Dr Tanya Vaughan, Associate Director, Evidence for Learning

Evidence-informed teacher practice

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land, the elders of the

Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation and pay respect to their elders past,

present and emerging.

Acknowledgement to Country

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• Evidence ecosystem

• How we work

• Building, sharing and using evidence

• Teaching & Learning Toolkit

• Feedback Implementation materials

• Roundtable activity

Outline of roundtable

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True or false?

The current state of the evidence base suggests that…

1. Drinking six to eight glasses of water per day improves student outcomes

2. Individuals learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning

style (e.g. auditory, visual, kinaesthetic)

3. Feedback on how students complete a task is more effective than general praise

4. The most effective forms of feedback ranked from most (1) to least (4) effective are:

a) 1) self, 2) task, 3) process and 4) self-regulation

b) 1) self-regulation, 2) process, 3) task and 4) self

c) 1) self, 2) self-regulation, 3) process and 4) task

d) 1) process, 2) self , 3) task and 4) self-regulation

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Evidence ecosystem

evidenceforlearning.org.au/evidence-informed-educators/evidence-ecosystem

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Barriers to engaging with the wider evidence chain?

Three common barriers to accessing and using research:

• Shortage of time to engage with research

• Overload of information to process

• Insufficient contextualised information for practice.

Source: Sharples, J (2013), Evidence for the Frontline: A report for the Alliance For useful Evidence.

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Wider Evidence Chain - external

Adapted from Sharples J Evidence Chain for the Frontline (2013). evidenceforlearning.org.au/evidence-informed-educators/evidence-ecosystem

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Evidence ecosystem

Impact

valuation

Cycle

Impact

Evaluation

Cycle

Evidence for Learning Impact Evaluation Cycle

Intervention

Program

Practice-based

evidence

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What is evidence-informed decision making?

Source: Vaughan, Deeble and Bush (2017). Evidence-informed decision making. Australian Educational Leader. 39(4) pp.32-35

Evidence informed decisions are about “integrating

professional expertise with the best external

evidence from research to improve the quality of

practice” (Sharples, 2013, p. 7). This is not about

“prescribing what goes on from a position of

unchallenged authority” (Sharples, 2013, p. 7).

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Hierarchy of evidence

Source: Deeble, M. and T. Vaughan (2018) An evidence broker for Australian schools. Occasional Paper 155, 1-20. Retrieved from:

http://www.evidenceforlearning.org.au/evidence-informed-educators/an-evidence-broker-for-australian-schools/

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Evidence for Learning

Share knowledge

Drive use

Build evidence

Trials Unit (RCT)

Philanthropy + Govt $ on

school programs

(1 underway, 2 completed)

Teaching & Learning Toolkit

Global evidence summaries and

practice guides from international

partners

Tailored

evidence

Toolkits (21)

Guidance

Reports on key

topics (1)

Supporting school

networks

(104 events to date)

We are an Evidence

Intermediary; we

play a brokering role

between research

and practice

Better school

decisions

informed by

evidence

We specialise in translating

evidence and then help

implementing it in real

world settings.

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Current progress in Learning Impact Fund

15http://evidenceforlearning.org.au/lif/our-projects/

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What was measured: Thinking Maths

evidenceforlearning.org.au/lif/our-projects/thinkingmaths/

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What E4L reports

evidenceforlearning.org.au/lif/our-projects/thinkingmaths/

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The Toolkit aims to:

• Support evidence-informed decision making in Australian schools;

• Provide guidance for educators on how to use their resources to improve

educational outcomes for their students;

• Act as an introduction to educational research.

The Teaching & Learning Toolkit

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The Teaching & Learning Toolkit

Average months’ worth of learning progress;

Cost to implement; and

The security of evidence.

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Accessing the Teaching & Learning Toolkit

evidenceforlearning.org.au

Tablet or phone Laptop

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The Teaching & Learning ToolkitLaptopTablet or phone

evidenceforlearning.org.au/the-toolkit/

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Average cost

The approximate cost of

implementing an approach.

Evidence security

Based on the quantity and

the methodological quality of

the available evidence, and

the reliability or consistency

of impact estimates.

Months’ impact

The additional months'

progress you can expect

students to make as a result

of an approach being used.

evidenceforlearning.org.au/the-toolkit/

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Approach summaryLaptop

Tablet or phone

evidenceforlearning.org.au/the-toolkit/feedback

26evidenceforlearning.org.au/the-toolkit/feedback

Approach references

27evidenceforlearning.org.au/the-toolkit/feedback

Approach references

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Feedback

evidenceforlearning.org.au/the-toolkit/feedback

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2

Effect size

Kingston &

Nash, 2011

Bangert-

Drowns et

al., 1991

Kluger &

DeNisi,

1996

Graham et

al., 2015

Fuchs &

Fuchs, 1986

Tenenbaum

& Goldring,

1989Lysakowski

& Walberg,

19820.63 Mean

weighted

effect size

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Approach summaryLaptop

Tablet or phone

evidenceforlearning.org.au/the-toolkit/feedback

30evidenceforlearning.org.au/Australasian-research-summaries/

Australasian Research Summary

Summary of Australian and New Zealand

Research

References

Databases searched

Search terms

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Practitioners thoughts on the Toolkit

I spend a great deal of time collecting,

reading and unpacking research around

teaching practice and approaches with

our teachers. The Toolkit is neat,

concise and easy to use. It will save me

countless hours in the way it lights the

path directly to the most relevant and

reliable research. Frances Roberts, Head of Curriculum,

Bounty Boulevard State School

This resource is outstanding and has

given me a rich understanding of the

impact of specific teaching and learning

and supported decision making of what

best fits a particular student/cohort. Trish Johnstone, Teacher, Kennington

Primary School

We were very much driven by the

research and the evidence-based

approach that was provided by the

Toolkit. All the hard work was done. We

had lots of faith that this would work if

we implemented in. I believe that it has. Kath Perrier, Assistant Principal, Lourdes Hill

College

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How are practitioners using the Toolkit?

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• What is feedback?

• What are some types of feedback you can give to

students or teachers to help improve their learning

or teaching?

• What are some challenges?

Think, Pair, Share

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A trusting relationship for feedback

In the end, it all comes down to the relationship between the teacher and

the student. To give effective feedback, the teacher needs to know the

student - to understand what feedback the student needs right now. And to

receive feedback in a meaningful way, the student needs to trust the

teacher—to believe that the teacher knows what he or she is talking about

and has the student's best interests at heart. Without this trust, the student

is unlikely to invest the time and effort needed to absorb and use the

feedback.

The only thing that matters is what the student does with the feedback.

If the feedback you're giving your students is producing more of what you

want, it's probably good feedback. But if your feedback is getting you less of

what you want, it probably needs to change.

Source: Wiliam, D. (2016). The secret of effective feedback. Educational Leadership, 73(7), 10-15.

ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr16/vol73/num07/The-Secret-of-Effective-Feedback.aspx .

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Models of feedback

aitsl.edu.au/feedbackaitsl.edu.au/feedback/

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The four types of feedback that teachers can give

The most useful feedback is at the process and self regulation level, although

sometimes it may be appropriate to give feedback at the other two levels.

educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/improving-secondary-science/

Level The question it helps students to answer Example Impact

Self

evaluation

How good am I? Well done, you’ve worked really hard

this week.

Ineffective

Task How can I get this done?

How can I make this better?

Next time you do a calculation like

this, try to set it out the way I showed

you.

Useful

Process How can I get better in tasks like

this?

What does it mean to be good in

this subject?

Your understanding of Ohm’s Law is

good, but be careful to use the

correct units.

Powerful

Self-

regulation

How can I manage myself to learn

better?

How can I motivate myself?

Are you happy that you understand

photosynthesis now? What could you

do to extend your understanding

further?

Powerful

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Guidance Reports

• Useful starting point into specific topics. They are

intended to support practitioners in putting

research evidence to work in their setting.

• Can be used to inform teachers classroom

practice and assist leaders with planning for

change that leads to school improvement.

• Three other guidance reports will be released

this year:

• Effective use of Teaching Assistants

• Parental engagement

• Metacognition and self-regulated learning.

evidenceforlearning.org.au/guidance-reports/guidance-report-overview

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Roundtable Activity

• Pick one or a few of the Toolkit approaches to help you address a specific

challenge within your school.

• From the Toolkit approach page and drawing from the Australasian Research

Summary, identify three teaching practices and three things to consider to

determine the impact of this approach (what will you measure?) (20 min).

For example targeting feedback to students at the self-regulation and

process level.

• Be ready to share your approach with the rest of the group.

evidenceforlearning.org.au/the-toolkit/approaches-by-organisation/acer/evidenceforlearning.org.au/the-toolkit/full-toolkit/

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Questions?

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Where to now?

• Join our Evidence Informed Educator Network

evidenceforlearning.org.au/evidence-informed-educators/join/

• Webinar series - evidenceforlearning.org.au/evidence-informed-

educators/webinars/

• Subscribe to our newsletter for updates evidenceforlearning.org.au/

• Follow us on Twitter @E4Ltweets and Facebook Evidence for Learning

• Comments and feedback please tvaughan@evidenceforlearning.org.au

Helping great practice become common practice in education

info@evidenceforlearning.org.au | evidenceforlearning.org.au | @E4Ltweets