Working and Learning Together

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and acronyms
Executive Summary
	Raising the attractiveness of a career in schools
	Distributing teachers, school leaders and other school staff effectively
	Promoting powerful professional learning for school staff
Six policy approaches to support effective working environments in schools
	Teachers, school leaders and other school staff matter educationally and financially
	The importance of human resource policies
	Policy 1: Designing career structures with opportunities for professional growth
	Policy 2: Establishing salary scales that attract new entrants and reward growing expertise
	Policy 3: Reviewing the staff mix and working time arrangements in schools
	Policy 4: Ensuring an effective and equitable distribution of school staff
	Policy 5: Adopting a broad vision of initial preparation for teaching and school leadership
	Policy 6: Supporting continuing professional learning and collaboration
	References
Chapter 1.  Why focus on effective human resource policies for schools?
	1.1. Teachers, leaders and other school staff matter for student learning and well-being
	1.2. Human resource policies shape working and learning environments in schools
		1.2.1. Strengthening, recognising and preserving the impact of school staff on students
		1.2.2. Supporting collaborative learning, teaching and leadership in schools
	1.3. Human resource policies influence effectiveness and efficiency of spending
	1.4. Human resource policies need to be carefully designed and implemented
	1.5. How this report looks at human resource policies
		1.5.1. The evidence base
		1.5.2. The importance of context
		1.5.3. The structure of this report
	Notes
	References
		Annex 1.A. Towards an international perspective on the mix of staff in schools
	A range of staff with different roles and responsibilities work in and with schools supporting student learning and well-being
		Professional support staff working in and with schools
	Which factors influence the mix of staff and their task profiles in school systems?
		Annex 1.B. School staffing frameworks in OECD review countries (ISCED 2), 2018
	Austria
	Belgium (Flemish Community)
	Belgium (French Community)
	Chile
	Colombia
	Czech Republic
	Denmark
	Estonia
	Iceland
	Kazakhstan
	Lithuania
	Mexico
	Portugal
	Slovak Republic
	Slovenia
	Spain
	Sweden
	Turkey
	Uruguay
Chapter 2.  Raising the attractiveness of a career in schools
	2.1. Entry requirements for teachers and school leaders
		2.1.1. Setting high or low entry requirements for the teaching profession
		2.1.2. Differences in qualification requirements across levels and sectors
		2.1.3. Entry requirements and pathways into school leadership
	2.2. Career structures in schools
		2.2.1. The structure of teachers’ careers
			Vertical progression in the teaching career
				Articulating stages of vertical career progression
				Aligning teachers’ career stages with professional standards
				Criteria and process for career advancement
				Duration of appointments
			Horizontal diversification in the teaching career
		2.2.2. The structure of school leaders’ careers
			Recognition of school leaders’ professional status
			Opportunities for advancement within and beyond school leadership
		2.2.3. Implementing career structure reforms
	2.3. Compensation and benefits of school staff
		2.3.1. The level of teachers’ salaries
		2.3.2. Differentiation and progression of teachers’ salaries
			Education-based progression of teachers’ compensation
			Task-based differentiation in teachers’ compensation
			Performance-based differentiation in teachers’ compensation
				Measuring teacher performance
				Direct links between performance and compensation
				Group-based performance rewards
				Indirect links between performance and compensation
		2.3.3. Compensation and benefits of school leaders
		2.3.4. Compensation of professional support, administrative and maintenance staff in schools
		2.3.5. Implementing compensation reforms
			Teacher and school leader salaries can be subject to complex governance arrangements
			Ensuring stakeholder involvement and teachers’ buy-in
			Providing fair arrangements for reform transition periods
	2.4. Working conditions in schools
		2.4.1. Teachers’ working conditions, working time and teaching hours
			Recognition of teachers’ non-teaching tasks
			Scope for teaching load adjustments
			Accountability and presence at school
			Professional autonomy and self-governance
		2.4.2. School leaders’ working conditions, task profiles and time use
			School leaders’ task profile and autonomy
			School leaders’ use of time
		2.4.3. Administrative tasks and support
	2.5. Policy options
		2.5.1. Setting entry and qualification requirements that reflect professional responsibilities and respond to system needs
		2.5.2. Creating opportunities for vertical and horizontal advancement in the teaching career
		2.5.3. Establishing distinct career structures and salary scales for school leaders, underpinned by clear professional standards
		2.5.4. Involving teachers and school leaders in the design and introduction of career structures
		2.5.5. Ensuring that salaries are competitive for the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers and school leaders
			Ensuring that salaries are commensurate with teachers’ roles and responsibilities
			Recognising and encouraging high performance while balancing the risks of extrinsic reward structures
		2.5.6. Ensuring that teachers’ and school leaders’ working time reflects the diversity of their tasks
		2.5.7. Providing a good balance of autonomy and supports for school staff to collaborate
	Notes
	References
Chapter 3.  Distributing teachers, school leaders and other school staff effectively
	3.1. Inequities in the distribution of teachers and school leaders between schools
	3.2. Supply of teachers, school leaders and other school staff
		3.2.1. Forecasting the need for and supply of teachers
			Responsibilities
			Processes
		3.2.2. Strategies to address specific challenges related to teacher shortages
			Long-term strategies
			Short-term strategies
	3.3. Management and use of resources for school staffing
		3.3.1. Responsibilities for managing staff budgets and employment
			Which additional staff resources may be available to schools?
		3.3.2. Steering the use of resources for school staffing decisions
			The role of regulations for staffing levels and mix
			The role of funding mechanisms for staffing levels and mix
				Nature of funding allocation for school staff
				Basis for determining funding allocation
		3.3.3. Planning and managing schools’ staffing levels and mix in line with available resources and emerging needs
			Predictability and flexibility in funding allocations
			Adjustments of staffing levels to changing student enrolment
			Contract conditions and working time arrangements
			Matching staff resources and mix with school needs
	3.4. Staff selection into particular schools and positions
		3.4.1. Teachers
			Who is responsible for the selection of teachers?
			Which procedures and criteria are used for the selection of teachers?
		3.4.2. School leaders
			Who is responsible for the selection of school leaders?
			Which procedures and criteria are used for the selection of school leaders?
		3.4.3. Matching staff with schools and students
			Identifying effective teachers at the point of hiring and matching teachers with schools’ and students’ needs
			Safeguarding transparency and fairness in recruitment
			Filling teaching positions in time
		3.4.4. Towards an equitable distribution of teaching staff
			Designing recruitment criteria and processes
			Shaping staff preferences
	3.5. Staff allocation within schools
		3.5.1. Matching teachers and students within schools
			How are teachers assigned within schools?
			Classroom assignments as a political process that is influenced through internal and external pressures
			Grade reassignments, looping, specialisation and departmentalisation
		3.5.2. Handling staff absences within schools
			What is the impact of staff absences on schools and students, and how do schools ensure continued learning?
	3.6. Policy options
		3.6.1. Monitoring demand and supply of teachers, school leaders and other school staff to identify and address imbalances
		3.6.2. Managing resources for school staffing
			Adjusting staffing levels to changing needs
			Reviewing the mix of staff and their use of time in schools
		3.6.3. Matching staff with schools and students
			Collaborating for the effective recruitment of teachers and school leaders, and ensuring fairness and transparency in recruitment processes
		3.6.4. Working towards equity in the distribution of staff across schools
			Ensuring equitable and transparent resource allocations for school staffing
			Reviewing regulations and criteria for recruitment, allocation and transfers
			Providing incentives for teachers and school leaders to work in high-need areas
		3.6.5. Preparing school leaders for effective staff assignments within schools
	Notes
	References
Chapter 4.  Promoting powerful professional learning for school staff
	4.1. Initial teacher preparation
		4.1.1. Understanding initial teacher preparation as a complex system and as part of a continuum
		4.1.2. Linking initial teacher education to practice in schools
			Teachers often enter the profession having experienced minimal classroom-based learning opportunities
			Links between initial teacher education programmes and schools can be improved
			Teacher education programmes do often not yet sufficiently prepare teachers for the diverse backgrounds of their students
				Students with an immigrant or ethnic minority background
				Students from rural communities
				Students with special educational needs (SEN)
			Alternative pathways offer an accelerated route into teaching but the quality of preparation in these routes is uncertain
		4.1.3. Induction and mentoring
			Access to and participation in induction vary widely
	4.2. Teachers’ continuing professional learning
		4.2.1. Understanding professional learning as a coherent process
		4.2.2. Continuing learning opportunities
			Access and motivation
			Provision, content and quality assurance
		4.2.3. Team learning and collaboration
		4.2.4. Internal and external knowledge development
		4.2.5. Evaluation and appraisal
			Staff evaluation systems often fail to resolve tensions between multiple purposes
			The successful implementation of staff evaluation systems has proved a barrier
				Time and capacity constraints
				Measurement constraints
				Cultural, normative and political constraints
	4.3. Developing leadership for inquiry, dialogue and learning
		4.3.1. School principals are faced with a wide variety of professional responsibilities, but there are shortcomings in preparing them for their role
		4.3.2. More knowledge about preparation and support for middle leadership roles and teacher leaders is required
		4.3.3. School principals and other leaders often lack sufficient ongoing support and relevant development opportunities throughout their career
	4.4. Policy options
		4.4.1. Initial preparation
			Designing preparation requirements to ensure candidates have extensive opportunities for situated learning in primary and/or secondary school settings
			Investing in teacher and school leader residency programmes
			Mandating or strongly incentivising induction programmes for new or new-to-school teachers and leaders
			Creating formalised roles for early career coaches with rigorous selection processes and supporting curricula geared to adult learners
		4.4.2. Continuing professional learning
			Creating supports for schools to develop coherent learning goals and designing embedded learning opportunities directed towards these goals
			Supporting schools to contextualise adult learning goals to the specific community they serve
			Identifying opportunities to create and support school-based learning teams
			Investing in high-quality, individualised coaching for teachers and school leaders
			Investing in digital progress monitoring tools to permit schools to capture teaching and learning strategies that work, and those that do not
		4.4.3. Evaluation and appraisal
			Investing in resources to train evaluators and distributing responsibilities
			Using the appraisal process to reflect meaningful differences in skill and effectiveness of teachers and school leaders
			Using multiple measures, including observations, classroom or school processes, student outcomes and surveys, to conduct holistic appraisal
			Linking results of the appraisal process to professional development with stakes focussed on developmental plans
	Notes
	References
		Annex A. List of tables available on line
		Annex B. Glossary
Annex A. List of tables available on line
Annex B. Glossary
Annex C. How the School Resources Review was conducted