It is all part of a £2.5 million project being run by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the Institute of Effective Education (IEE).
Each of the five schools came through a competitive application process to win their designation and will now be charged with building large networks of schools to support, develop and promote evidence-based teaching and learning.
The EEF and IEE plan to appoint a further five schools later this academic year and hope that the 10 Research Schools will reach as many as 1,000 schools across England between them. Each school will receive £200,000 over three years to help fulfil their roles. The first five
Research schools are:
- Kingsbridge Community College, Devon.
- Aspirer Teaching School Alliance (based at Ash Grove Academy in Macclesfield).
- Huntington School, York.
- Kyra Teaching School Alliance (based at Mount Street Academy, Lincoln).
- Shireland Collegiate Academy, Sandwell.
Among the duties of Research Schools, will be encouraging schools in their network to make use of evidence-based programmes and practices, providing training and CPD for senior leaders and teachers, and offering expert advice on evaluation of impact.
Professor Bette Chambers, director of the IEE, said: “There is increasing demand from the profession for evidence-based programmes and practices to help teachers ensure the success of their pupils. It is heartening to see the strong leadership that these first five Research Schools are bringing to this endeavour.”
Sir Kevan Collins, chief executive of the EEF, added: “Teachers and school leaders now have access to a significant and growing body of academic research with the potential to make a real difference in the classroom. But we know that research on its own is not enough, applying the findings to the classroom is a real challenge. No-one is better-placed to support schools in doing this than teachers themselves.”
Roger Pope, executive principal of Kingsbridge Community College, one of the first five Research Schools, said: “Schools are now leading the system. Being one of the first five Research Schools is a fantastic opportunity that allows us to build on our extensive networks so that we can support other schools in embedding a research-based approach to improving pupil outcomes.”
The Research School website can be found at www.researchschool.org.uk