Investigating Educational Change: The Aga Khan University Institute For Educational Development Teacher Education For School Improvement Model

This article continues the analyses of the impact of an innovative teacher education programme aimed at school improvement in a developing country context (Khamis and Sammons 2004). Building on recent publications that have analysed outcomes of the teacher education programme and how the cadre of teacher educators has worked to initiate improvement in schools in Pakistan, the article considers the ‘Teacher Education for School Improvement Model’ based on findings from nine co-operating school case studies. Lessons are presented to further inform the development of teacher education programmes and the measurement of effectiveness of such programmes in developing country contexts. The article further considers relevant international research on educational change and reform to draw further lessons. These lessons include the need to pay greater attention to the cultural contexts and milieu in Pakistan, and the need to create models of school improvement and teacher education that originate within developing country contexts rather than the adaptation of European/North American models that are based on sources of data in those contexts. The article concludes by arguing for the need to develop better theoretical understandings from the current innovations underway and placing the onus on intervening agencies to better inform educational change strategies promoted in developing country contexts

Development of a cadre of teacher educators: some lessons from Pakistan

This article is based on an educational innovation, the creation of a cadre of teacher educators, in the developing world. Professional Development Teachers were trained in an in-service two-year teacher education programme leading to a Masters of Education Degree. The Professional Development Teachers were expected to play three roles in their home schools upon completion of the Degree Programme: (a) Exemplary Teachers; (b) Teacher Educators; and (c) Change Agents within their home schools to effect improvement

The differential improvement of schools causing concern in England

Inspection and performance data show that the least effective schools in England are more likely to sustain the improvement they make after inspection than those that are relatively more effective. This paper discusses the relative improvement of two categories of schools causing concern and illuminates some factors associated with their improvement, focusing on the greater progress of the least effective group. The estimate that approximately one million pupils have benefited from substantial improvement of most of the weakest schools reflects the government's policy of identifying the schools where 'special measures' are needed and requiring action to be taken to improve the

Effective Pre-school and Primary Education 3-11 Project (EPPE 3-11): Final Report from the Primary Phase: Pre-school, School and Family Influences on children's development during Key Stage 2 (7-11)

The Effective Pre-school and Primary Education 3-11 project (EPPE 3-11) has studied pre-school and primary school experiences for a national sample of approximately 2,800 children in England between the ages of 3 and 11 years. This Research Brief summarises the key findings up to the end of primary school. It focuses on the relationships between child, family, home, pre-school and primary school characteristics and pupils\u27 subsequent cognitive (Reading/English and Mathematics) and social/behavioural outcomes (\u27Self-regulation\u27, \u27Pro-social\u27 behaviour, \u27Hyperacti vity\u27 and \u27Anti-social\u27 behaviour) at ages 10 and 11 in Years 5 and 6 of primary school. It also reports on associations between pupils\u27 outcomes and \u27other\u27 factors such as pupils\u27 self-perceptions and their views of primary school at age 10, pupil mobility, out of school hours learning and season of birth. In addition, it explores the school/classroom practices and processes associated with pupil outcomes for a sub-group of pupils in 125 Year 5 classes. These findings update and extend earlier analyses of pupils\u27 outcomes in pre-school and Key Stage 1 (see Sylva et al., 2004) and form the end point of the primary school phase of the research