An explicit improvement agenda

An explicit
improvement
agenda

An explicit

improvement

agenda

The school leadership team and/or governing body have established and are
driving a strong improvement agenda for the school, grounded in evidence from
research and practice and expressed in terms of improvements in measurable
student outcomes. Explicit and clear school-wide targets for improvement have
been set and communicated to parents and families, teachers and students, with
accompanying timelines.
The assessment of this domain includes
consideration of the extent to which:
§§ the governing body, school principal and
other school leaders are united, committed
to and explicit about their core objective
– to improve learning outcomes for all
students in the school;
§§ the school has made an effort to
understand current student achievement
levels, and how achievement levels have
changed over time, including for students
in social inclusion priority groups,
students at risk of disengaging or who
have disengaged from schooling, and
students facing disadvantage, including
students with a disability, those from non-
English speaking backgrounds, Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander students, those
from low-SES backgrounds and regional
and remote areas;
§§ explicit targets for improvement in student
achievement levels have been set and
communicated to parents, staff and the
wider school community;
§§ school staff are united in their
commitment to improve the quality of
teaching and learning throughout the
school and to address obstacles to schoolwide
improvement;
§§ the school communicates clearly that it
expects all students to learn successfully
and has high expectations for student
attendance, engagement and outcomes;
§§ the school has clearly articulated
strategies for improving levels of student
achievement and wellbeing; and
§§ progress towards targets is monitored and
initiatives and programs are systematically
evaluated for their effectiveness in
producing desired improvements in
student learning and performance.

Outstanding

The school leadership group, including, where appropriate, the governing council, has developed and is driving an
explicit and detailed local school improvement agenda. This agenda is expressed in terms of specific improvements
sought in student performances, is aligned with national and/or system-wide improvement priorities and includes clear
targets with accompanying timelines which are rigorously actioned.
The school improvement agenda has been effective in focusing, and to some extent narrowing and sharpening, the whole
school’s attention on core learning priorities.
There is a strong and optimistic commitment by all staff to the school improvement strategy and a clear belief that
further improvement is possible. Teachers take responsibility for changes in practice required to achieve school targets
and are using data on a regular basis to monitor the effectiveness of their own efforts to meet those targets.
High
The school has developed an agenda for improvement in partnership with parents and the community and school
leaders can describe the improvements they wish to see in student behaviours and outcomes. This agenda is
communicated in staff meetings, school newsletters, parent-teacher meetings and on the school website using a variety
of formats to suit local needs.
The leadership team has analysed school performance data over a number of years and is aware of trends in student
achievement levels. Targets for improvement are clear and accompanied by timelines.
The school leadership team is clearly committed to finding ways to improve on current student outcomes. This is
reflected in an eagerness to learn from research evidence, international experience and from other schools that have
achieved significant improvements.
There is evidence of a school-wide commitment to every student’s success and staff of the school tell stories of significant
student improvement.
Medium
The principal and other school leaders articulate a shared commitment to improvement, but limited attention has been
given to specifying detail or to developing a school-wide approach (eg, plans for improvement may lack coherence, be
short term or without a whole-school focus). Plans for improvement do not appear to have been clearly communicated,
widely implemented or to have impacted significantly on teachers’ day-to-day work. Targets for improvement are not
specific (eg, not accompanied by timelines).
The school’s focus on data is driven more by external requirements (eg, NAPLAN, My School) than by an internal desire
for good information to guide school decision making and to monitor progress.
Although there is an expressed commitment to improvement, this is not reflected in a high level of enthusiasm for
personal change on the part of staff. The communication of performance data to the school community tends to be
sporadic and/or is limited only to information that the school is required to report.
Low
There is no obvious plan for improving on current achievement levels. School leaders appear to be more focused on
day-to-day operational matters than on analysing and understanding school data, setting targets for whole-school
improvement or communicating an improvement agenda to the school community.
Minimal attention is paid to data and there is very limited communication of school results or of intentions for
improvement to parents, families and the wider school community.
Expectations for significant school improvement are low and staff tend to ‘explain’ current achievement levels in terms
of students’ socioeconomic backgrounds and/or geographical location. There is little evidence that the staff of the school
have a shared commitment to improving outcomes for every student, and this appears to be contributing to a culture
of underperformance. There is little evidence that the school is looking to external sources to identify evidence-based
strategies for improvement.

Analysis and

discussion of

data

A high priority is given to the school-wide analysis and discussion of
systematically collected data on student outcomes, including academic,
attendance and behavioural outcomes, and student wellbeing. Data analyses
consider overall school performance as well as the performances of students
from identified priority groups; evidence of improvement/regression over time;
performances in comparison with similar schools; and, in the case of data from
standardised tests, measures of growth across the years of school.
The assessment of this domain includes
consideration of the extent to which:
§§ the school has developed and is
implementing a plan for the systematic
collection of a range of student outcome
data including both test data and quality
classroom assessments;
§§ the school has identified and can
demonstrate that it is using tests and other
assessment tools to monitor school-wide
achievement and progress in areas of
national focus such as literacy, numeracy,
science, cross-curricular skills and
attributes, and levels of student resilience,
wellbeing, and social and emotional
development;
§§ the school uses data to identify starting
points for improvement and to monitor
progress over time;
§§ arrangements have been put in place for
the collection and analysis of school-wide
data and for summarising, displaying and
communicating data, including to parents
and the school community;
§§ all teaching staff have access to a broad
range of student achievement and wellbeing
data and use it to analyse, study and display
individual and cohort progress;
§§ professional development is provided
to build staff skills in analysing and
interpreting data;
§§ school leaders, as part of their
responsibilities, regularly work with their
teams to review achievement data relating
to their areas;
§§ time is set aside for in-depth staff
discussions of achievement data and of
strategies for the continuous improvement
of student outcomes;
§§ the school includes in its data gathering
input and feedback from students and
parents;
§§ the school systematically monitors other
performance data, including data relating
to student attendance, school disciplinary
absences and other behavioural data, school
completion, student destinations and
stakeholder perceptions and engagement;
§§ data are used in building a culture of
self-evaluation and reflection across the
school; and
§§ the school uses data to inform school-level
decisions, interventions and initiatives.