-in. Teachers can read criteria in the COR here.

Monitor evidence of learning Evidence of learning is collected within the context of student performance relative to curriculum outcomes. Teachers need to collect multiple pieces of evidence from various assessment strategies to arrive at valid conclusions about student performance. The types of evidence that needs to be collected can vary depending on the curriculum outcomes targeted at. To understand more about different types of learning evidence, please read here. Evidence of learning is used to evaluate and improve teaching and learning. Administrators are responsible for reviewing and ensuring that each teacher has a detailed plan to collect, interpret, and use this evidence effectively: Ensuring that teachers have an On-going Assessment plan and understand how they will gather learning evidence. Asking teachers to report the condition and progress of the classes regularly. Ensuring teachers interpret learning evidence and act on its meaning (eg: ABC class always submits outstanding reflections. What does this show about students in this class? Should it be changed? Teaching methods to challenge the children more? How to do it?)

Monitor Reflective Professional Development Plan To help teachers develop their expertise effectively and gradually achieve international standards in teaching and learning, ESL leaders need to ask teachers to form good habits of creating Teaching Journal or Reflective Professional Development Plan. Once this practice is applied, the following requirements need to be satisfied: The reflective practice needs to be systematic, planned, data-driven and evidence-based. It should be frequently used. It includes both self-reflection and managers’ feedback or peer feedback. The personal development plan is outlined based on the feedback and reflection. Besides, to promote a culture of sharing, teachers are encouraged to present their reflective works to colleagues and learn from each other’s reflection.

Reference:

https://aac.ab.ca/hot-topics/communicating-and-reporting/collecting-evidence-of-learning/