Positive deviance research aims to identify people or organisations that are achieving better outcomes than peers in similar circumstances with similar resources. By studying what these ​‘positive deviants’ are doing differently, the approach aims to find out what behaviours or practices could be driving their success.

We’re commissioning a team to undertake an innovative research project that identifies school practices and behaviours with the potential to support the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in England. The appointed team will be tasked with developing a robust approach to the identification of ​‘positive deviant’ schools, taking into account contextual factors and school characteristics associated with school performance, and exploring behaviours and practices used in these schools to provide insights into what may enable them to outperform their peers.

Positive deviance research cannot provide causal evidence. However, we expect this project to identify behaviours and practices that could be tested through subsequent research.

Please review theRequest for Expressions of Interest document below for full details of the project, including the proposed research questions, commissioning process and criteria that will be used to assess applications.

Research teams with experience of conducting mixed methods research in education, particularly with a focus on disadvantaged pupil attainment, are invited to submit expressions of interest.

We are interested in expressions of interest from single research teams and/​or consortia with complementary expertise. This call for expressions of interest is open; researchers do not need to be part of EEF’s panel of evaluators.

We accept applications from legally constituted organisations and not from individuals. The organisation does not have to be based in England, but if not based there, we would expect you to demonstrate the partnerships and knowledge required to work with English schools.

A successful expression of interest will:

• Provide a high-level overview on the preferred approach to answering the specified research questions.
• Involve a strong team with prior experience of research in similar contexts, including quantitative analysis of secondary datasets in education, qualitative methods and design of theory-led data collection and analysis frameworks. Please include full CVs of all proposed team members, highlighting relevant expertise.
  
• Be no more than 2,000 words long, excluding references and CVs (indicative length, the focus should be on quality rather than quantity).

The EEF will invite a shortlist of teams to submit a full proposal after assessing the expressions of interest submitted.