Transcript Sam Twiselton - Carter Review

Carter Review of Initial Teacher
Training
At the heart of every community lies a school and at the heart of every school are the
teachers. No matter how well organised or detailed the curriculum, how grand or wellresourced the building. What really matters most in a child’s education is the quality of
the teaching.
Foreword from Sir Andrew Carter OBE
Professor Sam Twiselton
Member of Advisory Panel, Director of Sheffield Institute of Education
18th February 2015
The scope of the review

The scope of the review included all ITT routes (HEI, SCITT, School Direct as
well as Teach First) and a range of subjects and phases.

The review group focused on areas it deemed particularly important; for
example, subject knowledge, subject specific pedagogy, behaviour
management training, and special educational needs.

The review group focused on the quality of ITT provision and not
considered related ITT issues, such as recruitment and retention strategies,
workforce planning or funding.
The Advisory Group

An advisory group was appointed, representing a diverse range of views, to
support this work on the review. The members of the group are:

Professor Samantha Twiselton (Sheffield Hallam University)

Dr Louise Walker (Manchester University)

Sir Dan Moynihan (Harris Federation)

Judith O’Kane OBE (Bright Futures Education Trust)

Daisy Christodoulou (ARK Schools)
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The Review Process
We gathered a wide range of evidence and views through a range of activities including:

A review of the existing evidence base including international evidence, Ofsted evidence
and findings from the Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) survey

A call for evidence that received 148 responses from a range of individuals and
institutions, including universities, professional bodies, schools, teachers and trainees

11 themed roundtable discussions with sector experts

24 meetings and discussions with experts and stakeholders

31 visits to ITT providers and schools involved in ITT, involving meetings with trainers,
mentors, headteachers as well as current and former trainees
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A review of course materials from ~150 programmes.
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A survey of trainee and applicant opinions about ITT course information
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Key Initial Findings from national data:
Ofsted data suggests that the majority of trainees are being trained within ‘good’ partnerships:
 1855 (14%) were trained by outstanding ITT partnerships

10870 (82%) were trained by good ITT partnerships

505 (4%) were trained by ITT partnerships requiring improvement
The 2014 NQT survey - quality of ITT was seen as at least good by 89% primary and 93% (please note the survey
only had a 20% response rate).
HOWEVER...
NAHT teacher recruitment survey of their members found that:

For NQTs, 33.7% found it easy to recruit to the roles but 8% were unable to recruit at all

‘quality of applicants in our area’ (45%) and ‘plenty of applicants but of poor quality’ (35%) main
reasons cited

Skill shortfalls identified: classroom management (73% of respondents), subject knowledge (58%)
and understanding of pedagogy and child development (56%)
Comparing Different Routes - The Good Teacher Training Guide



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SCITTs had the highest average score
HEIs had the most highly qualified entrants but lower take-up of teaching posts than SCITTs
Ofsted judge the university provision to be the best but the NQT survey shows slightly better for SCITTs
The Guide does not consider the performance of School Direct programmes
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Key Findings from the Review How does the system perform
overall?
Overall the evidence we have about the system suggests that it generally performs well, with
some room for improvement in particular areas.
Difficult to draw conclusions about one route into teaching being more effective than another.
The diversity of different routes is a strength, allowing the system to meet the needs of
different schools and trainees. E.g.
•
•
•
•
undergraduate routes allow time to develop subject knowledge;
Teach First has a particular purpose in the system;
School based ITT often favoured by career changers;
HEI based by more recent graduates.
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The review in detail - initial themes and those that emerged
Initially in the remit:
Added later

focus on outcomes and wellbeing

subject knowledge

evidence based teaching

subject specific pedagogy

assessment and differentiation

behaviour management training

child and adolescent development

special educational needs

high quality mentoring from a strong
practitioner - opportunities to learn
from strong (outstanding)
practitioners (including but also
beyond mentors)

ITT as part of a continuum of
professional development

maximising the use of school based
time

resilience, workload and
professionalism
Key Findings: What does good course content look like?

ITT is initial – forming the basis for systematic on-going development

ITT course content should have a relentless and explicit focus on pupil outcomes
and well being (mission reflected in all aspects)

The most effective courses address/assess gaps and misconceptions in trainees’
subject knowledge, including subject-specific pedagogy

ITT should show why engaging with research is important and how to do this well

ITT should equip new teachers to use summative as well as formative assessment validity, reliability, norm and criterion referencing

Trainees should be taught child and adolescent development

Trainees should be given practical advice on behaviour management

Planning should be given significant time and emphasis

ITT should include most common SEND issues and practical strategies for addressing
these

ITT should have on-going focus on professionalism (including resilience and time
management)
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Key Findings: What does good ITT Delivery look like?

Beyond traditional placement models to carefully crafted and integrated schoolbased experiences

Built-in opportunities to observe outstanding teaching in a range of contexts

Systematic coming together in peer groups and subject communities

Benefits of experiencing school as early as possible in the year - see ground rules
etc. established - part of school community from Day 1

High quality mentoring is critically important for ITT. Outstanding teachers and
subject experts, who are also skilled in deconstructing their own practice

Across all routes, schools should play a leading role in the recruitment and
selection of trainees, course design and delivery, assessment of trainees and ongoing review of programmes

The most effective partnerships include a range of types of schools and expertise,
ideally including Special Schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) as well as a
university

It is critical that progression between ITT and the NQT year is as seamless as
possible
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Key Findings: How could course content be improved?
 Address:

Variability and gaps in ITT content across the system

Subject knowledge: challenges in depth and breadth – particularly the
breadth of the primary curriculum and depth for smaller secondary subject
groups

Evidence-based teaching: ITT doesn't always adequately teach trainees
the core skills of how to access, critically interpret and use research to
inform classroom practice

Assessment: the most significant improvements are needed for training in
assessment – particularly in the theoretical and technical aspects of
assessment

Child development is generally well covered in primary courses but lacked
coverage in secondary courses

Pupil behaviour: we have found some reluctance towards articulating
practical approaches
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Key Findings: How could ITT delivery be improved?

Careful crafting of school based experiences and exposure to expertise. Maximise early
integration into school life, observation, systematic access to range of expertise, pupil
shadowing, micro-teaching, contextual compare/contrast

Mentors should have greater status and recognition. Mentoring is not as good as it could
be. System needs to more formally develop this role.

Greater integration from ITE into NQT and RQT needed - the link between ITT and early
career professional development is often weak

Create more clarity and consistency in relation to PGCE and QTS - we have a confusing
and complex system. We found an inconsistency in the number of masters credits
awarded on PGCE programmes and how collaborative arrangements work with SCITTs –
with no sector-agreed rationale

Skills tests that are fit for purpose. Providers and trainees expressed frustration about the
skills tests, arguing that they can lead to otherwise good candidates being lost from ITT
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Key Findings: Transparency of information about ITT courses

Applicants must have access to clear information about ITT courses. From the
evidence we gathered from potential applicants, trainees, schools and ITT
providers, it is clear that the current picture is confusing.

Similarly, schools choosing to work with an ITT provider must be able to access
clear information in order to make informed choices. Schools told us that it can
be difficult for them to find useful information about providers.
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Recommendations:
directly to the sector and to the government
DfE should commission a sector body (for example, the Teaching Schools Council, a future professional body (College
of Teaching), or another sector body) to develop a framework of core content for ITT.
DfE should make funded in-service subject knowledge enhancement courses available for new primary teachers to
access as professional development.
The Teachers’ Standards should be amended to be more explicit about the importance of teachers taking an
evidence-based approach.
A central portal of synthesised executive summaries, providing practical advice on research findings about effective
teaching in different subjects and phases, should be developed. A future College of Teaching would be well placed to
develop this.
Alongside a central portal on evidence-based practice, a central repository of resources and guidance on assessment
should be developed.
DfE should commission a sector body, for example the Teaching Schools Council, to develop some national standards
for mentors.
Building on the development of school-led ITT, DfE should work in collaboration with those involved in ITT to consider
the way in which teachers qualify with a view to strengthening what has become a complex and sometimes confusing
system.
DfE should undertake a review of the effectiveness of the skills tests in selecting high quality trainees.
In order for applicants and schools to make well informed decisions when choosing ITT courses and providers, we
recommend the development and expansion of the NCTL’s “Get into Teaching” website and gov.uk.
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Recommendations:
directly to the sector and to the government
DfE should commission a sector body (for example, the Teaching Schools Council, a future professional body (College
of Teaching), or another sector body) to develop a framework of core content for ITT.
DfE should make funded in-service subject knowledge enhancement courses available for new primary teachers to
access as professional development.
The Teachers’ Standards should be amended to be more explicit about the importance of teachers taking an
evidence-based approach.
A central portal of synthesised executive summaries, providing practical advice on research findings about effective
teaching in different subjects and phases, should be developed. A future College of Teaching would be well placed to
develop this.
Alongside a central portal on evidence-based practice, a central repository of resources and guidance on assessment
should be developed.
DfE should commission a sector body, for example the Teaching Schools Council, to develop some national standards
for mentors.
Building on the development of school-led ITT, DfE should work in collaboration with those involved in ITT to consider
the way in which teachers qualify with a view to strengthening what has become a complex and sometimes confusing
system.
DfE should undertake a review of the effectiveness of the skills tests in selecting high quality trainees.
In order for applicants and schools to make well informed decisions when choosing ITT courses and providers, we
recommend the development and expansion of the NCTL’s “Get into Teaching” website and gov.uk.
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Next Steps
The government have welcomed this report in a government response. There are
some recommendations which government will need to consider in the long-term.
In the short-term they have confirmed they will:

commission an independent working group made of expert representatives
from the sector to develop a core ITT framework

commission the Teaching Schools Council to develop a set of national standards
for mentors

develop the Get Into Teaching website and provide information about ITT on
GOV.UK so that applicants of ITT and schools can find clearer information about
provision
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Next Steps - SIoE and the ITE sector
• Ensure ITE programmes sufficiently reflect the content recommendations - some
providers have already 'ragged' their provision against them
• Be ready to contribute/engage with mentor recognition standards
• Consider optimum structures:

beyond traditional placement models to carefully crafted school-based experiences - built-in
opportunities to observe good and outstanding teaching

chances to come together in peer groups - a challenge for small subjects.

experiencing school as early as possible in the year

schools should play a leading role in all aspects of ITE - mentors as outstanding teachers and subject
experts, who are also skilled in explaining their own practice

a range of types of schools, ideally including Special Schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) as well as
a university.

progression between ITT and the NQT year is as seamless as possible

Clarify distinction between QTS and academic award

Address inconsistencies and confusion in relation to PGCE
15
Next Steps - SIoE and the ITE sector
• Ensure ITE programmes sufficiently reflect the content recommendations - some
providers have already 'ragged' their provision against them
• Be ready to contribute/engage with mentor recognition standards
• Consider optimum structures:

beyond traditional placement models to carefully crafted school-based experiences - built-in
opportunities to observe good and outstanding teaching

chances to come together in peer groups - a challenge for small subjects.

experiencing school as early as possible in the year

schools should play a leading role in all aspects of ITE - mentors as outstanding teachers and subject
experts, who are also skilled in explaining their own practice

a range of types of schools, ideally including Special Schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) as well as
a university.

progression between ITT and the NQT year is as seamless as possible

Clarify distinction between QTS and academic award

Address inconsistencies and confusion in relation to PGCE
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