Leading improvement through collaboration and teamwork is central to the work of middle leaders. Middle leaders are often key to implementing the school's instructional improvement agenda, using their understanding of research evidence about improvement combined with their deep knowledge of school data. They work collaboratively with staff to implement actions to improve teaching and learning and cultivate a sense of collective efficacy.
Middle leaders have a strong focus on continuous professional learning for themselves and their staff, with a focus on supporting classroom implementation of evidence-based practice. They provide support and challenge through provision of constructive feedback while collaborating with staff to improve practice and amplify impact which may occur through a model of mentoring, coaching and professional inquiry.
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Focus areas
5a: Professional learning
Increasing teachers' capacity to improve student progress and achievement in all targeted areas of their development through a culture of continuous professional learning.
Table: A continuum of increasing leadership capabilities
- Source and make available professional learning for self and teachers based on evidence of student and teacher needs, drawing on external relevant expertise where required and evidence-based approaches and strategies.
- Align staff professional learning with school and other required improvement priorities.
- Model and build staff belief that all students can make excellent learning progress and encourage staff to have high expectations for student learning, behaviour and wellbeing.
- Provide regular feedback to staff on their teaching practice and develop processes to collaboratively evaluate the impact of practice on student learning
| - Embed a culture of continuous professional learning where teachers collaborate to apply evidence-based teaching strategies, and new professional knowledge and skills to their teaching practice. Ensure teachers then use evidence of student learning to evaluate the impact of their strategies and make further refinements to their teaching practice.
- Establish processes with other leaders to identify teachers with demonstrated, relevant expertise, and enable these teacher-experts to develop the capabilities of identified teachers through feedback and challenge
| - Lead the establishment of data-informed processes to evaluate the impacts of professional learning on change in participating teachers' practice and improvements in their students' learning progress and achievement in all targeted areas of their development
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5b: Evidence-informed practice
Embedding the use of data and research evidence to support continuous improvement.
Table: A continuum of increasing leadership capabilities
- Support staff to access, collect and interpret a range of student data and research evidence to inform teaching decisions and evaluate learning progress and achievement, and wellbeing for individual students and student cohorts
| - Establish regular opportunities for staff to use a range of point-in-time and longitudinal evidence and other relevant student data to collaboratively engage in deep discussions about student learning and wellbeing. Use this student evidence base to engage in deep discussion to inform planning for continuous improvement
| - Lead the establishment of practices and processes which support the consistent use of student data and research evidence to challenge assumptions and inform decisions and actions at a team and individual level about what and how to teach
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5c: Collaborative practice
Leveraging collaborative practice to monitor and improve the impact of teaching on student learning and wellbeing.
Table: A continuum of increasing leadership capabilities
- Establish an understanding of the impact of collaborative practice in improving student progress and achievement.
- Provide opportunities for teachers to engage in regular collaboration including through joint planning, development of assessment tools and moderation of assessment tasks
| - Establish structures and processes to enable regular, high-trust and high-challenge collaboration between teachers. Use these processes to support continuous improvement in teaching practice through collaborative professional inquiry into their teaching practice, based on implementation and impact of evidence-based strategies, and application of relevant knowledge, on student learning progress.
- Create opportunities to discuss and resolve barriers to effective collaboration.
- Build a shared understanding and commitment to working together to improve the impact of teaching on student learning and wellbeing
| - Lead the development of systems to evaluate both the implementation and impact of collaborative practice on improving student learning progress and achievement and wellbeing.
- Establish collaborative professional inquiry in which evidence of impact is shared within and across teams and schools to scale up success.
- Develop the capacity of staff to initiate discussion and resolution of barriers to effective collaboration
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Source: Professional Standards for Middle Leaders © 2024 Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). Used with permission.