Title: The High Reliability Schools Project: Findings and Implications
1The High Reliability Schools ProjectFindings
and Implications
- Thistle Hotel, Westminster, London
- 24 September 2008
- Professor David Reynolds
- University of Plymouth
- Professor Gene Schaffer
- University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA
- Professor Sam Stringfield
- University of Louisville, USA
- Email dreynolds1_at_plymouth.ac.uk
2Acknowledgements
- The authors wish to thank CfBT for their
long-term support of the High Reliability Schools
project. - We also want to thank the three Local
Authorities, over 30 schools, their heads and
staffs for all of their efforts in the HRS
project. We were all co-constructors of this
project. Further, we thank and admire our local
educator colleagues for their ongoing work to
improve the quality of schooling provided to
their students.
3Where we started
- Widespread incredulity
- HRS has considerably influenced the educational
zeitgeist
4Social Context
- Modern society is highly interconnected, putting
a premium on reliability - A trailing edge of unqualified labour has costs
for the wider society - A need for overall higher skill levels because of
global competition
5Educational Context
- The existence of valid bodies of knowledge
- Imperfect application of that knowledge low
reliability - Possibility of increased unreliability of system
- Problems with existing school improvement models
6Educational Context (2)
- Very modest, incremental changes in outcomes in
most societies - Evidence from certain cultures about highly
reliable, failure free schools
7Some background on High Reliability
Organizations -- Karlene Roberts, 2006
- 1984 A group at the University of California
began studying organizations that were creating
massive damage. (ex. In 1984 an aircraft
carrier on 6 month tour lost an average of 6
planes pilots. Todays average is 0.) - The consequences of low reliability are VERY
HIGH. HROs are less costly than not. - Found a range of reliability-enhancing processes,
One size does not fit all. But general HRO
principles apply.
8When organizations fail to adopt HRO processes,
they arent thinking about the cost of failures.
-- Karlene Roberts (2006)
- Believe they wont bear the cost of failure.
- Overburdened with other activities.
- Fail to think that training is important.
- Implementation is THE big deal.
920 years of research on High Reliability
Organizations (HROs)
- Evolve when a failure to achieve is seen as
disastrous by the society and the employees - Have a finite number of clear goals
- Are alert to lapses
- Are data rich/information rich
10HROs (cont.)
- Possess Standard Operating Procedures
- Find their flaws and honour Flaw Finders
- Recruit extensively
- Train and re-train staff continuously
- Monitor performance mutually
11High Reliability Organizations (cont.)
- Keep equipment in good working order
- Are hierarchical, but go flat when peak
performance is required from all - Are visibly valued by their governing body.
- Short term efficiency takes a back seat to high
reliability
12Reviewing the challenge in much of our work
- Education is a very large, complex system.
- Inevitably less than fully adequate base of
educational science/technology to guide us
through day-to-day specifics. - In such an environment, one would hypothesize
that thousands of well intended school
improvement efforts focused on specific
interventions would fail, not because ideas were
invalid but because implementations were
unreliable.
13HRO Contributions to Schools
- The Research Base
- Teacher Effectiveness
- School Effectiveness
- System-wide Reforms
- Data Use
14Teacher Effectiveness
- Clarity of Instruction
- Pace of Instruction
- High Expectations for Students
- Equal Opportunity to Learn
- Feedback
- Preventative Management
- Observation for Improvement of Instruction
15Effective Schools
- Clear School Mission
- High Expectations for Success
- Instructional Leadership
- Frequent Monitoring of Student Progress
- Opportunity to Learn and Student Time on Task
- Safe and Orderly Environment.
- Home - School Relations
16System-wide Reforms
- Supportive of School Reforms
- Accepting of School-based Decisions
- Work to Integrate Reforms into the System or
Other Schools - Encourage Interchange Among Schools
- Supply Timely Data to Schools
17DATA USE
- Data Use Data (The Four Rs)
- Relevance of data to core goals
- Rich triangulation to key dimensions
- Real time availability to all key personnel
- Regular cross-checking by internal and external
groups - Data Rich and Information Poor
- Information Rich and Action Poor
- Actionable Strategies
18HRO Contributions to the Schools
- The Co-Constructed Process
- Determining the Goals
- Creating the Staff Development
- Best Practice based on Outcomes
- Cross-site Efforts
19Determining the Goals
The goals were long-turn and directly related to
student learning. The mantra of raising
performance gave the schools a central goal that
was directly linked to the performance of the
students. Attendance was considered central to
the process as well. Schools contributed one or
two goals of importance to them and their
students beyond the two goals required by the HRO
process.
20Creating Staff Development
- The HRO team continued to come back and discuss
school effectiveness and high reliability
throughout the training sessions. - The researchers addressed the concerns of the
schools and, with the schools, developed examples
of reliability that were well understood by
faculties in the schools.
21Best Practice Based on Outcomes
- Members of faculty suggested and presented
effective ideas from their own schools based on
academic success of students. - Commitment was made to regularly review
organization and processes to create widely
understood, time-saving Standard Operating
Procedures - Schools identified through data and intervened in
a school-wide fashion with their pupils who
appeared to be at risk of failure.
22Cross-site Efforts
- The researchers presented school-level series of
workshops on the theoretical underpinnings of
High Reliability and both the research bases on
school effectiveness and teacher effectiveness. - Armed with practical and research-based
knowledge, teachers would engage in both
within-and between school classroom observations
and no-fault feedback to peers.
23Day-to-Day Co-construction
- The participating secondary schools were charged
with taking abstract HRO principles and working
to turn them into day-to-day actions. - The school became knowledge generators, peer
observation specialists, staff trainers in
specific topics and contexts.
24Research Design Hypothesis
- A school reform that focuses not just on the
validity of the reforms claims, but also on the
reliability of the design as implemented, would
get more promising results over several years.
25High Reliability Schools Project (HRS) Methods
- Sample Schools in 3 LEAs in Great Britain
- Intervention co-constructed, based on Teacher
Effects School Effects HRO HRS. - Timeframe 3 year intervention (late 96 early
2000), then 7-year follow-up (2007) - Main Quantitative Outcome GCSEs on English and
Welsh HRS schools, all years, using English and
Welsh national means as comparison
groups/controls. - Note This presentation focuses on the Welsh LA.
26The General Certificate of Secondary Education
tests (GCSEs)
- Taken by virtually all British children at the
end of Secondary education (age 15-16) - Formerly the O (or Ordinary) level tests.
- Students may take exams in a wide range of areas
English literature, chemistry, several
mathematics examinations, biology, information
technology, etc. - Scores on each test range from A to H.
- The historicand currentnational standard for
students Obtaining a score of A to C on 5 or
more separate tests. - The national standard for Schools and Districts
The percentage of students obtaining 5 A-C.
27Sites for 3 yr. Intervention and Follow-up
- Began in three British LEAs in relatively rapid
succession, beginning with the first English ½
district in the winter of 1996. - The 2nd English Cohort began the next spring and
was followed shortly by a 3rd, Welsh, full LEA.
- The Welsh cohort received the most developed
implementation, with all secondary schools in a
district, (11) plus one neighboring school.
28Methods (qualitative)
- Detailed case studies (100 pages) of each school
during implementation phase. - Follow-up case studies on selected sites during
2006 and 2007. - Interviews with current and former heads,
long-term administrators and teachers. - Constant comparative analyses.
29The Welsh District
- Historically a mining and iron production
community. - The mines are now closed and the steel mills
employ 20 the workers of 25 years ago. - Deprivation Index stable at 19th of 22 Welsh
counties - 11 Secondary Schools.
30HRS LA GCSE gains v. Wales ( students with 5
GCSEs)
31LA Selected Schools gains ( students with
5 GCSEs)
32Welsh Governments 2005 Value Added Results
- In 2005, the Welsh Government computation of
value added by district (unweighted) for all 22
Welsh districts (LEAs)Welsh district V.A. range
-8.9 to 6.6 - HRS district (11 secondaries) 6.6, 1 value
added LEA in Wales. -
33Northern England GCSE gains 4 original
schools, LA, England
34Conclusions
- A focus on heightening organizational reliability
produced large, long-term measured outcome gains
in secondary schools.. - Long-term success came where schools worked
together with district support. The authors, the
teachers, the heads and the districts used T.E.,
S.E., and Systemic Effects research to
co-construct the reform.
35Conclusions, (cont.)
- In follow up interviews (Spring 2006 2007),
many teachers and heads related original and
continuing gains to HRS intervention. - HRS schools were hiring new Heads from successful
HRS schools (further endorsing the model and
addressing the transition issues) - Several heads and teachers reported wanting an
HRS-2.
36Conclusions, (cont.)
- Success in obtaining longitudinal (11 year)
impacts (GCSEs) indicates a learning to learn to
improve, this is institutionalization plus.
the biggest challenge of all is to make it
durable and sustainable.
------Hargreaves Fink, 2006, p. 2
37HRS Implications for School Effectiveness
Research
- Dramatic secondary school improvement is possible
- The value of using reliability at a conceptual
and measurement levels - The importance of classroom teachers
38HRS Implications for School Improvement
- The importance of audacious, measurable, and
measured, goals. - Focusing on what may be possible beyond the
current range of schools - The importance of little, practical things.
39HRS Implications for British Educational Policies
- Provide research knowledge and the means to
invent better. - Avoid core goal multiplicity.
- Forget the what of educational
processesspecify the systems that produce the
what.
40How to contact us
- david.reynolds1_at_plymouth.ac.uk
- schaffer_at_umbc.edu
- sam.stringfield_at_louisville.edu