Leadership

Closing the Gap: Test and Learn Overview

What is it?

Closing the Gap: Test and Learn is a new scheme from the National College of Teaching and Leadership providing grants for schools and teachers to get involved in rigorous research. The goal is to help improve the evidence-base for what works in closing the attainment gap (CTG) for disadvantaged pupils and also to stimulate robust research and development in schools. The scheme should also strengthen relationships between schools and higher education institutions.

Mini-enquiry Tools for Narrowing the Attainment Gap

These two mini-enquiry tools help school leaders and practitioners gather and use evidence of teaching and learning practice in the classroom and/or school.

The 'Observing Others' tool helps middle and senior leaders structure lesson (and other practice) observation to serve an R& D purpose rather than, say , performance management.

The other Tool is an introduction to a group of  research 'tasters' covering a wide range of evidence based teaching and learning topics.

Teach First High Performing Schools

 

 

CUREE worked with Teach First to investigate the characteristics of high performing schools. Drawing on the latest international evidence, we worked with 14 schools to review approaches to leadership, professional learning and student learning which enabled a high proportion of their students to achieve expected progress and beyond.

 

Some of the characteristics we explored were to what extent and how:

The Role of Coaching in Vocational Education and Training

CoverThe first of the new 'Insight' series from the Centre for Skills Development at City & Guilds, this publication focuses on the practice and theory of coaching in vocation settings. It features a number of chapters by different authors and an introduction and overview by Kathleen Collett of CDC. Chapter Two,written by staff at CUREE, draws together material from interviews of 17 'users' of coaching in educational and work settings and from the massive research evidence analysed by CUREE over 15 years. The chapter concludes with some suggestions for FE practitioners about how the findings might be put to practical use.

Other chapters examine coaching and pedagogy, coaching and assessment, coaching in support of high level vocational skills and coaching in teacher education.

SKEIN FE

CUREE, in collaboration with 157 Group  (now the Collab Group) and supported by LSIS, piloted a system for evaluating and fine tuning these processes in FE colleges. Based in international research and already proven in schools, the SKEIN FE service was co-developed with Derby College, piloted in York and Cornwall Colleges and tested in collaboration with many other 157 Group members. The fully adapted service is available to colleges.