Teaching and learning quality: responsibilities, evidence and follow-up

For teaching and learning quality, the central objective should not be obscured by the form of the administrative response.

Application to teaching and learning quality

Relevant evidence for teaching and learning quality will normally include observation and learner feedback, workforce plans and vacancy information, workload and allocation data, support and supervision records, and induction and professional learning participation. Evidence outside the relevant period or scope should be identified and given no more weight than its limitations permit.

Its relevance to corrective action should be assessed against the affected jurisdiction, learner population and form of provision. Across the defined scope, any consequential application should rest on evidence suited to the affected scope, not on the existence of an international development alone.

In examining teaching and learning quality: responsibilities, evidence and follow-up, for teaching and learning quality, the 2013/4 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality for All, places teaching quality and equitable learning at the centre of the post-2015 discussion. It links teacher preparation, deployment, support and working conditions with learner outcomes. Workforce indicators should consequently be interpreted alongside evidence of classroom practice, access to qualified teachers and differences between locations and learner groups.

Effectiveness is the demonstrated change in the condition the action was intended to address. For teaching and learning quality, completion of training, publication of guidance or installation of a system is an output and should not be reported as an outcome without further evidence.

Risk assessment of teaching and learning quality should give particular attention to weak evaluation of teaching support, deployment unrelated to learner need, and professional learning disconnected from practice. A provider should also consider vacancies or turnover affecting continuity and workload that limits preparation and feedback.

Controls for teaching and learning quality

The assurance record for the intended improvement should retain the date of the evidence, the source responsible for it, the scope examined and the version of any instrument or definition applied. In the context of teaching and learning quality, revision should not remove an earlier conclusion from the record where reliance has occurred.

• Prioritise support where learner need is greatest, identifying the accountable function and affected scope.
• Protect time for preparation and feedback.
• Maintain continuity arrangements, identifying the accountable function and affected scope.
• Forecast workforce need before it informs a consequential decision.
• Monitor workload and turnover.

Review of teaching and learning quality

For corrective action, the reviewer should set a baseline and success measure before intervention, define the review period, compare the result with the intended outcome and examine adverse or unequal effects.

For the intended improvement, improvement data should not be selected only because it is readily available. Across the defined scope, if uncertainty could change a consequential decision, additional evidence or a narrower conclusion is required.

The current development provides a basis for examining whether the matter is supported by responsible action and demonstrable result.