Supporting Improving Primary Schools : The Role of Schools and LEAs in Raising Standards

Annotation Drawn from the experience of the Essex Primary School Improvement programme, this book shows how primary schools in the county have improved their standards subsequent to OFSTED inspection. It explores the role of the LEA in supporting schools and their efforts to improve. It also looks at the collaborative relationship that LEAs and schools can form, and the implications for school leadership and for students. The book also sheds light on issues of consultancy, information and data handling, and evaluating school improvement Book Cover......Page 1 Half-Title......Page 2 Title......Page 3 Copyright......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 List of Figures and Tables......Page 7 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Introduction......Page 9 Part 1 Overview and Main Findings......Page 15 The Context......Page 16 Outline of the Programme......Page 18 The LEA Focus......Page 21 Benefits to the LEA......Page 22 1 What use did the schools make of pupil and school data?......Page 23 2 Did the data enhance enquiry and reflection among the teaching staff?......Page 24 4 The Emphasis Placed on Pedagogy......Page 25 5 Did the OFSTED inspection motivate staff in these schools?......Page 26 Benefits to the Schools......Page 27 Benefits to the LEA......Page 28 Introduction......Page 30 Quantitative Data Findings......Page 31 Detailed Summary of Programme School Performance Data......Page 33 Results for English......Page 34 Science scores......Page 36 Essex School Improvement and Value Added Network Data......Page 38 Improvement of Schools in Difficulties......Page 39 Qualitative Data Findings......Page 40 OFSTED Revisits to a Sample of EPSI Schools......Page 41 Conclusions......Page 69 Part 2 School Insights......Page 71 Introduction......Page 72 Main Findings......Page 73 Emerging Themes......Page 80 Conclusions......Page 85 Pupil Data Used in the EPSI Programme......Page 89 Steering Group Pupil and School Level Data Sets......Page 90 Pupil Learning Outcome Data......Page 91 Staff Perception Data......Page 92 How the Data Were Used in Practice......Page 93 How Schools Used the EPSI Data Sets......Page 94 Pupil Perception Data......Page 96 Reading Data......Page 97 Use of More Quantitative Data......Page 98 How Schools Respond to Data......Page 99 Data That Triggered Action......Page 100 Other Issues Important in the Work on Pupil Data......Page 102 Evaluating the Measures Themselves......Page 103 Triangulating a Grounded View of School Improvement......Page 104 Conclusion: What We Have Learnt as an LEA about Pupil Data Issues......Page 106 Introduction......Page 108 Establishing the Sample and Themes of the Enquiry......Page 109 Group Interviews......Page 110 Developing Manageable Data-gathering Processes......Page 111 Modifications......Page 112 Forms and Degrees of Analysis......Page 113 Handling Feedback......Page 114 Action Arising......Page 117 Pupil Perceptions and Primary School Improvement......Page 118 Future Directions—School Improvement......Page 120 Future Directions—Transformative Education......Page 121 Part 3 LEA Insights......Page 123 The Changing Role of LEAs......Page 124 Developing the LEA’s Capacity to Support School Improvement......Page 126 The Programme Teams......Page 127 Supporting the Programme Teams......Page 128 The Role of the Programme Teams with Schools......Page 130 How Effective Were the Multi-disciplinary Teams?......Page 131 Structured Interviews with LEA Staff......Page 132 Implications for Working Practice......Page 134 Conclusion......Page 136 Introduction......Page 138 Models of Consultancy......Page 139 Data Sources and Analysis......Page 142 Preparation......Page 143 Entry......Page 144 Action......Page 146 Conclusions and Key Lessons for the LEA......Page 147 Part 4 Wider Issues and Conclusions......Page 151 Introduction......Page 152 Inspection Reports and Post-inspection Action Plans......Page 153 Defining Success Criteria for School Improvement......Page 154 Data Collection and Analysis......Page 155 The Effectiveness of Data in Measuring Improvement......Page 156 How far did the data reflect school improvement?......Page 157 Conclusion......Page 167 Introduction......Page 170 Impact of EPSI on Essex LEA......Page 171 Research Questions Relating to the LEA’s Role......Page 177 The Programme Teams’ Views and Conclusions......Page 182 Focus Matters......Page 187 Auditing, Monitoring and Self-evaluation......Page 188 School Improvement is Differentiated......Page 189 The Formal Model of School Improvement......Page 191 Tracking School Improvement......Page 193 EPSI and Educational Research......Page 194 Conclusions......Page 198 Point 1......Page 199 Point 3......Page 200 Point 4......Page 201 Point 5......Page 202 Point 7......Page 203 AIM 1: To enable schools to develop strategies for improving the quality of teaching and learning provided for all pupils......Page 205 AIM 2: To increase the LEA’s capacity to support schools as they seek to improve the quality of education they provide......Page 206 AIM 3: To increase understanding of the process and outcomes of school improvement across the LEA and beyond......Page 207 Appendix 2 Common Measures Agreed Across All EPSI Programme Schools......Page 209 Appendix 3 Pupil Perception Interview......Page 211 Workshops for Programme Pairs......Page 213 Workshops for Schools......Page 214 Staff Development......Page 215 Enquiry and Reflection......Page 216 Collaborative Planning......Page 217 Notes on Contributors......Page 218 References......Page 220 Index......Page 225

British educators and scholars discuss the ways that a group of self-managing schools went about enhancing student achievements, beginning with an overview of the program organizing these changes, its context, goals, and strategy. Other chapters examine the ways that leadership, external consultation, and governmental support affected school improvement, as well as specific student perception information, the ways that data was processed, and how school improvement might be evaluated and used for future policies and strategies. Distributed by Taylor & Francis. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR