Research Intelligence
Service

Issue 45, May 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.

Leading learning: an Australian persepctive

This substantial academic review by Australian academic Bill Mulford aims to demonstrate that a great deal of a school’s success depends on which areas of school life the educational leader chooses to spend time and attention. It argues that because a single input by a leader can have multiple outcomes, a leader needs to be able to see and act on the whole, as well as on the individual elements and the relationships between them.

This review explores three inter-related elements of leadership: the local context, the organisation and the leader.

A review of primary teacher professional and leadership development

This report from Cambridge University concludes that in leadership development "England is rapidly moving towards creating one of the most systematic portfolios of programmes for leadership in education in the world, a significant achievement in the period of a decade".

The report identifies a number of examples of excellent professional and leadership development practice but also observes that these have been achieved at some cost to the respective sectors.

The development of leadership capacity through collaboration in small primary schools

This CfBT Education Trust study looks at the impact of collaboration across small primary schools on the development of leadership capacity. Interviews with 72 headteachers of small schools across East Sussex and Lincolnshire local authorities showed they tended to view school to school collaborative arrangements as an additional managerial burden rather than a strategic activity.

14-19 pathways: learning matters

The 14-19 qualification pathways are reviewed in this CfBT report which highlights the following causes for concern:

• The overall participation rate for 16–18 year olds has not increased since 1994, despite a range of government initiatives.
• Almost all the recent government-led initiatives relating to qualifications and testing have required urgent and unplanned revision within a few years.

The report suggests how the process of developing provision could be rebalanced to make it more fit for purpose for learners. It also identifies both positive and negative lessons to be learned from previous initiatives.

Headteacher approaches to teacher observations

This thought provoking US article explores the headteacher's role in observing teachers in the classroom, and asks whether intensive supervision and evaluation actually improve teaching.

The use of performance data in local authorities and schools

This Estyn inspection report looks at how local authorities in Wales use performance data for early detection of underperforming schools to target support to these schools.

The greatest impact on standards was found where:

• LAs and schools had a shared understanding of underperformance and the LA supported the school to develop improvement strategies
• LAs analysed and interpreted data well
• There were regular opportunities for senior leaders in schools to meet their counterparts to discuss performance data and strategies for teaching and learning.

The role and effectiveness of school governors

This government study shows that 1 in 10 governors' posts are vacant at schools in England and that one in five head teachers thought their governors were ineffective. The same proportion said they were very effective.

Schools in inner city areas find it particularly difficult to fill their posts.

Government research shows that in schools which are judged by Ofsted to be inadequate, governing bodies fail to hold leaders to account.

It also suggested the governors did not adequately monitor the schools in question to know their strengths and weaknesses.

Women in leadership

The May edition of CCL e-newsletter looks at the current issues facing women leaders in the private and public sectors. It explores current challenges and new strategies for helping women, men and organizations to make the most of all their talent. It also includes an article on succession planning for women leaders.