A £300,000 research study into the impact of the burgeoning Teaching School movement has attempted – for the first time – to discern the impact that the initiative is having on pupil achievement and outcomes.
The research, commissioned by the Department for Education, was carried out between 2013 and 2015 by academics from the universities of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent, Oxford and Manchester as well as the Isos Partnership.
The resulting 228-page report draws upon case studies of 26 Teaching School Alliances (TSAs) led by Teaching Schools from contrasting socio-economic areas and of different types and locations. The study also involved surveys with 345 participating schools.
Background
Teaching Schools were set up by the coalition in 2011 to raise standards by encouraging outstanding schools to share best practice with other schools in their area. Teaching Schools are Ofsted-outstanding schools that have applied for the designation. They are charged with six core responsibilities: school-led initial teacher training (ITT), CPD, school-to-school support, identifying/developing leadership potential, Specialist Leaders of Education, and research and development. TSAs are networks of schools and organisations, led by Teaching Schools, that have agreed to work together to deliver the six core areas. There are now around 600 Teaching Schools in England working in 486 TSAs.
Overall findings
The headline message from the report is that there has been, as yet, “a lack of measured overall effect on pupils’ academic achievement within alliance schools”.
The report concludes that the impact on pupil outcomes has been “more evident in Teaching Schools themselves than in alliance schools”.
However, the researchers do conclude that the initiative has “improved the sharing of good practice among participating schools” and state that the Teaching School approach, if properly supported, could be key to achieving the emerging concept of a “self-improving school system”.
The report states: “Teaching Schools and their alliances can make and have made a marked difference to the sharing of good practice among schools and to enhancing the professional practice of many teachers and school leaders within and beyond alliance partnerships. In this sense, the Teaching School model clearly has an important role to play in driving forward a school-led ‘self-improving’ system.
“However, as yet, the lack of measured overall effect on pupils’ academic outcomes within TSAs suggests that caution should be exercised in making claims concerning the potential contribution of the Teaching School model to raising attainment in schools across the partnership.”
It adds: “Continuing systemic support in terms of resources, funding and accountability infrastructure are necessary to incentivise collaborations at different levels and move the Teaching School concept forward effectively and sustainably.”
CPD and ITT
The report finds that CPD, leadership development and ITT were considered to be the most important areas of activity for many of the 26 TSAs. Bespoke CPD was seen as “the main strength of the TSA offer”, although the report finds that much of this still takes the form of short courses and is not joined up with research and development work or joint practice development across the TSAs. In terms of ITT, a third of the TSA leaders reported “very significant changes” in terms of an improved supply of good NQTs.
School-to-school support
The report praises the 26 TSAs for their school-to-school support work. It states: “Every case study TSA in this evaluation has examples of effective work that has led to improvements in a supported school. There is also evidence from the case studies which shows that (school-to-school support) work provides opportunities for leadership development.”
The impact of Ofsted
The research sounds a warning about the negative impact of Ofsted, because of the potential consequences of a poor inspection outcome for an individual Teaching School on the whole TSA. This is because a failure to sustain an outstanding rating can trigger a review of a school’s designation as a Teaching School. Up until October 2014, five per cent of schools had been de-designated. But at the same time, Teaching School leaders are frustrated that Ofsted seems to take very little account of their work in TSAs during inspections.
Accountability
The report warns that there is a “lack of clarity” about how the Teaching School concept should be defined and how Teaching Schools and TSAs are judged to be effective. It states: “More thinking is required about how and to what extent schools within alliances need to hold each other to account.”
It adds: “A key challenge is to develop and establish quality-assurance and internal accountability mechanisms that enable TSAs to understand, monitor and evaluate how teacher and leadership capacity is being built in all schools and the extent to which improvement in the quality of teaching and learning is being made.”
Sustainability
A key theme in the report is of sustainability of the TSA model, which is seen as a “continuing challenge”. It states: “The reduction and the potential eventual end of core funding is perceived by the large majority of Teaching Schools as the most significant risk to their sustainability. In the survey, 87 per cent of the TSA leaders reported that the financial models of their TSAs are not sustainable without central funding. On-going funding support and clearly defined accountability measures are perceived to be essential for capacity and infrastructure to be sustainable.”
Geography
The report finds that schools in areas away from major cities remain less well covered by TSAs. A key issue is having clear strategies for areas where there is “an urgent need for improvement but where there are few outstanding schools eligible or willing to become Teaching Schools”.
Leaders’ views
There is “clear evidence” that engagement in the initiative is perceived by school leaders to have made “important contributions to teacher and school leader growth and development in both Teaching Schools and many schools in their alliances”. The main areas of improvement reported by Teaching School leaders include teachers’ commitment to CPD, leadership of teaching and learning, schools’ climate and culture, and the quality of teacher recruitment.
Results
Statistical evidence included in the report shows that during the three-year period 2012-14, Teaching Schools “significantly outperformed comparator schools at both key stage 2 and 4”. It states: “This important finding counters a common misconception that being a teaching school has a detrimental impact on that schools’ results.” However, the analysis shows that this is not the case for wider alliance schools or strategic partner schools overall.
Key observations
The report concludes with a series of “evidence-based observations”. These include:
- There is a sustained appetite from eligible schools to apply to become a Teaching School.
- There are variations in representation across different regions and school sectors.
- Leading a TSA is perceived unanimously as worthwhile but hugely time-consuming.
- There is no single concept of a Teaching School/TSA. The nature, forms, operating structures and priorities vary considerably.
- Teaching Schools have become increasingly confident in developing, broadening and deepening activities and aspects of the six core responsibilities.
- The sustainability of the initiative is a challenge. On-going funding support and clearly defined accountability measures are perceived to be essential.
- There is evidence of perceived positive impact on standards and improvement. However, the levels of impact vary and the measured overall effects on pupil outcomes are more evident in Teaching Schools themselves than in alliance schools.
Further information
The full report – entitled Teaching Schools Evaluation – is available at http://bit.ly/1p0MVaZ