Schools

Overview

Education is one of the most important ways that governments can improve the lives of the citizens of NSW, drive productivity growth and lift economic prosperity. A strong educational foundation supports social outcomes such as social mobility and cohesion, and individual fulfillment. It also increases the potential value citizens can add to the global economy, and underpins our international competitiveness.

Draft recommendation 2.1: Broaden the supply of quality teachers

Design and implement accelerated pathways into teaching to broaden the supply of quality teachers and address workforce gaps:

  • Pilot an employment-based pathway to target urgent teacher shortages in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) by 2021.
  • ​Review the costs and benefits of the requirement for a two-year masters program for teaching by 2021, compared to shorter accreditation pathways.
  • ​Following the review, design and implement alternative accelerated pathways within two years.
Draft recommendation 2.2: Improve teacher performance evaluation

By 2022, revise teacher appraisal and evaluation so school leaders can better identify and address teachers’ development needs:

  • ​As a priority, embed mandatory classroom observation by supervisors and principals in the Performance and Development Framework (PDF) and build the teacher assessment capabilities of school leadership.
  • ​Develop a suite of measures of teacher effectiveness including: 360-degree feedback from students, parents, school-leaders and peers; in-class observation; and individual teacher ’value-added’.
  • ​Embed the consistent use of these measures in the PDF, with monitoring by the NSW Department of Education to inform support it provides to schools.
Draft recommendation 2.3: Help good teachers keep teaching

Develop an ‘instructional lead’ career pathway for highly effective teachers as an alternative to an administrative career progression. Highly effective teachers should be identified using a suite of robust measures, as outlined in draft recommendation 2.2.

Draft recommendation 2.4: Support best practice teaching

Create a culture of continuous improvement that actively fosters best-practice teaching. Embed strategies, interventions, resources and support tailored to individual school and teacher needs, including guidelines on best-practice by learning area.

Require schools to regularly report their progress implementing evidence-based best-practice teaching to the NSW Department of Education and explain departures from best-practice methods.

Develop further state-wide assessment resources to support all schools to more effectively use data to monitor student progress, and to inform and target teaching practices.

Digital Assets

View and share information about the Continuing the productivity discussion green paper.

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