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.
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.
