Using data Effectively for School Improvement and School to School support Richard Thomas February 2016

Using data Effectively for School Improvement and School to School support School leaders are increasingly treated as football mangers and regarded as if you are only as good as your last set of results. Even though we know that performance tables are inaccurate and not a true measure of a school’s worth, they are still the main criteria that DfE/Ofsted use to categorise schools. I believe Performance Data just lets us ask questions - they are not the answers nor the solutions. It is how you are dealing with the questions that is a true measure of performance. In reality, issues of school improvement are rarely single simplistic solutions. They are a whole range of factors: Student profile by ability, gender, ethnicity and deprivation Teacher efficacy, recruitment and training. Leadership efficacy, recruitment and training Resources, physical environments, timescales and of course money! It is only when we can access that level of understanding that we can learn from each other. If we assume that all schools are looking for continuous improvement, and if I were trying to improve my school, I would need accurate self analysis of my past and current performance so I could effectively focus my efforts on staff/student support. If I had access to similar schools, whose performance is better than mine (or schools whose performance I might aspire to) and see how they have achieved that success; then my school could benefit from that professional sharing and collaboration. But sometimes competition and other barriers get in the way.

Using data Effectively for School Improvement and School to School support There are a whole range of data sources available at different times of the year. Having access, in September, to over 200 secondary schools’ data in Eastern Region should give us a wide pool of contexts and performance data to help us share solutions. But are we using data effectively?

Using data Effectively for School Improvement and School to School support

Contextual dataNumberPercentage All Pupils Male Female Free School Meals: Low Prior Attainment: Middle Prior Attainment : High Prior Attainment: APS on Entry of the Cohort English as first language: SEN without statement: SEN with statement: CLA: White British: Other Ethnic Origin: 2015/16 Year 11 Cohort (Table 1) What will be published in the performance tables and RAISEonline from 2016 Performance data/predictions DfE (expectation*) school (prediction) Attainment 8 Progress 8 Attainment 8 Disadvantaged Progress 8 Disadvantaged Percentage attaining grade 4 in both En/Ma % Ebacc % Ebacc Disadvantaged The above is not an exhaustive or obligatory list, but provided for guidance. * Progress 8 measure in 2016 and 2017 Guide for maintained secondary schools, academies and free schools August 2015

Using data Effectively for School Improvement and School to School support Contextual dataNumberPercentage All Pupils Male Female Free School Meals: Low Prior Attainment: Middle Prior Attainment : High Prior Attainment: APS on Entry of the Cohort English as first language: SEN without statement: SEN with statement: CLA: White British: Other Ethnic Origin: 2015/16 Year 10 Group Sizes (Table 2) Performance data/predictions DfE (expectation *) school (prediction) Attainment 8 Progress 8 Attainment 8 Disadvantaged Progress 8 Disadvantaged Percentage attaining grade 5 in both En/Ma % Ebacc % Ebacc Disadvantaged The above is not an exhaustive or obligatory list, but provided for guidance. * Guidance 2015 Attainment 8 estimates Attain8-2.pdf What will be published in the performance tables and RAISEonline from 2017

Using data Effectively for School Improvement and School to School support

Possible Methods of Data use for School Improvement Suffolk Rag rating - who is it for? How will it improve schools? Use of Eastern Region Data – to find similar schools and context – Sept GCSE results and we are currently investigating Regional ALPS Regional Analysis Teaching Schools – Capacity and Expertise? What access do they have to detailed data. Single School External Analysis – Consultant gives you an independent view of your school – Oct/Nov first data releases. Joint analysis – sharing of data and improvement plans e.g. Triads groups – FFT collaborate or other systems – this should be voluntary but independently QA. Cost? Systems/protocols Establishing two way systems/protocols to share good practice when schools ask for help. Who co-ordinates? Cost?

Using data Effectively for School Improvement and School to School support Data is a starting point not an end in itself. Improvements in a school’s performance do not take place on an excel spreadsheet. Improvements take place in the classroom