education.vic.gov.au

School operations

Education Support Staff Working in Classroom Support Roles

Key improvement strategy 1: Roles, responsibilities and teamwork

Guidance for improvement

Clearly define roles and responsibilities of teachers and education support staff working in classroom support roles.

When teaching and education support staff roles and responsibilities are clear and there is collaboration, education support staff can effectively support improvements in student outcomes.

Action 1.1

Review education support staff and teachers’ roles and responsibilities and identify evidence-based practice to support collaborative teamwork.

Action 1.1 What does this look like?
  • Schools use the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO) Improvement Cycle to reflect on collaborative practice.
  • Schools review how teaching staff are currently working with education support staff.
  • Student data indicates that the way teachers and education support staff are working collaboratively is improving student outcomes.
  • There are teams of teachers and education support staff that are impacting student outcomes positively, and these ways of working are considered for scaling up across the school.
  • Adjustments to staff schedules are considered to allow teaching staff and education support staff to meet and reflect on student data and collaboratively plan how they work together and work safely with students that they are supporting.

Action 1.2

Support education support staff and teacher teams to work collaboratively and to have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

Action 1.2 What does this look like?

Teaching staff and education support staff have a clear understanding of:

  • the role of school leaders in developing and reviewing:
  • the role of teachers in:
    • leading the design and implementation of teaching and learning interventions
    • assessing students to identify strengths and support needs, interpreting student data, prioritising learning goals, and selecting the most effective evidence-based interventions to address student learning needs
  • the role of education support staff in supporting data-informed, evidence-based interventions, which are led, developed and delivered by teaching staff, student support services (SSS), allied health professionals and other professionals supporting students

Action 1.3

Leverage opportunities such as professional learning communities and communities of practice, by allocating time to support teachers and education support staff to develop their professional practice in ways to optimise collaboration and coordinated support for students.

Action 1.3 What does this look like?

Education support staff working in classroom support roles have regular opportunities to:

  • plan with teaching staff
  • participate in the school’s professional learning communities and student conferencing sessions to understand effective ways to support all students, including students with disability and additional needs
  • participate in cross-school collaboration, including communities of practice
  • receive informal and formal feedback about their work from teaching staff and school leaders
  • are provided information about behaviour support strategies and safety planning
Guidance chapter detailing Key Improvement Strategy 1

Reviewed 12 November 2020

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