Hundreds of the most disadvantaged schools in the country will receive direct support for school improvement from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) through a programme of regional work, it was announced today
Newly created Regional Leads – based across England – will work with the schools in their region who are most in need of support to improve attainment. They’ll help these schools to use evidence-based resources and training to address the specific challenges they face in and support their school improvement activity. Schools with high numbers of disadvantaged pupils will be able to access funding for training and programmes, to help improve outcomes for their pupils
The new programme of work will be closely aligned to the Research Schools Network, 22 schools that support the quality of teaching in their region through better use of research. The EEF is currently recruiting 10 new Research Schools as part of this programme of work to expand the network’s geographical reach.
Since the EEF was established in 2011, there has been a big increase in schools’ appetite to use evidence to inform their decision-making. Over 12,000 schools and 1 million children and young people have taken part in 190 research projects to help build the evidence base on effective teaching and learning. In addition, EEF resources like the Teaching and Learning Toolkit and its Guidance Reports are widely used by most school leaders.
However, supporting teachers to engage with research in ways that make a difference can be challenging. Trials funded by the EEF have shown that in general, more direct strategies are needed to support teachers to use research in ways which change classroom practice and improve pupil outcomes.
Today’s new programme of work – which is currently being piloted in the North East and North West of England – is one of several approaches the EEF is undertaking to address this and get evidence into the hands of teachers in ways that really make a difference.
The delivery of the regional work will begin in September 2019. More information can be found here