Research School Network: Evidence Leaders in Education: Championing the School Led System A New Opportunity to Become Part of the Research School’s Work in our Region

Derby Research School is delighted to announce that we are looking to increase our talented workforce and wish to recruit to add to our current cohort of Evidence Leads in Education (ELE) across the East Midlands. The ELEs will contribute to evidence informed school improvement and will be designated by Derby Research School.

As part of the Derby Research School team we:

• Inspire engagement, by making visible ​‘what works’ and make it accessible to all practitioners
• Grow capacity, through encouraging leaders and teachers at all levels to be responsible for evidence-based practice in their classroom, with support from our core practitioner team
• Identify local champions, who will model and innovate in their schools and their clusters
• Build partnerships, harnessing our existing networks and developing new ones across the East Midlands region
• Plan for sustainability, we will create an effective team approach, where ownership and participation levels are high and sustainability is inherent
• Be ambitious for children, we will develop and deliver our vision of transforming the lives of the children we serve

What is an Evidence Lead in Education (ELE)?

Evidence Leads in Education are a Research School designation and as such receive training and updates from the Research School Network and Education Endowment Foundation and in turn be deployed to support schools through training and coaching. 

Their purpose is to: – support individual and groups of schools through the provision of expertise- around implementation, evidence- and practitioner and local knowledge- bring, and demonstrably show, a diversity of experiences which add credibility and depth when communicating about evidence.

What is the role of an ELE?

ELEs can provide support for schools beyond their own. Typically, this is based around a general understanding of evidence and evidence-informed school improvement, with specific areas of deep specialist knowledge. They do this through:- Communicating with schools about evidence in a particular area, to an audience from teachers, middle leaders to senior leaders.- Delivering specific training (around subject or topic)- Providing follow-on support to enable schools to structure and plan change in particular areas

Attributes of a successful ELE?

The list of ELE attributes below is ambitious because we want to recruit and deploy ELEs with a range of experiences and contexts; we recognise that not every ELE will be at the same starting point so the ELE induction programme has been designed to support and develop ELEs in their first couple of years in the role. The induction will be delivered online. There will be opportunities to work alongside more experienced ELEs as well as core Research School staff.

How do I express an interest?

If you are interested, please find attached below further information:

• Skills and knowledge an ELE requires
• A reflection tool around the focus skills and knowledge
• FAQs for potential ELEs and School Leaders
• Application Form

Submit the downloaded application form here: Click to submit application

Key Dates

Successful applicants will enter into the June/​July ELE training cycle. 

Key Dates

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We are looking forward to working with our partner schools in supporting schools across our region.

Amy Ford

Deputy Director Derby Research School

amyford@​satrust.​com