Inservice teacher education in highly effective schools

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. The aim of this paper is to describe and provide evidence on strategies and best practices in regard to inservice teacher education in highly effective schools. METHOD. In order to identify and select these schools, hierarchical linear regression models have been used. In these models the outcome variables are the diagnostic evaluations scores and as covariates strictly contextual variables are entered. Thus, the effect of such variables is controlled and for each school its expected score is estimated. When the difference between the observed and the expected score is very high and positive it indicates high effectiveness. Once the schools have been selected, a qualitative analysis was performed using interviews with key informants in order to identify best practices. To ensure the internal validity by contrast, very ineffective schools were also studied. RESULTS. The training activity of the 32 very effective schools studied is characterized as an in-school activity, systematic and well organized; it is designed to medium and long term and it meets rigorous planning; it is inserted into improvement plans arising from a needs assessment and from an appropriate use of the external evaluations results. It is promoted and facilitated by the management teams and it has the active involvement and support of all the group of teachers. It usually takes place in the school and it is systematically and frequently evaluated. It has a practical approach and it is linked to the improvement needs. DISCUSSION. These results, once contrasted with the information from ineffective schools, suggest that these inservice teacher education practices are, togeteher with other issues, an explanatory factor of the excellent results achieved by these schools.