Research School Network: The EEF Guide to Becoming an Evidence-informed School Governor and Trustee Three questions from the new guidance

The EEF Guide to Becoming an Evidence-informed School Governor and Trustee is useful as an introduction to the work of the EEF, to the idea of evidence-informed practice and to the kinds of questions that governors and trustees should ask about schools. You can access it here.We think it is worth reading even if you do not hold those positions, because there is a wealth of sensible detail about evidence-informed schools.

As well as sections on research and the EEF, the report is framed around three questions. Here are some of our takeaways from each of these sections:

How well are pupils achieving at your school?
One way governors can see the relative performance of school is by comparing to similar schools. The EEF’s Families of Schools Database aids this, as it ​“helps you to find out (1) which school in the country is most like yours, and (2) what your school’s position is within a ​“family” of 50 schools which have pupils with similar characteristics.” This can give a clearer sense of how similar schools perform and give a reference point for where we might seek improvement. It may well be worth visiting similar schools which seem to perform better and arrange a visit.

Governors can also benefit from an understanding of some of the factors affecting the performance of groups of students. The guidance explains some of the important details in the so called ​‘attainment gap’.

How effectively is your school spending its money?
Dwindling school budgets mean that value for money is of more and more importance. This includes how the Pupil Premium is spent. The EEF offer these four tips for spending the Pupil Premium:

​“1. Use evidence of ​‘what works’ to inform your decision making, focusing on the areas that make the biggest different to pupil outcomes.
2. We recommend a tiered approach to spending, focusing first on improving the quality of teaching, followed by targeted support, then whole-school strategies.
3. As part of an overall strategy to improve the quality of teaching, using some of your Pupil Premium to recruit and retain teachers is justified.
4. Disadvantaged pupils who achieve highly in primary school are much less likely than their peers to convert this potential into excellent grades at secondary school – so ensure all Pupil Premium-eligible students receive some targeted support, including those who are high attainers.“

As so much of our school budget is tied up in teaching and learning, the next question gets the most pages:

How does your school support effective teaching and learning?
Supporting effective teaching and learning means investing in what works. The guidance signposts governors and trustees to some of the many resources the EEF have produced:

The Toolkit and the Early Years Toolkit
The Big Picture
Guidance reports

They also recommend that governors help recruit the best staff and ensure that the type and quality of CPD is effective. For example, CPD is effective when it:
• Is supported by the school’s leadership,
• Is sustained over at least two terms,
• Includes expert input, peer collaboration, and opportunities for teachers to consider and experiment with their learning and get feedback on their work

You can read more about effective CPD by looking at the DfE Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development.

There is really useful guidance on how schools should approach buying in a programme, particularly what they should do beforehand. For example, the EEF’s list of Promising Projects and Evidence4Impact, a website which collates programmes and shares whether they have been evaluated and what the evaluation says if they have. There is a useful list of ​‘questions to ask’ to ensure ​‘bought-in’ programmes are supported by evidence.