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Dr Jonathan Sharples
How do you choose a washing machine? – Creating meaningful research tools for schools
“We must give educators and politicians the information they need to make wise decisions for children”
Baroness Estelle Morris
Empower channels to school improvement
Increased freedom/choice… and responsibility for schools
National Strategies scaling back
High-quality information to inform decision-making and support interactions
Peer-to-peer path to school improvement – teaching schools, federations etc
What works…. and what doesn’t… and why? (eg Struggling Readers)
What do schools need in order to access, and
apply, this knowledge?
How do we create meaningful materials for
teachers, based on academic research?
What’s an effective process of engagement through
which schools can engage with this information?
Small pilot in local primary/secondary schools – ‘YIPI’ project
Aim: Develop a ‘proof-of-concept’ for evidence-informed practice
Senior leadership teams in a local secondary and three feeder primaries. All at least ‘Good’ - OfSTED Two new headteachers – All committed to trialing YIPI as a management tool for school improvement
Test and develop an ‘evidence-informed school support service’, plus appropriate resources
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What are challenges in accessing and using reliable research evidence?
Sifting reliable research conclusions from the rest
Not skilled to judge the validity of claims
Can be a conflict with existing school practices
Knowing where to look for useful information
Too much information is available
Senior Leadership Teams
Time, time, time!
High-quality reviews/meta analyses are necessary but not sufficient. Need converting them into meaningful materials for schools.
Creating useful and relevant research resources
Summary information on specific programmes/practices
What is it?
How does it work?
What are the proven benefits?
How do I apply it in practice?
How much does it cost?
Who can I speak to? etc
Link information on programmes, practices and school organisation
Adapted from Higgins. S & Coe, R. (2011) ‘The Pupil Premium: How Do We Make It Work?’
Research-use is a social process
… Also provide schools with practical support to apply this information with confidence
Help schools identify and implement evidence-based strategies in line with their own data, targets and practices
Act as an intermediary broker - ‘eyes and ears’ into research.
What type of thing did we look at?
Class sizeHomework
Boys writing
Formative assessment
Independent learning
What changes, if any, have resulted from your involvement in the project?
Revising approaches to homework across the school
We will be implementing peer learning in maths
Space and time to think as a leadership team about how research could have an impact in the classroom
Encouraged us to think more critically about the school’s practice
Senior Leadership Teams
All schools reported that they would use (and pay for!) such a service in the future
What lessons did we learn?
It’s critical to build trusted, non-hierarchical relationships. “Research knows best” won’t work.
Provide complementarity to existing provision. Don’t destabilise unnecessarily.
Dialogue provides real added value and supports change.
…..Overall, it seems as though we are along the right lines
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Different information provides different functions.•
Where are we heading?
The YIPI pilot suggests we have a promising model
Next step: expand, evaluate and refine the process, working with a greater number of schools
Partnering with Oldham LA – ‘Accelerate Alliance’ – closing attainment gaps
Also opportunities to support:I. Individual schoolsII. School networks (LAs, Teaching schools, Academy trusts etc)III. Advisory organisations, as a research-knowledge provider
Our big job is creating a catalogue of research-proven school programmes across a wide range of areas… as well as other supporting resources
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‘Better’ magazine
Free to schools for first year – www.betterevidence.org.uk
Questions
What would you like to see as part of such an evidence-informed support service?
How should we be presenting material?
Do you know anyone who might be interested in collaborating with us?
