What are the attributes of

excellent teachers?

New Zealand Council for Educational Research Annual Conference

Teachers Make a Difference

What is the research evidence?

John Hattie

The University of Auckland

October 2002
Identifying that which matters

Percentage of Achievement Variance

Teachers
Students

Home
Peers
Schools Principal
 Distribution of Effect-sizes

400

350

300

250

Average (.4)
200

150

100

50

0
-1.3 -1 -0.8 -0.5 -0.3 -0.1 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.6 3

Effect-size
Influence Effect Size Source of Influence
Feedback 1.13 Teacher
Students prior cognitive ability 1.04 Student
Instructional quality 1.00 Teacher
Direct instruction .82 Teacher
Remediation/feedback .65 Teacher
Students disposition to learn .61 Student
Class environment .56 Teacher
Challenge of Goals .52 Teacher
Peer tutoring .50 Teacher
Mastery learning .50 Teacher
Parent involvement .46 Home
Homework .43 Teacher
Teacher Style .42 Teacher
Questioning .41 Teacher
Peer effects .38 Peers
Advance organisers .37 Teacher
Simulation & games .34 Teacher
Computer-assisted instruction .31 Teacher
Testing .30 Teacher
Instructional media .30 Teacher
Aims & policy of the school .24 School
Affective attributes of students .24 Student
Physical attributes of students .21 Student
Programmed instruction .18 Teacher
Ability grouping .18 School
Audio-visual aids .16 Teacher
Individualisation .14 Teacher
Finances/money .12 School
Behavioural objectives .12 Teacher
Team teaching .06 Teacher
Physical attributes (e.g., class size) -.05 School
Television -.12 Home
Retention -.15 School
Difference between Expert
and Experienced Teachers:
The Review
 Five major dimensions of
excellent teachers

Expert teachers can:

ƒ Identify essential representations of their

subject;
ƒ Guide learning through classroom
interactions;
ƒ Monitor learning and provide feedback;
ƒ Attend to affective attributes; and
ƒ Influence student outcomes.
A. Can identify essential representations
of their subject(s)
A1. Expert teachers have deeper
representations about teaching and
learning.
A2. Expert teachers adopt a problem-
solving stance to their work.
A3. Expert teachers can anticipate, plan,
and improvise as required by the
situation.
A4. Expert teachers are better decision-
makers and can identify what decisions
are important and which are less
important decisions.
B. Guiding learning through classroom
interactions
B5. Expert teachers are proficient at
creating an optimal classroom climate
for learning.
B6. Expert teachers have a
multidimensionally complex perception
of classroom situations.
B7. Expert teachers are more context-
dependent and have high situation
cognition.
C. Monitoring learning and provide
feedback
C8. Expert teachers are more adept at
monitoring student problems and
assessing their level of understanding
and progress, and they provide much
more relevant, useful feedback.
C9. Expert teachers are more adept at
developing and testing hypotheses
about learning difficulties or
instructional strategies.
C10. Expert teachers are more automatic.
D. Attending to affective attributes
D11. Expert teachers have high respect for
students.
D12. Expert teachers are passionate about
teaching and learning.
E. Influencing student outcomes.
E13. Expert teachers engage students in
learning and develop in their students
self-regulation, involvement in mastery
learning, enhanced self-efficacy, and
self-esteem as learners.
E14. Expert teachers provide appropriate
challenging tasks and goals for
students.
E15. Expert teachers have positive
influences on students’ achievement.
E16. Expert teachers enhance surface and
deep learning.
The Difference between
Expert and Experienced
Teachers: The Study
Vice Chancellor’s Lecture Series

Strategic Directions in New Zealand Education

30 October 2002
University of Auckland

9.00am - 4.00 pm
Strategic Directions for New Zealand Schools - A New Framework for Public Education in the
Next Decade Brian Caldwell - Dean of Education, University of Melbourne

Strategic Directions for Excellence in Teaching in NZ Schools

Dr Gary Galluzzo, Executive Vice-President of the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards, USA

7.00 - 9.00 pm
A proposal to identify New Zealand’s best teachers. What is an accomplished teacher and
how would we know if we saw one? Dr Gary Galluzzo

Contact: mt.millet@auckland.ac.nz
 The Teachers

Experienced teachers
Group 1 17 scored – 1.25 standard deviations from the cut score
Group 2 17 scored between .25 and .75 below the cut score

Expert teachers
Group 3 15 scored between .25 and .75 above the cut score
Group 4 16 scored + 1.25 standard deviations from the cut score
Dimensions of expertise in teaching and
measures for each dimension.

Lesson Transcript

Teacher Interview

Pre-Observation

Assignment Log

Writing Sample
Questionnaires
& Observation

Student Work
Interviews

Questions

Samples
Student

Student
Coding
Dimension
Use of Knowledge 9 9
Deep Representations 9 9
Problem Solving 9 9
Improvisation 9 9
Challenge of Objectives 9 9 9
Classroom Climate 9 9
Multidimensional Perception 9 9
Sensitivity to Context 9 9
Monitoring Learning and Providing 9 9
Feedback
Test Hypotheses 9
Respect for Students 9 9 9 9
Passion for Teaching and Learning 9
Motivation and Self-Efficacy 9
Outcomes of Lessons: Surface and 9 9 9 9
Deep
Outcomes of Lessons: Achievement 9 9
 Teacher Interviews
Before
ƒ What did you think about as you planned?
ƒ What factors influenced your planning?
ƒ If one of your students had difficultly understanding (specific content from lesson
observed), what are some suggestions you could generate for helping him/her to
make connections?
After
ƒ What were the most important decisions you made during today’s lessons?
ƒ What influenced your lesson planning?
ƒ What expectation do you have for [student’s name]
ƒ How does [student’s name] approach to learning vary from day to day?
ƒ Would you rate this lesson as successful? Why or why not?
ƒ How else could the lesson have gone?
ƒ What particular things do you want to accomplish as teacher?
 Lesson Transcripts

ƒ Analyze to determine teacher’s ability to use classroom data to define and address
learning.
ƒ Determine the degree with which questions were used to assess skill, obtain
control, or exercise management in the classroom.
ƒ Determine how teachers generate specific modifications to activities that address
the changing social and cognitive needs of students.
ƒ Coded independently based on surface and deep learning opportunities, teacher
questions and student responses to teacher, to each other, and to concepts.
 Classroom Observation
ƒ Code students’ off- and on-task behaviours.
ƒ Student engagement in lesson.
ƒ Class groupings.
ƒ Management vs. instructional time.
ƒ Nature of classroom activity (e.g., development of new content, review, practice,
enrichment, assessment, homework, transitional, lesson close, assigning tasks,
relationships)
ƒ Code feedback – amount and nature, and from whom to whom.
ƒ Determine teacher’s ability to identify events occurring simultaneously in the
classroom.
 Scenarios

It is five weeks into the school year, and you have just been assigned a new English
class, because the previous teacher left abruptly. The previous teacher left a grade
book with grades and attendance recorded, student information cards containing
demographic information on one side and teacher comments about the student on the
other, corrected tests and homework assignments, and the text book. Question:
Imagine that you have no more than 4-5 minutes before you meet the class for the
first time, what would you plan to do in the first lesson?
 Student Interviews

ƒ Tell me what you did during this lesson [Probe for examples[
ƒ What do you think your teacher wanted you to learn today?
ƒ What expectations do you believe the teacher has of you?
 Student Surveys

ƒ Tell me what you did during this lesson [Probe for examples]
ƒ What do you think your teacher wanted you to learn today?
ƒ What expectations do you believe the teacher has of you?
 Artifacts from the lessons

ƒ Samples of student work, coded independently based on surface and deep

learning/outcomes
ƒ Grade appropriate writing prompts developed by the research team
 SOLO (Structure of the
Learning Outcome) Taxonomy
Unistructural Multistructural Relational Extended Abstract
Surface or reproducing levels Deep or transforming levels
Depend on an intention that is extrinsic to the Reflect an intention to gain understanding by
real purpose of the task relating to the task in a way that is personally
These approaches can increase one’s meaningful, or that links up with existing
knowledge and involve memorization and knowledge.
reproducing as well as the application of facts Aim is to understand, see something in a different
and procedures in different contexts. way, and/or change as a person.

Capacity Student encodes the given information Student thinks about more
and may use a recall strategy things at once.
to provide an answer.

Relationship Student response Student response Student generalizes Student generalizes to

involves involves relationship in within a given or situations not experienced.
generalizing only in terms of a few limited experienced context.
terms of one aspect; and independent aspects.
thus, there is little or
no relationship
involved.

Consistency and Student often seizes
closure on immediate recall
information.
Structure Student uses one
relevant piece of
information to
approach the task.
Student finds and records Student works toward Student leaves room for
facts, can make decisions consistency; student is inconsistency across
based on facts; student able to see and create context (comfortable with
can use several pieces of coherent wholes, ambiguity).
information, but the integrating information Motivation is a deep-seated
pieces remain discreet. into moderately concern to achieve;
Student can compare and complex combinations. involves willingness to
combine information. invest time/energy;
inclination to get
satisfaction from obtaining
insights.
Student uses several Student makes use of Student demonstrates
relevant pieces of an underlying ability (or even need) to
information to approach conceptual structure to generalize concepts beyond
the task. approach the task. the original context.
Differences in Means between Experts
and Experienced Teachers
Percentage of Student Work
classified as Surface or Deep
Percentage of Student Work classified as Surface or Deep
80

70

60

50

40

30

20

Surface Deep Surface Deep

10

0
Experienced Experts
 D
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0.4

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0.6
0.8
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Guiding learning

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Le
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H
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Monitoring and

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En Pa
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Effect-sizes of differences between Expert and Experienced Teachers

tc ar
Affective attributes

nc ha ni
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fa in
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Outcomes
Influencing Student
Expert and Experienced Teachers
Effect-sizes of differences between

Effect-size
 Challenge
STUDENTS’ LEVELS OF CHALLENGE

Expert teachers set demanding goals rather than “do your best” goals on the basis of students’
present competencies. Experts not only set challenging goals, but also structure situations so that
students can reach them. While competent teachers may challenge some students some of the
time, experts find ways to challenge all students to “stretch” their understanding of ideas.
Students perceive assignments and activities as thought provoking as well as engaging.

Level 4: A teacher at Level 3: A teacher at Level 2: A teacher at Level 1: A teacher at

this level: this level: this level: this level:
• systematically and • often challenges • only occasionally • rarely challenges
consistently students to think challenges students to think
challenges but does so students to think, • promotes a
students to think inconsistently some more than perception of
• regularly promotes • promotes some others assignments as
varied and assignments as • promotes a time-consuming
appropriate interesting, or as perception of and tedious
assignments that interesting to some assignments as • promotes a “sink or
are demanding students necessary, if not swim” mentality
and engaging for • offers general interesting
everyone Support to • offers little support
• structures activities students who to students to help
and lessons to attempt to meet them meet
assure that tudents challenges challenges
can meet these
challenges
 Monitoring and Feedback
GATHERING AND USING INFORMATION

Expert teachers monitor students’ learning by examining their responses to instruction to assess their current levels of understanding.
Based on this monitoring, experts give students feedback: they offer them information about their understanding that guides them to
higher levels of comprehension. Feedback, in this dimension of expertise, is more than positive reinforcement. It is information about
understanding. While competent teachers interpret student responses, experts can detect when students are not understanding. They
can diagnose students’ interpretations and tailor the feedback they give to correct students’ misunderstandings or to help them create
new learning connections.

Level 4: A teacher at this Level 3: A teacher at this Level 2: A teacher at this Level 1: A teacher at this
level: level: level: level:

• consistently monitors • generally monitors • monitors students’ • monitors students’

students’ engagement and students’ engagement engagement with a focus engagement haphazardly
redirects disengagement with a focus on learning, on uniformity, maintains • often fails to recognize
with strategies that encouraging students to smooth-running students’
promote re-engagement get back on task classrooms with a primary misunderstanding
• regularly and accurately • interprets students’ emphasis on compliance • provides inconsistent
assesses students’ understanding through • interprets students’ responses Íto students
understanding through observation of their work misunderstandings only
careful observation, and listening to their when they become
detailed analysis of their comments obvious
work, varied questions, • generally reports • limits feedback to the
and attentive listening to correct/incorrect reporting of
their comments responses to students and correct/incorrect
• regularly offers feedback offers feedback that helps responses
that corrects students’ some students advance
misunderstandings and their learning
guides students to higher
levels of understanding
Expert Teachers make the
Difference

They challenge,
have deeper representations of classrooms,

have excellent monitoring,

and provide good feedback.