Research Intelligence
Service

Issue 46, June 2008

Each month, this bulletin reviews recently published leadership research, policy and practical papers that we hope you will find relevant. The brief summaries aim to provide a taster and signpost the full reports for your interest.

Emerging patterns of school leadership: current practice and future directions

This report was prepared by the University of Manchester for NCSL. It set out to map and exlore emerging practice and highlight possible future directions in leadership, management and governance. Some of the key findings are:

• changes in local arrangements are helping schools cope with an increasingly complex agenda
• the local context is important in the adoption of new leadership patterns
• there is a move towards increased collaboration between schools

Appointment of the first non-teaching head

A recent TES article focusses on Peter Noble, a 50-year-old former radiologist, who is believed to be the first person from a non-teaching background to lead an English state school.

Mr Noble will take up his post as chief executive of the Richard Rose academies federation in Carlisle, Cumbria, in September.

A former NHS executive and head of Leeds University’s medicine faculty, he is at the forefront of a movement to bring outside expertise to the running of schools.

League tables do not help parents select schools

An article for the Royal Statistical Society argues that league tables do not predict future performance and are therefore of little use to parents when selecting schools for their children. University of Bristol statisticians investigated whether current exam results predict GCSE results at a given secondary school some six years later.

Having analysed the exam results for a random sample of 274 schools they estimated that under 5% can be separated from the average (or each other) with any statistical significance.

Ofsted consultation on inspection arrangements for early years settings

Ofsted's consultation on proposals for the inspection of early years provision from September 2008 reports that their plans were well received and supported by the great majority of respondents.

A large majority (86.2%) of respondents were in favour of giving all early years settings the opportunity to complete and submit a self evaluation form online and most respondents (77%) agreed that the current arrangement of giving little or no notice of inspection should continue.

£81m to prepare teachers for the 14-19 overhaul

Schools Minister Jim Knight has announced £81 million of additional funding to prepare teachers to deliver the new diploma qualifications.

The multi-million pound package for 2008-09 follows funding to train those who will be delivering the diploma this September. It will ensure teachers and leaders in secondary schools and colleges are fully trained to teach the qualification as it continues to be rolled out to more secondary schools and colleges.

Specialist schools: taking part in system leadership?

In return for additional funding, specialist schools are expected to develop expertise in their chosen specialism, primarily for the benefit of partner schools and the wider community.

This interim evaluation for DCSF examined the impact of the HPSS (High Performing Specialist Schools) programme to provide a qualitative evidence base for examining the early impacts of the programme.

The findings suggest that the HPSS programme is contributing to improving pupil aspirations, attainment and achievement. Recruitment and retention of staff has improved in one-half of the schools visited since entering the programme, and has stayed the same in the remaining schools. Since entering the programme, staff workload has increased in most of the schools visited (particularly during the planning and at the early stages of delivery); however, job satisfaction has simultaneously improved.

Targetted school funds not reaching children from poorest backgrounds

In a report for the Institute of Fiscal Studies, 'A level playing field? Implications of school funding', researchers looked at the amount of money each local authority was given by the government in 2006-07 to support deprived pupils.

Only half the extra resources meant to help educate children from the poorest backgrounds reached the schools that they actually attend, says the report.

Children eligible for free school meals should attract 70% more funding but councils are distributing a large proportion of the funding across all schools rather than targeting it at the schools that teach these pupils.

Schools told to improve or close

The government is warning 638 secondary schools to improve their exam results or face closure. The schools all have fewer than 30% of pupils achieving at least five good GCSEs including English and maths.

The National Challenge, launched on 10th June, will require every secondary school in England to have achieved this GCSE benchmark within three years.

The £400m standards drive, which will create up to 70 new academies, is to be launched by Schools Secretary Ed Balls.

Sustaining improvement: the journey from special measures

Schools which most successfully revive after being labelled failures have strong leadership, self-knowledge and sense of identity.

This Ofsted report says the foundation for improvement was honest and accurate self-assessment, involving pupils as "stakeholders" and continuous review in "the relentless pursuit of excellence".

The study looked at 14 schools whose actions during their time in special measures laid strong foundations for sustaining the momentum of improvement.

School improvement planning framework - case studies

The TDA has produced a series of case studies examining how schools, school clusters and local authorities are making use of the school improvement planning framework.

Showcasing the flexibility of the framework, the TDA reflects on how schools adopt different approaches and prioritise different issues.