Advanced
Skills
Teachers
DORSET HANDBOOK 2006
Contents :
Introduction page 3
Information for ASTs and Headteachers of ASTs page 4
Information for all Headteachers and LEA Inspectors page 8
AST Questions - Extracts from the TeacherNet Website page 10
Appendices : page 15
Appendix 1 – The AST Standards, original and draft revised
Appendix 2 – Sample Job Description
Appendix 3 – AST Outreach Request Form
Appendix 4 – School/Inspector Evaluation Form
Appendix 5 – AST Project Report Form
Contact information, Steering Group, Assessors, Websites page 25
ADVANCED SKILLS TEACHERS : DORSET HANDBOOK 2005
“The AST’s role is to provide pedagogic leadership within their own and other schools. ASTs play a key part in raising teaching and learning standards through the quality of their own teaching and by supporting the professional development of their colleagues.” (DfEE 1998)
Introduction
The LEA strategy for working with Advanced Skills Teachers is a significant part of the Dorset school improvement strategy overall. However, ASTs will contribute in particular to the dissemination of effective practice, the support of schools causing concern and the development of collaboration between schools.
Dorset LEA recognises that exemplary practice is demonstrated across our schools by many teachers who are not ASTs.
The DfES states that there are several key elements of the AST role :
§ Working with other teachers on classroom and teaching methods/providing model lessons;
§ Disseminating best practice based on educational research;
§ Producing high quality teaching materials;
§ Advising on professional development;
§ Helping teachers experiencing difficulties;
§ Mentoring newly qualified teachers;
§ Initial teacher training;
§ Supporting individual school priorities;
§ Supporting LEA policies and practices.
The DfES states that the AST role benefits :
§ Their own school by drawing on their own experience more widely;
§ Other schools through the contribution that the AST is able to make;
§ The LEA by sharing good practice across schools;
§ The AST in terms of broader experience and new challenge;
§ The profession by providing a new career option;
§ Pupils and students through the AST’s special contribution to raising teaching and learning standards.
Management of the AST Programme
The management and organisation of the AST programme will be provided by a Steering Group made up of headteachers, practising ASTs and LEA personnel. The Steering Group’s role will be to provide guidance in areas such as recruitment, monitoring/evaluation of ASTs’ work and Continuing Professional Development.
INFORMATION FOR ASTs AND
HEADTEACHERS OF ASTs
Identification, Assessment and Appointment of ASTs
Identification
§ The AST Steering Group identifies areas of need.
§ Schools are asked to nominate suitable candidates.
§ Members of the Steering Group/LEA carry out short-listing.
§ LEA inspectors visit all short-listed candidates, to observe teaching and discuss the AST role within the school and LEA.
§ Successful candidates apply for external assessment.
Guidance on Assessment and Appointment of ASTs
i. The prospective AST completes the application for assessment and sends it to the LEA AST Co-ordinator for signature and onward transmission to Westminster Education Consultants, the external assessors. They will make the arrangements for the assessment directly with the school.
ii. To help the prospective AST to prepare for assessment, we can arrange an AST mentor to advise on the preparation of the AST portfolio and on the assessment procedure. If required an LEA inspector will normally be available, usually by telephone, to talk to the External Assessor in support of the AST’s application. Mollie Webb and the LEA inspector must be advised of the assessment date in time to arrange this. Details of the assessment process are included on page 4.
iii. The prospective AST’s school should do all it can to help the applicant produce an adequate portfolio and to ensure the smooth running of the assessment day. Everyone involved in the assessment should be briefed on the process and the key areas in which they will be asked to provide evidence.
iv. If the candidate is assessed as “fully met”, the headteacher and governing body will create an AST post and send the completed Form AST2 to the assessors, Westminster Education Consultants. A copy of AST2 should also be sent to the LEA’s AST administrator, Mollie Webb.
(Please note that LEA funding for these posts will finish on 31 March 2008. The starting point on the AST pay spine should be agreed by the headteacher and governing body with the AST and should provide an initial salary increase of approximately £5,000 per annum – see page 5.)
v. The school should, at the same time, pass written instructions to DCC Human Resources – Education Section with a request to implement an AST contract, and enclosing a copy of Form AST2, together with LEA forms AOS1 and AOS1A, to support pay enhancement. Again, the school may wish to make it clear that the AST work is for a fixed term, commencing on the date of assessment and finishing on 31 March 2008.
vi. Receipt of the appropriate documentation will allow the LEA to :
§ amend the payroll personnel system;
§ inform the payroll section;
§ issue an AST contract;
§ inform the Finance section;
§ add the successful candidate to the AST database.
vii. The job description will be the responsibility of the school’s governing body. A sample job description is provided at Appendix 2. The post will include a minimum commitment of 20 days’ outreach time to support the LEA (12 days for those appointed before 2004). The details of the LEA programme of AST work will be provided and managed by the appropriate inspector in A&I.
viii. Any queries should be passed to Mollie Webb (Administrator) or Angela Easton (LEA AST Co-ordinator) on 01305-224557.
AST External Assessment
A typical assessment day is as follows:
1. The AST External Assessor will arrive at, or just before, the start of the school day. S/he will meet the candidate and the headteacher, explain the procedures for the day and answer any questions.
2. The AST Assessor will go to their base room for the day to study the portfolio of evidence, noting key points and identifying if any evidence is missing. S/he may ask if further evidence can be produced.
3. The programme of observations and discussions will begin (in any order) :
§ Observation of two lessons : for Middle and Secondary schools these will be lessons in different key stages – for Primary schools they will be either a numeracy or literacy lesson and one other lesson.
§ Meeting with a group of 4-8 pupils who know the candidate well (15 minutes).
§ Meeting with a small group of parents (15 minutes).
§ Meeting with other professionals (department members, NQTs, ITT candidates, advisers, colleagues from other schools) who can provide evidence to support the application.
§ Interview with the headteacher (30 minutes).
§ Interview with the candidate (45 minutes).
4. The AST Assessor will take time to reflect on the evidence and come to a judgement.
5. The AST Assessor will report the judgement and give feedback to the candidate and headteacher.
The AST Assessor is required to submit her/his report to Westminster Education Consultants within five working days. Following quality assurance checks, Westminster Education Consultants will confirm the judgement to the school and AST.
What happens if the application is unsuccessful ?
If the AST Assessor’s judgement is that the criteria are “Not Fully Met” this will indicate that there is insufficient evidence of the standards in one or more areas. These will be indicated in the feedback and in the report. On receipt of the report, the school and AST should consider whether or not to re-apply. The LEA should be involved in making this decision. If re-application is to be made, a programme of support should be developed to ensure that the necessary evidence will be available for the second assessment.
AST salaries
The pay range and starting point are determined by the governing body of the school in which the AST is employed and, in doing so, governing bodies are advised to take into account :
§ The nature of the work to be undertaken, including work with teachers from other schools;
§ The scale of the challenges to be tackled;
§ The professional competencies required of the postholder;
§ The status of the grade as an alternative to a leadership group post for the best teachers who wish to stay in the classroom;
§ The need for an appropriately substantial pay increase in relation to the appointee’s previous post;
§ The need for an appropriate differential between the pay of an AST and her/his headteacher; and
§ The salary of any deputy head or member of the leadership group involved in the management of an AST.
Please note :
ASTs cannot be a member of the leadership group.
ASTs are not eligible for management, Teaching & Learning Responsibility
or recruitment or retention allowances.
Induction of new ASTs
New ASTs will be provided with an induction programme, including
§ A meeting with the LEA AST Co-ordinator to discuss the role to be taken up, aspirations and professional development needs. This meeting will usually be with the AST’s line manager in school.
§ Guidance through the AST handbook.
§ An AST mentor, drawn from the pool of existing ASTs.
Continuing Professional Development
The LEA has a responsibility to provide and co-ordinate CPD for ASTs and does so in a number of ways. The programme will include generic training in the form of termly network meetings and an annual conference (Dorset or South West Region), and specialist training relating to the work programmes in which the AST is involved (attendance at courses, regional/national conferences, etc).
AST collaborative projects
A national pilot reported on the effectiveness of a number of ASTs working together in the same school/on the same project. There were benefits to the ASTs in providing mutual support (sometimes in difficult circumstances) and to the quality of the work. Dorset LEA is encouraging this approach and provides opportunities for ASTs to learn from each other in this way.
Monitoring ASTs’ work
The AST’s school retains the responsibility for monitoring her/his AST work, especially work undertaken in the school and within the pyramid. It is recommended that the school uses an agreed format and process for undertaking this monitoring.
The LEA has a responsibility for monitoring ASTs’ Outreach work. This will be achieved through the management of ASTs’ LEA Outreach time by LEA inspectors, and should assure the quality of the work undertaken within the LEA school improvement programme and also support the schools’ Performance Management of ASTs. The AST will be provided with feedback from any monitoring activity that takes place and, unless the monitoring has arisen from a personal request made by the AST, the AST’s headteacher will also receive this feedback.
Performance Management
Schools are responsible for the year-on-year assessment of ASTs, within the school’s current Performance Management (PM) system. The PM arrangements should ensure that the AST operates at the expected level and should be used for any movement up the AST pay spine. The PM cycle should normally be in line with that of other teachers and take place over one year.
PM objectives should take into account Outreach and Inreach activities, the AST’s classroom teaching and any additional work relating to AST professional duties in their own school.
INFORMATION FOR ALL HEADTEACHERS
AND LEA INSPECTORS
Outreach : An overview of the process
The LEA manages the Outreach programme. This involves
§ deploying ASTs appropriately to support school improvement;
§ monitoring and evaluating the support provided;
§ providing feedback to ASTs and their schools to support Performance Management and further CPD.
The AST Outreach Database
The LEA maintains a database of current ASTs, detailing the time provided for LEA Outreach work and specialist areas of work. The database is revised annually.
Towards the end of the academic year, all schools with ASTs are sent an AST Deployment Form, requesting information on anticipated deployment of the AST in the following year between school, pyramid and LEA. In addition, the school is asked to complete a School Improvement Support form for each current AST, and ASTs discuss this with their headteacher/line manager and agree which of the LEA priorities they wish to support. Both of these returns are requested by a certain date in the Summer term, and they provide the information that the LEA will use to deploy ASTs effectively in the following school year.
Requests for Outreach
Support by ASTs within their own school, or in schools in their own pyramids, is managed by the AST and her/his line manager. The LEA does not need to be contacted to set this up.
Schools outside the AST’s pyramid, and LEA inspectors, may request Outreach support from ASTs. This process is managed by the LEA and requests must be made on the Outreach Request Form (Appendix 3) and sent to Mollie Webb. The LEA will establish the appropriateness of the support within the overall school improvement plan, and will discuss the arrangements with the relevant LEA inspector, a suitable AST and her/his headteacher. A copy of the Outreach Request will be sent electronically to the AST and headteacher for agreement and return.
The Outreach Request form will identify a key PSI contact for the project. This person has the responsibility for ensuring that the AST is sufficiently prepared for the work, and is the first point of contact for the AST if s/he wishes to discuss the project or any concerns s/he has about the work.
ASTs working on LEA Outreach programmes can claim essential travel and other expenses using the appropriate form which is available in all schools. Completed forms for LEA initiated work should be sent to Mollie Webb. For Outreach work requested by a school, arrangements should be made by the requesting school to meet necessary expenses.
Outreach Evaluation
At the end of the Outreach the headteacher of the school receiving support and/or the LEA inspector is asked to evaluate the effectiveness of the support, using the School/Inspector Evaluation form (Appendix 4 – electronic version available). This should be returned to Mollie Webb, who will send copies to the AST and her/his headteacher for information.