Exploring school-level professional development in schools with high pupil disadvantage in England
Timeline
September 2024 - September 2026
Status
In Progress
Project Overview
Teacher professional development (PD) is crucial for retaining teachers, improving teaching quality, and, ultimately, driving pupil attainment (Fletcher-Wood & Zuccollo, 2020). The Department for Education’s (DfE) PD reforms (2022) introduced a coherent offer of PD across the teaching career that spans Initial Teacher Training (ITT), the Early Career Framework (ECF), and National Professional Qualifications (NPQs). The DfE (2022) policy paper outlines intended links between PD, strengthened teacher quality, improved school-level PD cultures and pupil attainment, with earlier evaluations of ITT, ECF, and NPQs indicating promising results. However, we still do not fully understand how this coherent approach to PD (i.e., ITT, ECF, and NPQs) is intended to influence the school as a whole, what school-level outcomes drive pupil attainment, and whether this coherent offer creates an impact greater than the sum of its individual programmes.
This two-year project aims to develop a Theory of Change that integrates the mechanisms through which a coherent offer of PD is intended to take effect and how such mechanisms manifest in practice, with a focus on schools with high pupil disadvantage. In other words, rather than conducting an overall evaluation of the coherent offer of PD, this project focuses on one important aspect: the link between PD and the experiences and outcomes of schools with high pupil disadvantage. It will also explore how these outcomes can be measured quantitatively and examine the relationships between PD, school-level outcomes, and improved pupil attainment.
Research aims
- Explore the school-level mechanisms through which a coherent offer of PD (i.e., ITT, ECF, and NPQs) across the teaching career may lead to increased pupil attainment, with a focus on schools with high pupil disadvantage;
- Understand to what extent a coherent offer of PD is associated with increased pupil attainment, and other key school-level outcomes that are important to achieve this, in schools with high pupil disadvantage;
- Identify practices for how schools are getting the most from participation in PD in an intended coherent system;
- Develop strategies for how schools can get the most of participation in PD in an intended coherent system for increasing pupil attainment in schools with high pupil disadvantage, and for providers designing and delivering PD.
National Survey
We’re exploring how schools, especially those serving more disadvantaged communities, can be better supported in professional development (PD) as a driver of school improvement, including impact on pupils’ learning. In particular, we are interested in how schools are using, and might make better use of, the DfE’s Golden Thread (ITT, ECF, NPQs and the shared evidence base).
Every school is different, so your experience really matters. Your insights will greatly help us understand what works, for whom, and under what contexts, and inform more actionable, context-sensitive strategies that will be shared with the sector in September 2026.
The survey takes around 12-15min to complete. Your responses will be anonymised for both analysis and reporting, meaning they cannot normally be linked back to you or your school.
Full details available in the Participation Information Sheet, which we recommend reading before filling in the survey.
Submit the survey for a chance to win one of six £50 Waterstones e-vouchers. Full details about the prize draw can be found in the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement.
Project Team
- Dr Yuchen Zong, Research Fellow, NIoT
- Dr Roisin Ellison, Research Fellow, NIoT
- Patrick Covernton, Research Assistant, NIoT
- Grace Stevens, Research Assistant, NIoT
- Katy Micklewright, Head of ECF Faculty, NIoT
- Dr Grace Healy, Education Director (Secondary), David Ross Education Trust
- Jen Knowles, Director of Teaching School Hubs, South West Institute for Teaching
- Helen Argall, Teaching School Hub Lead, OneCornwall
- Dr Calum Davey, Executive Director of Research and Best Practice, NIoT
- Dr Ellen Turner, Head of Evaluation and Observation Research, NIoT
Project Advisory Groups [PAGs] involve independent stakeholders offering expert guidance and strategic input for the study. Members have been selected to reflect a range of expertise relevant to the project focus. If you are interested in more information on the role or formation of PAGs, or feel you have relevant expertise to participate in one in the future, please get in touch with us at [email protected].
Project Advisory Group
- Wendy Baxter, David Ross Education Trust
- Mark Beyer-Woodgate, Harris Chafford Hundred
- Hayley Bissenden, Cornwall Education Learning Trust
- Anna Blair, Beacon Hill School
- Abby Deeks, OneCumbria
- Natasha Evans, Harris Chafford Hundred
- Emma Kerr, Cornwall Association of Primary Heads
- Fiona McNeile, South West Institute for Teaching
- Prof. Tanya Ovenden-Hope, Plymouth Marjon University
- Greg Pankhurst, One Cornwall
- Martin Smith, South West Institute for Teaching
- Rebecca Taylor, The 3 Rivers
- Emily Walden-Eyre, David Ross Education Trust
- Elle Wheatley, Truro & Penrith College
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