Get The Most Out Of Your Teaching Assistants
In the absence of teaching assistant standards, where can schools that want to make best use of their TAs turn to for guidance? Dean Boyce of Best Practice Network has a couple of suggestions… We heard in October last year that the government had decided not to publish a new set of teaching assistant (TA) […]
- by Dean Boyce
In the absence of teaching assistant standards, where can schools that want to make best use of their TAs turn to for guidance? Dean Boyce of Best Practice Network has a couple of suggestions…
We heard in October last year that the government had decided not to publish a new set of teaching assistant (TA) standards developed by a panel of experts. According to Schools Minister Nick Gibb, this was because they believed that schools were “Best placed to decide how they use and deploy teaching assistants, and to set standards for the teaching assistants they employ.”
It was, in some ways, a surprising decision. Schools are very aware of the need to maximise the effectiveness of their TAs, and there is plenty of research-based advice available to help them do that. But when it comes to setting specific standards for teaching assistants – something that’s essential for their professional development and deployment – some form guidance and support is needed.
A way forward?
Since 2003, the standards for the awarding of Higher Level Teaching Assistant status have been successfully used as the basis for external assessment of over 50,000 HLTAs. That number includes the more than 5,800 HLTAs who have been assessed by the HLTA National Assessment Partnership (HNAP), since funding from the Training and Development Agency for schools ceased in 2012.
At Best Practice Network, we believe that the HLTA standards continue to provide schools with a solid guide for the development and deployment of aspiring higher level teaching assistants. We have produced a guide, HLTA Status and the HLTA Standards: What schools need to know [PDF], to support schools in their decision making when integrating standards into their TAs’ professional development. It includes tables to help guide schools through how the unpublished draft standards developed in early 2015 can be cross-referenced to the HLTA Standards in the key areas of personal and professional conduct; knowledge and understanding; teaching and learning; and working with others.
There is a strong correlation between the themes of the 2015 draft standards and the HLTA standards. We think the latter have the potential to continue supporting the performance management and CPD of all classroom-based support staff. The HLTA standards can be used on training days and in staff meetings, as well as in one-to-one and small group TA meetings.
We believe schools should consider using HLTA standards in order to:
• Encourage classroom-based support staff to aspire to the highest levels of performance • Contribute to performance management • Support self-evaluation of strengths and areas for development by classroom based support staff • Help focus on relevant and specific targets for personal development • Focus deployment on aspects of individual well-being and behaviour, as well as academic progress • Identify areas of need for ongoing training
Dean Boyce is programme leader for HLTA and Support Staff programmes at Best Practice Network – a national provider of training and professional development, which supports TA development and CPD at all levels.
For more information, visit www.bestpracticenet.co.uk/support-staff-courses or follow @bestpracticenet
