Education Endowment Foundation:EEF blog: Bringing together policy, practice, and evidence: The Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework ​‘Call for Evidence’

When I embarked upon teacher training, a family friend and decades long school leader informed me of the multiple ​‘worlds’ that exist within schools: the pupil world, the teacher world, and that of the senior leaders. Knowing what is going on within any school requires insight into all three worlds, but this isn’t easily done. The world’s generally function in separate spaces, both literally and metaphorically, and each person’s experience depends upon the world they inhabit.

Education policy making similarly combines multiple worlds: the world of school itself, of course, but also that of the government policy maker, the academic researcher, and many intermediary organisations involved in policy delivery. Sometimes these worlds speak to one another, and other times less so.

For example, teachers and school leaders may not speak the ​‘language’ of researchers, making translating research findings difficult. And sometimes policymakers can misinterpret the challenges faced by schools and misjudge comments or interventions as a result.

Bringing these worlds together can prove challenging, and it is therefore worth celebrating when they align.

The ​‘Call for Evidence’

A few months ago the Department for Education (DfE) published a ​‘Call for Evidence’ as part of its update to the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework (CCF) and Early Career Framework (ECF) (see here). The public call asked those with ​‘specialist expertise in education and pedagogy with knowledge of research’ to submit evidence relevant to the professional learning of trainee and early career teachers, which could inform updates to the CCF and ECF.

How has the EEF helped?

To support the DfE in sorting through the submitted references, the EEF has reviewed the evidence according to the topics they cover, whether they fall within the scope of the CCF and ECF and are pertinent to trainee and early career teachers, and the generalisability of findings also.

A total of 65 submissions were made through the call, within which EEF were able to access 90 discrete pieces of evidence. Topics covered within the evidence included the teaching of pupils with special educational needs (SEN), literacy and language, and managing behaviour.

There was also a broad array of research methodologies submitted, including literature reviews, cross-sectional studies, longitudinal studies, interview-based research, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and others.

Drawing upon the knowledge of sector experts to refine and iterate national professional development policy presents, I think, a rarified example of the three ​‘worlds’ of educational policymaking combining with a level of harmony worth celebrating.

What will happen next?

Having reviewed all the submissions, the EEF has passed the list of references back to the DfE who will work with the advisory group of sector experts tasked with updating the CCF and ECF. Those responsible for redrafting will consider how best to integrate relevant references into the frameworks, so that trainee and early career teachers have access to high-quality, practically relevant training that is rooted in up-to-date evidence.

The DfE’s engagement with researchers and sector experts to help increase the relevance and level of support that national policies give to practitioners working within schools is to be welcomed. A tough task lies ahead though, as this evidence needs to improve the frameworks without overloading them with content that may overwhelm the trainee and early career teachers on the receiving end of the policies. Nevertheless, seeking input from the breadth and depth of expertise across our sector presents an important and necessary step in rooting high quality evidence at the heart of professional development policies, bringing together the multiple worlds of our education system.