What is the impact of our changed practice for students?
The TPLD BES (Timperley et al., 2007) reports that the impact for students may vary along the following continuum:
- no improvement (or decline) in outcomes;
- limited improvement in a narrow range of outcomes;
- substantive improvement in a broad range of outcomes.
As discussed above, the ultimate measure of the effectiveness of professional learning opportunities is their impact on student outcomes. ISTEs support teachers/school leaders to gather and analyse data to find out whether what they have learned and applied has been successful in promoting the learning and well-being of the students. ISTEs also use this information to evaluate their own impact on the students.
The relationship between teacher learning and student learning is complex, reinforcing the need to ensure that the desired student outcomes are clearly specified at the start of the cycle. When analysing the degree to which the outcomes have been achieved, it is usual to use inquiry approaches that are similar to those used to identify student needs. During this analysis, it may become clear that new approaches are needed to answer new questions, to delve into unexpected outcomes, or to give urgent attention to students who are still underachieving.
At times, ISTEs will also wish to evaluate their impact on teacher learning and practice and student outcomes across a range of contexts. They can do so by collecting and analysing evidence in collaboration with their colleagues in their ISTE community of practice. This requires the use of an analytical framework that allows ISTEs to critically evaluate and compare data from different places and times. This should help to provide a picture of both their individual and their collective effectiveness in different contexts.
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