Teacher Quality and School Improvement: What is the Role of Research?

In an era of major economic, technological and social change, high quality schooling is universally recognised as a key mechanism for the production of a skilled and adaptable workforce. In a rapidly changing and complex world, student success depends upon the capacity of schools to deal with the specific educational needs of each learner. The ability to deliver ‘personalisation’ of this kind is particularly important where the student body is composed of so-called ‘low achievers’ and/or others who are vulnerable for one reason or another. The research evidence on improvement projects presented in this paper clearly demonstrates the links between teacher effectiveness and school improvement and the particular roles played by teacher education, school leadership and research knowledge. Teachers are the main actors in their classrooms and promote the learning processes engaged in therein; outcomes are always at their most pertinent for those pupils or students most at risk of low achievement. At the same time, teachers act collaboratively at school level and have the potential to greatly transform outcomes, by building bridges between classrooms and departments, and by engaging as (and with) leaders and researchers. The role played by research is to guarantee a horizon of expert knowledge and professional habits that might make a difference in the working contexts that the teachers inhabit. Against this background, and drawing on a wide body of internationally sourced evidence and specific examples of school reform in Ontario and Alberta, this paper advances three arguments: 1. That enhancing teacher quality is intrinsically linked to the quality of initial and continuing teacher education programs (OECD, 2012), and that such enhancement is vital if disadvantaged students are to succeed and disadvantaged schools are to progress; 2. That delivering school improvement depends on having the capacity to improve in place, creating an environment where teacher (and student) morale is high and where there are positive teacher incentives to engage in the change process; 3. That research - be this delivered or stimulated by external interventions or through on-site collaborative inquiry processes - is a vital component of a school’s capacity for self-improvement, and that such research is likely to play a vital role in ensuring that effective teaching and learning processes are in place. Initial and on-going teacher education, the determination of senior and middle leaders to create and sustain an organisational climate in which a culture of reflection, self-evaluation and professional development thrives, and a continued focus on the importance of research in informing, updating and reshaping practice are vital in securing sustainable improvements in school and teacher performance, improvements from which the most vulnerable students are likely to be the greatest beneficiaries.