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Vital school effectiveness research

The best way to improve schools is to make the time to improve teaching, according to the Grattan Institute’s report ‘Making Time for Great Teaching’.

The report examines the timetables and budgets of six diverse schools around Australia to identify ways they could change their systems or practices, in order to free up time for teacher development.

It found that the world’s highest-performing school systems provide time for teachers to be mentored, research best practice, have their classes observed and receive constructive feedback on their performance.

“The Australian school systems are committed to it in principle but struggle to implement it in practice,” says Dr Ben Jensen, then School Education Program Director at the Grattan Institute.

“The world’s best systems are relentless about teacher development.”

One recommendation from the report is for schools to reduce teacher presence at meetings and assemblies, extra-curricular events and professional development days that do not improve teaching.

The report also calls upon governments and school systems to lead the way by changing regulations in order to give teachers time to improve their classroom practice.

The Origin Foundation supported this work by the Grattan Institute.

READ THE REPORT (PDF)

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