SecEd has joined forces with EdYou, a research partner for schools, to offer the prize. EdYou conducts research to help schools to better understand the context in which they operate – the teachers, staff, students, parents and wider community – in order to raise the attainment of the hardest to reach. Research questions may include:
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Why do certain groups persistently under achieve?
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How can those causing low-level disruption be engaged?
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Who are student role models, what are student aspirations?
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Do students link subject choice to future careers?
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How much do the students read at home?
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What level of support are students receiving at home?
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To what extent do students skip meals?
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How is staff morale at the school?
EdYou provides insight and practical recommendations for developing practice in schools in tailored, applied research reports. The emphasis is to ensure that every research project produces outcomes that can easily be translated into action points so that the research undertaken makes a real difference.
The Pupil Premium can ordinarily be used to fund these projects, but the prize in this competition is a complimentary, in-school research project to be conducted at the winning school. The project can be carried out with minimal teachers’ time and disruption, mindful of busy timetables and exam schedules.
The research process will begin with an initial meeting to assess the demands of the project and to establish central questions with the staff involved. After some time spent designing the project, EdYou will conduct research with students and/or teachers. This could take the form of interviews, observation, focus groups or a survey.
Example research project
An educational charity wanted to raise the attainment and engagement of White boys, of British origin, eligible for free school meals. A series of semi-structured interviews with boys who had “bucked the trend” was carried out to establish lessons learnt that could be applied to other students in this group.
These interviews were conducted with boys from this cohort at schools in different locations across the UK to understand how they went about their study, dealt with their challenges and found solutions to enable them to remain at school and succeed.
The outcomes included a “menu” of recommendations for schools to implement to address the challenges that this cohort face, and a report, including quotes from the boys themselves. Where appropriate, at the end of an in-school research project, a concise version of the report is also provided to present to parents to raise awareness of issues highlighted in the research in order that parents feel able to support the school and students in achieving the defined goals.
More about EdYou
EdYou was founded by two education researchers in 2012 in response to demand from teachers. In addition to in-school research projects, EdYou also offers research guidance and education literature reviews.
EdYou research guidance is designed for teachers who wish to conduct their own research either as a standalone project, as part of their CPD or as part of their MEd.
The initial contact day is spent with the member of staff project planning. Remote assistance is then available throughout the project to guide and advise, and a final day of contact time is given to assist in drawing conclusions and glean practical, data-driven recommendations.
Literature reviews are also provided to collate and analyse existing pedagogical and educational research and so provide detailed, background information to help teachers to understand and contextualise issues that they experience on a day-to-day basis. This research can be useful as a complete report, or to set the context for further practical research in school research.
EdYou has detailed knowledge of Ofsted and government policy priorities and can provide advice to enable schools to meet their requirements such as, for example, data capture, demonstrating output and impact.
For more on EdYou’s research work, visit www.edyou.co.uk
How to enter
For a chance to win a free research project in your school, answer the following question and email editor@sec-ed.co.uk with EdYou Competition in the subject line.
The question is: In which year was EdYou founded?
The competition is limited to one entry per school and entries must come from a member of school staff. It is only open to secondary schools based in the UK and all entries will be passed on to EdYou. For further information, email the above address or telephone 020 7501 6771. The deadline for entries has now been extended until February 22.
This competition is awarded by EdYou and neither SecEd, nor any of its employees, accepts any liability for the non-delivery or failure to comply with any of the terms stated herein.