Research School Network: Implementation – an introduction to the new guidance for small schools Mari Palmer – a head teacher in a small rural school looks at the new guidance with her small school hat on

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Implementation – an introduction to the new guidance for small schools

Mari Palmer – a head teacher in a small rural school looks at the new guidance with her small school hat on

by North Yorkshire Coast Research School
on the

Being a leader of a small school, I was reading the new Implementation Guidance Report from the EEF alongside a colleague at training who teaches in large MAT. It wasn’t until we were chatting about our first read through that we realised we had zoomed in on different parts of the report, immediately identifying different sections that we thought would be challenging and which would be easier in our setting. The conversation surprised me – it is always tricky to spot your own unconscious bias and here was a clear demonstration of how anything we read we bring our own background and experience to.


The new guidance on effective implementation – and its accompanying resources – are designed to help you ensure that new approaches or practices have the biggest possible impact on children and young people’s outcomes. Based on a new review of the evidence, the updated guidance is focused on three key elements:

1. The Behaviours that Drive Effective Implementation
2.The Contextual Factors that Facilitate Implementation
3. A Structured, but Flexible, Process to Enact Implementation

My reflections as a small school head with my small school hat on!


Small schools have unique characteristics that influence how they can implement new practices. Some aspects of the guidance are more easily manageable, while others present greater challenges. For example, these are some areas that appear to often be more manageable in small schools e.g.:

- changing timetables (from Recommendation 2: Systems and Structures)
- small schools have the possibility to quickly adapt and make adjustments to implementation strategies as needed – there are not as many classes and staffing for changes to impact
- understand current practices and what influences them (from Recommendation 3: A tool for making evidence informed decisions)
– With fewer staff members, it’s easier to gain a comprehensive understanding of current practices and influencing factors.

Some are harder for small schools e.g.:

- resources such as funding and equipment (from Recommendation 2: Systems and Structures)
- research often shows that funding and equipment are issues in small schools e.g. Kim et al 2024
- consider research evidence about what has worked elsewhere (from Recommendation 3: A tool for making evidence informed decisions)
– how do we know if this is likely to work in our setting if evidence is from large randomised control trials that don’t include small schools? This is not an insurmountable problem but it does mean that, as a practitioner, you may need to consider more closely which adaptations can be justified and which can’t and then how you are going to assess the impact of these

If the new Implementation Guidance is a large document to face maybe there are some sections that would be more worthwhile focusing on initially. By recognising and strategically addressing these strengths and challenges, small schools can effectively implement new approaches and practices to improve outcomes for their students.

However, is it also possible that we could be complacent about some elements of the guidance in small schools – Identify pupil needs and the root causes’
(from Recommendation 3: A tool for making evidence informed decisions)
could be perceived as being simpler with less children and knowing them, through mixed-age classes, over a longer period of time. But then does unconscious bias and small cohort specific issues cloud the judgement of the staff – are they too involved to see what could be different?

Is it possible to consider all these points without an outside viewpoint from a different setting?

For more information on the rewritten EEF Implementation Guidance Report please see:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/implementation

Bibliography:

Kim L, Crellin S and Glandorf H (2024) The potential solutions to the challenges faced by leaders of small schools in the UK: A systematic review International Journal of Educational ResearchVolume 124, 2024, 102301

Sharples, J., Eaton, J. and Boughelaf, J. 2024. A School’s Guide to Implementation. 3rd
ed. London: Education Endowment Foundation.

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