Research School Network: Leading Learning – reflections from leaders of professional development Understanding the value of strategically planning your school’s CPD

As the calendar moves on to June and the summer takes hold leaders in schools are fine tuning plans for professional development in the next academic year.

Evidence suggests that the quality of teaching appears to be the crucial factor to the outcomes of all learners, and particularly the most disadvantaged. (Sutton Trust, 2014)

Research Schools Network Leading Learning programme

Our Leading Learning programme explores a range of the key evidence around the processes, structures, resources, leadership and culture in schools that would appear to be most important in developing teaching staff.

Through engaging in Leading Learning our participants from local schools are setting out to design and implement ever more effective professional development models for their contexts.

Starting with the evidence

At the start of the three day programme we considered evidence relating to effective professional development. Key sources included those from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), Teacher Development Trust (TDT) and Department for Education (DfE) including:

• Standards for Teachers’ Professional Development (DfE)
• Putting evidence to work: a school’s guide to implementation (EEF)
• Developing Great Teaching – Cordingley et al 2015 (TDT)

An essential foundation we explored and contextualised at the start of the programme is the EEF’s 5‑step school Improvement Cycle
(illustrated below). Kept at the forefront of decision making it is a powerful reminder of the importance of:

1. identifying a tight and specific area of focus – through diagnosis of need
2. using evidence to identify possible solutions – and support decision making
3. understanding the active ingredients required in the approach – and implementing faithfully
4. monitoring and evaluating the impact – though the process not just ​‘at the end’
5. being able to share findings – to spread, grow or stop further adoption

Further evidence and the emerging consensus

Another source of evidence we discussed early on was the 2014 paper by Kraft and Papay in which they distilled findings from their studies in to the impact of different aspects of culture within professional development. They suggest that professional collaborative culture, leadership responsiveness, support for behaviour-for-learning and provision of relevant and timely professional development are all associated with teacher improvement. (see link above for more details and image below for reference).

As a result of the first two days of the programme and associated gap tasks, participants are increasingly aware that teachers are most likely to improve when professional development:

• is aligned to need and outcomes (pupil/​student learning; practitioner etc)
• is sustained, has a regular rhythm and include follow-on support over a period of two terms or longer
• utilises robust evidence to supplement experience
• includes opportunities for collaboration, to discuss with colleagues the theory and practice of new ideas, how it is manifesting itself in their classrooms etc
• also includes opportunities to see practices expertly modelled and to receive expert feedback on their own efforts
• has effective links to external expert challenge is utilised to challenge, deepen and extend thinking
• is crucially, prioritised by school leadership

Our final day coming up later this term focuses on evaluation practices … we’ll share more on this in due course.

In their own words

Next steps

Inspired to find out more?

• Download the evidence sources mentioned – they are free and easy to engage with
• Seek out further evidence – follow us @UnityResSch and subscribe to our monthly newsletter here for more signposting to evidence, resources and opportunities within the Research Schools Network
• Sign up to our next Leading Learning Programme – secure your early bird place ​‘pre-promotion’ here by emailing your expression of interest or complete the form below: