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Educational effectiveness and improvement research by the University of Southampton School of Education has contributed significantly to the design and implementation of educational policy and practice at both national and international levels. Impact has been predominantly in the area of policy, but the School's ground-breaking research has also shown the effects of (and practice within) `good' schools and has pioneered novel approaches to school improvement, school organisation and the use of data in schools. The Educational Effectiveness and Improvement Group has helped establish the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) and given it a global reach; its research has directly informed policy implementation through academy chains, schools and local authorities in the UK generally and in Wales in particular, and internationally in the US, China, Sweden, Cyprus and Chile. The School's worldwide reach is among the most widespread in Education.
The landmark research project described in this case study has caused national policy-makers, education bodies, inspectors, local authorities and schools to reconsider the once-routine practice of assigning teaching assistants (TAs) to work with lower-attaining pupils and those with special educational needs (SEN). It has led to:
The study's findings are also influencing education policy thinking in other countries.
In 2008, Professor Frank Hardman led a baseline study of pedagogic practices in Tanzanian primary schools to inform the design of a national school-based in-service education and training (INSET) programme. In February 2011, a pilot of the programme was launched and in August 2012 Hardman was commissioned to lead on an evaluation of the pilot, building on the 2008 baseline. Based on the findings of the 2012 evaluation, the Tanzanian Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) and Prime Ministers' Office-Regional Administration and Local Government (PMO-RALG) are currently planning a national scale-up of the INSET programme.
This case study describes the significant impact of the research discussed on the debate about the design and delivery of leadership development programmes both nationally and internationally. In particular the work described has informed the rethinking of the nature of the content of leadership programmes and has contributed towards the emergence of an alternative consensus about the nature of the development of school leaders. Although hard to measure, the subsequent impact on attitudes and behaviours of school leaders can be traced back to the research. Increased international debate about effective leadership can be demonstrated through the demand for translations of the research into other languages.
Impacts highlighted in this case study derive from research into the leadership of collaboration in, between and among educational organisations. This has resulted in a range of outputs and processes which have had an impact on how leaders and practitioners work in partnership; design joint professional development programmes; and evaluate and sustain collaborative working. The research has also influenced the development of collaborative improvement programmes in local authorities and national government agencies. This had led to impacts on the leaders of collaborative improvement initiatives, including the development of school-to-school networks, with a specific focus on evaluating the impact of their work.
The IOE researchers featured in this case study have had a major and sustained impact on education in the Indian sub-continent. Geeta Kingdon has shaped UK government policy on educational aid to India. She has also helped to ensure that millions of poor children in Uttar Pradesh — India's most populous state — qualify for free places in private schools. Angela Little's work in Sri Lanka has raised the profile of primary education, which has been hampered by low status and inadequate funding. She has also done much to improve the life chances of the country's disadvantaged children — particularly those growing up on tea plantations.
The research impacted on the Coalition Government's decisions to (a) discontinue the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) national strategy (2011), and (b) roll out the Achievement for All (AfA) pilot programme at a national level (2011). Both of these major decisions on public policy and professional practice were underpinned by the findings of large-scale national evaluation projects.
From 2000 to 2003 Professor Jean Rudduck led a largely Cambridge-based research team that investigated the potential of `student voice' to engage learners. The `Consulting Pupils about Teaching and Learning' research Network, funded by the ESRC's Teaching and Learning Research Programme, trialled and evaluated strategies with teachers in a wide range of schools. Take-up in the UK and abroad was extensive. This case study focuses on the impact in Ontario, Canada; where the Ministry of Education explicitly used the findings of Rudduck's research to mount an ambitious Student Voice initiative (2008-); the success of this has led to date to the Ministry providing some 6,000 grants to 800 schools to help build stronger approaches to `student voice' into the infra-structure of its school system.
As a direct result of the research conducted by the University of Edinburgh (1994-2009), policy and practice in relation to behaviour management in schools has come to emphasise the importance of i) the centrality of school ethos in promoting positive behaviour; ii) the need to tackle low-level negative behaviour, and iii) a range of interventions, including restorative practices. The significance of the research is that it fostered a cultural and policy change that led to continuous decreases in indiscipline and disciplinary exclusion from school, and a demonstrable increase in teacher confidence and skills in dealing with indiscipline. Beneficiaries of the research were pupils and teachers in primary, secondary and special schools, as well as parents. The research changed national policy and guidelines and positioned Scotland as a leader in research on behaviour and relationships in school and its application to policy and practice.
The IOE's Centre for Holocaust Education has transformed the way that this disturbing historical event is taught in many English schools. The Centre's highly regarded research-informed professional development programme has benefited thousands of teachers and ensured that an estimated 1m pupils experienced a deeper emotional and intellectual engagement with this difficult subject. The Centre has established a group of `Beacon Schools in Holocaust education' which have developed programmes of study that are now being shared with their own school networks throughout England. It has achieved international `reach' by producing educational materials for the UN and providing advice, training and consultancy for organisations such as Yad Vashem, Jerusalem's international Holocaust memorial museum.