McKinsey and Company – A case study in social change through education: Fogarty EDvance

The Fogarty Foundation and McKinsey & Company have a strong partnership that supports the execution and impact of the Fogarty EDvance program. McKinsey & Co have recently published an in-depth case study analysing the program.

The case study shares the lessons we have learned on school transformation by working with schools throughout Western Australia since 2012. In particular, the case study clearly outlines the relationship between organisational health and school performance – with evidence to suggest a direct link. 

The article can be downloaded here and can also be accessed through the McKinsey & Co website.
 

Congratulations to Samantha Benn, Principal at Koorana Primary School (Cohort 4) for completing a Masters in Education at Edith Cowan University. Here’s what Samantha had to say about her involvement with the Fogarty EDvance program and attaining Advanced Standing at ECU:

“I was fortunate to participate in Cohort 4 of the Fogarty EDvance Program, initially as a Deputy Principal and more recently, as Principal at Koorana Primary School. The experience for me has been invaluable in gaining the skills and insights necessary to lead effectively and to drive improved educational outcomes for our students. The unrelenting focus on high impact approaches and evidence-based research at the core of the EDvance Program has been pivotal in our success at Koorana Primary School and on a personal level, has built my leadership skills to effectively take on the role of Principal.

One of the biggest challenges for school leaders is effectively managing the day-to-day operations of the school whilst maintaining enough time, energy and capacity to drive the school strategically; focusing on what matters most and ensuring the work towards sustained improvement is consistently taking place. For me, the tools, learning and expertise provided through the EDvance Program enable this to happen, recognising that every minute counts and driving detailed, challenging and intelligent approaches to whole school strategic planning.

In 2019, I took the plunge and went on to complete a further four units to complete the course. This enabled me to further strengthen my leadership skill set and explore global themes in education including pedagogy, assessment and equity as well as develop a grounding in educational research. This experience, combined with the EDvance program has certainly broadened my capacity as an educational leader and provided me with a valuable global view in this area. I am proud to say I have recently completed my Master in Education with high distinction and would like to thank the Fogarty EDvance team for this outstanding opportunity for professional and personal growth.”

For further information on attaining Advanced Standing at Edith Cowan University, please contact Georgie Wynne at georgie.wynne@fogartyedvance.au

Stacey will be joining the FED team as the Program Lead on 20 January 2020. Stacey comes with over 9 years’ experience in the business world as a HR executive, and over 3 years’ experience as a secondary school HASS teacher at Cecil Andrews College.

Stacey has previously completed the Teach for Australia Leadership Development Program and the Teach-Well Masterclass Series, and regularly practices Explicit Instruction in the classroom. She will bring a wealth of knowledge and practical experience to the team, as well as a secondary focus which will help Fogarty EDvance continue to deliver a high quality program to secondary schools in WA.

Welcome Stacey!

We wish to make a special mention of Tim Emery who passed away late last year with his family by his side. Tim helped to shape the Fogarty EDvance program into what it is today by:

• working tirelessly with Catholic primary schools in Cohorts 3, 4 and 5
• interviewing, collating and drafting case studies for the FED Case Studies booklet; and
• supporting the EDvance team in numerous capacities, including drafting exemplar strategic direction plans, reviewing key documentation and always providing excellent, thoughtful and detailed feedback on many elements of the program.

Tim worked in Catholic, Government, Independent primary and secondary schools over the course of his career. He served as principal in four Catholic school communities over 27 years from 1988 until mid-2015.

In 2011, Tim was the recipient of the John Laing Award for supporting the professional development of peer principals. In 2012, he received a Service Award from the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA) and in 2013 was awarded Life Membership to APPA.

Tim’s experience included: membership of the National Executive Council of the Australian Primary Principals Association, the Executive Committee of the WA Catholic Primary Principals Association, serving as President for several years, and as a member of the WA Catholic Education Commission.

Tim’s expertise, compassion and strong moral purpose made him such an outstanding mentor in the program. We wish to acknowledge Tim for everything he did for the schools, the FED program and the broader education system in Western Australia. He will be greatly missed.

Congratulations and welcome to all Cohort 7 schools who will commence the Fogarty EDvance School Improvement Program in February this year. School leadership teams from both primary and secondary, regional and metro and public and Catholic schools will come together in Perth for their first few workshops of the 3 year school improvement journey.

School	Principal	Location
Bluff Point Primary School	Celine Bellve	Bluff Point, Geraldton region
Busselton Senior High School	Dainon Coiuzic	Busselton
Cassia Primary School	Narelle Ward	South Hedland
Como Secondary College	Digby Mercer	Como
Darkan Primary School	Eloisa Goss	Darkan, Wheatbelt region
Endeavour Schools	Chris Burgess & Jayne Gorbould	Mandurah
Greenbushes Primary School	Kylie Loney	Greenbushes
Lakelands Primary School	Bradden Mitchell	Lakelands
Mullewa District High School	Nicki Patterson	Mullewa, Geraldton region
Newman Senior High School	Carolyn Cook	Newman
Nollamara Primary School	Bradley Trpchev	Nollamara
Sacred Heart Primary School	Steve Gibbs	Thornlie
Swan View Senior High School	George Sekulla	Swan View
Xavier Catholic School	Travis Bienkowski	Hilbert

Thank you to all of those in the FED Network for your assistance and support during the recruitment drive for Cohort 7. We are really excited to see where these school leaders take their schools in the next 3 years!

Please contact Georgie Wynne at georgie.wynne@fogartyedvance.au if you have any questions about Cohort 7.

In November 2019, Fogarty EDvance launched a new initiative for EDvance primary schools entering Year 2 of the School Improvement Program – known as the FED Instructional Adviser model (IA model).

The IA model partners EDvance school leaders together with other schools that have previously been part of the Fogarty EDvance program and have successfully transformed classroom instruction in their schools. The main aim of the IA model is to build the capacity of instructional leadership in schools throughout Western Australia.

There is growing support for school leaders collaborating with other school leaders that have navigated a similar challenge in changing teaching practice – see for example, Networks for School Improvement (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) and the Communities of Practice approach in Victoria (Bastow Institute). Other Fogarty EDvance initiatives, including school visits as part of Year 1 of the program and the FED Explicit Instruction Secondary Network, have also demonstrated the impact of intra-school collaboration on teaching practice.

The partnership between schools is supported by FED Mentors, the FED team and requires up to 4 structured meetings a year. The IA schools for 2020 include:

• Balga Primary School (Cohort 3)
• Challis Community Primary School (Cohort 2)
• Ellen Stirling Primary School (Cohort 4)
• Thornlie Primary School (Cohort 3)
• Two Rocks Primary School (Cohort 4)

Fogarty EDvance will continue to update the FED Network on the success and impact of the new initiative towards the end of 2020.

For any questions or comments regarding the IA model, please contact Katie O’Driscoll at katie.odriscoll@fogartyedvance.au.

PISA is the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment. PISA measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges. 

Recent results from PISA 2018 has seen Australia’s results fall since the early 2000s:

• While Australia’s reading performance in PISA 2018 was similar to that observed in 2015, when considering a longer period, mean performance in reading has been steadily declining, from initially high levels, since the country first participated in PISA in 2000.
• Performance in mathematics has been declining too since 2003, and in science, since 2012.
• In reading, more rapid declines were observed amongst the country’s lowest-achieving students. However, 13% of disadvantaged students in Australia were able to score in the top quarter of reading performance within Australia, indicating that disadvantage is not necessarily destiny.
• In mathematics and science, performance declined to a similar extent at the top and the bottom of the performance distribution, as well as on average.

Ballarat based education expert and author Greg Ashman recently interviewed by Steve Martin explained this is because the Australian education system is plagued by some bad ideas and less of a focus on research evidence. Listen to Greg Ashman here for the full explanation.

Pivot’s latest research paper, launched in late November 2019 – Learning from the Best: What makes an Excellent Teacher of Mathematics was a research project in collaboration with the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers. The project involved 986 maths teachers from all around Australia, including quite a few from WA. 

The research project found that:

• Excellent maths teachers can be early or advanced in their teaching careers, male or female, and possess a variety of qualifications, from a primary teaching degree with specialist post-graduate or bridging qualifications in maths, to PhDs. 
• Professional Learning enhances teachers’ confidence but doesn’t always correlate with higher student learning experiences. This suggests PL is not always relevant to teachers’ needs and priorities, and that teachers need more time to embed, refine and share their PL lessons.
• Strong connections with students are a critical foundation for effective teaching practices and positive student learning and maths engagement. This connection involves mutual respect, high expectations and knowing how to stretch and support each student.
• Mathematics expertise (deep mathematical content knowledge) and teaching expertise (deep pedagogical knowledge) are different skills and that excellent maths teaching requires both. 

These findings are already receiving strong interest from those in education and the media (including this SMH article and an interview on ABC News24). The media release and paper are available on Pivot’s website. 

The Fogarty Foundation and Fogarty EDvance congratulate Lisa Ledger of Baynton West Primary School on becoming WA Primary Principal of the Year for 2019.

Lisa was recently recognised in the WA Education Awards 2019. The award recognises the exciting and significant role of principals in primary schools. As mentors and motivators, they create partnerships and work with their communities. They secure the best possible learning outcomes for their young students.

Lisa and her leadership team at Baynton West Primary School are in their second year of the EDvance program as part of Cohort 5.

Further information on the awards and the winners can be found here.

Congratulations to all the finalists and to Lisa.

Annie Fogarty has been announced as the 2020 WA Australian of the Year for her exceptional work in education advocacy.

Annie founded the Fogarty Foundation in 2000 to help advance education, support young people to reach their full potential and build stronger communities.

Under Annie’s leadership, the Foundation identifies areas of need, supports partner organisations with philanthropic funds, connections and knowledge, and develops initiatives that deliver educational opportunities, inspire community leadership and enrich lives.

Mrs Fogarty is also involved with several boards and committees to help foster innovation and creativity in young people, and is committed to ensuring excellent education and learning for all.

Each year, the Australian of the Year awards celebrate the achievements and contributions of eminent Australians by profiling leading citizens who are role models for us all.

Also receiving the prestigious award are fellow West Australians Professor John Newnham AM, a world-leading authority in modern obstetrics; Yarlalu Thomas, a medical student and Precision Public Health Fellow in genetic and rare diseases; and science educator (and Fogarty EDfutures Catalyst) Suzy Urbaniak.

Annie will join award recipients from all over Australia for the national awards ceremony at the National Arboretum in Canberra on 25 January 2020 – the 60th anniversary of the awards.

Congratulations Annie!!