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This report presents the results of an Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)-funded, independent evaluation designed to investigate the extent to which, and in what ways, Research Schools (RSs) in Opportunity Areas (OAs) had supported schools to enact evidence-based practices in their classrooms. The evidence centred upon the lived experiences of ten OA RSs during the first three years of their designation (2018 to 2020). The OA RSs are part of the nationwide Research Schools Network (RSN), but have a specific regional focus on improving the quality of teaching and learning in their geographically defined areas. Using a mixed-methods research design, this formative evaluation examined the systemic, social, and organisational processes and conditions that enabled or constrained the ability of RSs to achieve their intended impact on change in practice in schools within the OAs. The study focuses on answering three research questions: (1) What are the structural and cultural barriers to, and conditions for, engaging schools with evidence-based practices in the Opportunity Areas? (2) How do Research Schools embed evidence-based practices and cultures in their own school and in the local school systems in the Opportunity Areas? and (3) What is the overall impact of Research Schools' work on school improvement processes and outcomes at school and area level? The evaluation draws seven evidence-informed key conclusions regarding this place-based model of improvement and change. They are organised, in line with the three research questions, under evidence of promise, feasibility, and sustainability.

This new edition of Successful School Leadership brings in the latest evidence and material to what has remained a popular publication. While the fundamentals of what drives successful school leadership remain the same, new evidence further supports the arguments put forward by Christopher Day and Pam Sammons back in 2016. The growing interest in system leadership that we have witnessed over the last five years also features in this edition, as does a reflection on the expanding body of international literature focused on school leadership in low-income contexts. The evidence examined by this review indicates that effective school leadership is important but, in isolation, is not a sufficient condition for successful school improvement. It shows that leadership has important effects on school organisation, culture and on teachers. Effects on student outcomes are largely indirect operating through direct effects on the organisation, culture and teaching and learning environment. The review draws particular attention to three concepts of leadership: transformational, pedagogical/instructional and distributed. While there is evidence that pedagogical/instructional leadership is important for promoting better academic outcomes for students, it is concluded that the three concepts of leadership are not mutually exclusive. It finds that most leadership effects operate indirectly to promote student outcomes by supporting and enhancing conditions for teaching and learning through direct impacts on teachers and their work, and that successful student outcomes are defined more broadly than academic performance alone (including attendance, behaviour, engagement and motivation, etc.). Moreover, single leadership strategies unrelated to educational purposes and national and local contexts are less likely to lead to success than combinations and accumulations of values-led and context-sensitive strategies which best illustrate the dynamic and complex nature of schools in the 21st century. Whether CEOs of multi-academy trusts, groups of schools, or principals of individual schools, school leaders have a key role to play in setting direction and creating and sustaining a positive school culture. This includes establishing a proactive, collaborative school mindset, supporting and enhancing staff, as well as student motivation, engagement and well-being, and the collective commitment needed to foster improvement and promote and sustain success for schools and classrooms which serve a range of advantaged and disadvantaged communities. [For the 2016 edition, see ED565740.]

This review examines a range of lesson observation frameworks designed for and used in the observation of teaching in mathematics. This includes frameworks specifically designed for international comparisons of teaching practices and teacher effectiveness, as well as those used for teaching development. Five chapters focus on: (1) Introduction (different frameworks for classroom observations; breadth of focus; reliability; validity; and observation frameworks); (2) Tools for the Observation of Effective Teaching (The International System for Teacher Observation and Feedback; the Quality of Teaching Framework; and The Mathematics Education Traditions of Europe Project); (3) The Use of Frameworks for Research in the UK (comparing the three frameworks; (4) Alternative Frameworks (the Knowledge Quartet; Mathematical Quality of Instruction; and Watson's Framework); and (5) Observing to Improve Teaching (observing effective mathematics teaching and observing to develop teaching).

This research study investigates the notion of "inspiring" teaching through case studies of a purposive sample of 17 primary and secondary school teachers in England. The research was commissioned by CfBT Education Trust as part of a collaborative professional development initiative involving its schools. It arose from headteachers' suggestions that schools nominate a number of "inspiring" teachers so that their practice could be studied and the results shared across the participating schools to promote the professional development of staff and spread good practice through encouraging greater collaboration and learning across the CfBT family of schools. The purposive samples are thus viewed as exemplars of good practice by their schools by showing practice that is seen as "inspiring" for colleagues and students. The first section of this report is divided into two parts. The first contextualises the work in relevant literature, exploring gaps and definitions in the existing body of knowledge about inspiring teaching, and connecting the contribution of this study to these issues. The second outlines the aims and methods that guided the research. The findings reported in this document provide new evidence and insights about what inspiring teachers do (through observations), what they think (through interviews), and how their students think about their teachers and lessons (through questionnaires). The use of multiple observation instruments begins to address the gap outlined at the end of the previous section by providing measures of what inspiring teaching might "look like", i.e. what teachers do and what happens in their classrooms. The research had two complementary components--an investigation led by practitioners and another led by a team of academics from the Department of Education at the University of Oxford and the Institute of Education at the University of Worcester. Each study adopted different methods and a different approach to investigating what it is to be an inspiring teacher. This report presents a description of inspiring teachers--drawing exclusively on the academic study which focused on a sub-sample of 17 of the original 36 teachers. A complementary summary report based on both phases of the research is also available. [The University of Worcester contributed to this research project. For "Inspiring Teachers: Perspectives and Practices. Summary Report," see ED546803.]

This study investigates the notion of "inspiring" teaching. The research was commissioned by CfBT as part of a collaborative professional development initiative involving its schools. It arose from headteachers' suggestions that schools nominate a number of "inspiring" teachers so that their practice could be studied and the results shared across the participating schools to promote the professional development of staff, and spread good practice through encouraging greater collaboration and learning across the CfBT family of schools. The main aim of the research was to provide robust new evidence about both inspiring teachers and inspiring teaching from different perspectives to increase understanding of these widely used but elusive and often poorly defined concepts. The findings reported in this document provide new evidence and insights about what inspiring teachers do (through observations), what they think (through interviews), and how their students think about their teachers and lessons (through questionnaires). The research had two complementary components--an investigation led by practitioners and another led by a team of academics from the Department of Education at the University of Oxford and the Institute of Education at the University of Worcester. Each study adopted different methods and a different approach to investigating what it is to be an inspiring teacher. This report presents a description of inspiring teachers that draws on the findings from both of these studies. A complementary fuller report, based predominantly on the academic study, is also available. This report is a shorter account of the findings from both studies. [The University of Worcester contributed to this research project. For the full report: "Inspiring Teachers: Perspectives and Practices," see ED546804.]

Latest research from the authors and their team at the University of Oxford has used administrative data, a survey of local authorities, and a series of case studies to paint a picture of what has happened to children's centres across England. The six case studies include Londonborough, Portcity, Shipcity, Rivershire, Midshire, and Northport. Findings show decline, both in numbers and services, but also adaptation and a struggle to survive. A key initiative under the last Labour government, Sure Start children's centres bring together services for young children and their families and act as the gateway to more specialised provision. From 2005 onwards, responsibility for children's centres was increasingly devolved to local authority level and under the coalition government after 2010, the budget was no longer ring-fenced, but merged with other programmes. By 2013, national guidance on the 'core purpose' of children's centres shifted focus to targeting 'high need' families, rather than open access to universal services. The result has been to move children's centres away from the original idea of an open access neighbourhood centre. 'Stop Start' highlights how services are now much more thinly spread and as national direction has weakened, provision has diversified. Local authorities now employ a variety of strategies to survive in an environment of declining resources and loss of strategic direction.

In 1994, the Minister for Education in Northern Ireland announced a major school improvement initiative for Belfast, Raising School Standards (RSS). Aspects pertaining to the management of this school improvement initiative, including the launch and selection of 14 project schools, are examined here. The paper analyzes the process of action planning in schools and addresses three of the initiative's goals: the quality of school management; teaching and learning; and educational standards. Described in detail are the external evaluation of the RSS initiative; the launching of the initiative; the selection of the schools, which included secondary and primary schools; schools' reactions to being included in RSS; the schools' action plans and the elements within the action plan; implementing and improving the action plans; the impact of RSS as indicated by baseline measures, internal evaluations, and questionnaire data; the impact of RSS on school management; areas in which RSS appears to have had the least impact; the impact of RSS on teaching and learning, including curriculum development and teachers' focus on learning; the impact of RSS on secondary school examination results and teachers' focus on pupil outcomes; and the legacy of RSS and challenges for the future. Conclusions reveal mixed findings. (Contains 64 references.) (RJM)

This review provides an analysis of the key determinants of school effectiveness in elementary and secondary schools. A literature review identified the following key correlates of effectiveness: (1) professional leadership; (2) shared vision and goals; (3) a learning environment; (4) concentration on teaching and learning; (5) purposeful teaching; (6) high expectations; (7) positive reinforcement; (8) monitoring progress; (9) pupil rights and responsibilities; (10) home-school partnership; and (11) a learning organization. The majority of effectiveness studies have focused exclusively on students' cognitive outcomes, but there is less evidence about school and classroom processes that are important in determining schools' success in promoting social or affective outcomes. Because of this focus, the review tells more about the correlates of academic effectiveness. Results of the review did not support the view that any one particular teaching style is more effective than others, but did indicate that flexibility and the ability to adapt teaching approaches are more important than notions of any single style. (Contains 186 references.) (SLD)

This paper analyses national assessment and examination data sets in England to test the claim that networked learning activity contributes to raising standards of attainment. Results for primary and secondary schools involved in the large and innovative network learning community (NLC) programme in England funded by the National College for School Leadership are compared with the national patterns for all schools across 2003 to 2005. The results indicate that there has been considerable variation in the extent of improvement in attainment results over the three years. Improvement patterns for NLC schools are generally in line with the rising national trend. There is no convincing evidence that NLC primary schools as a whole have improved more rapidly or narrowed the attainment gap in relation to national results between 2003 and 2005. For secondary schools there are some indications for Key Stage 3 that the change in English results shows greater improvement than the national pattern for a majority of schools, but this is not the case for maths or science. The paper also examines the results of a survey of NLC participants' perceptions. These show that most have a generally positive view of the professional learning promoted, the improvement of practice in their schools and the impact on pupil engagement and motivation, but that perceptions of the influence on pupil attainment and behaviour are somewhat less favourable, Again there is considerable variation amongst respondents suggesting that both involvement in and the influence of NLC activity varies within and between schools and individual networks. Heads and deputies generally have more favourable views than other respondents. It is concluded that the main benefit of networked learning has been to enhance professional practice but that caution should be exercised in making claims concerning the potential role of networked activity in raising attainment. While some schools and networks have shown marked improvement across a range of outcomes, the findings indicate that there is no overall NLC effect on attainment outcomes; rather, there is considerable variation at the school level within and between networks.

Utilizes questionnaires to examine the various approaches to assessment used by inner city London, primary grade teachers. Specifically investigates assessment in English, mathematics, and science. Discovers a wide variety of approaches, both formal and informal. Discusses these findings in light of recent policy developments. (MJP)