Will the Minister explain how the Government plans to measure the impact of the national professional learning entitlement?
The National Professional Learning Entitlement will articulate the support education professionals are entitled to. The Entitlement will set out how the continued development of practitioners will support the schools and settings in which they work, and their learners, to realise the four purposes of the new Curriculum for Wales and other national priorities. These include, supporting learners with additional learning needs and embedding equity, well-being and the Welsh language across the whole school community.
As part of the development of the National Professional Learning Entitlement, we have drawn from a robust evidence base including commissioned reviews of aspects of the system such as newly qualified teacher induction and the professional standards to evaluations of specific professional learning provision/schemes. Wider independent reviews including the OECD Teachers’ Professional Learning Study in 2021 provided further opportunities to celebrate strengths and innovations right across the Welsh education system.
System leaders or advisors, including the Welsh education consortia, will support schools and settings to deliver the National Professional Learning Entitlement. This will include monitoring how schools and settings are progressing in terms of implementing the Entitlement as part of their wider school development plans. Building on an evidence informed approach, schools and settings will also have a key role to play in capturing the impact of the Entitlement at a school/setting level.
The National Professional Learning Entitlement builds on the key strands of the National Approach to Professional Learning (NAPL). The NAPL has provided increased opportunities for recognition, endorsement and accreditation of professional learning. This includes National Academy for Educational Leadership endorsement of all leadership provision in Wales. Endorsed provision is subject to quality assurance checks, to ensure that quality standards are maintained. In terms of accredited learning, the national MA Education (Wales) has been developed and quality assured to ensure that it provides education professionals across Wales with the same high-quality opportunity to enhance their professional knowledge, engage with research, and improve their professional practice.