Exploring the impact of involvement in NCSL activity on school improvement Pam Sammons and Qing Gu University of Nottingham School of Education University of Nottingham

National College of School Leadership (NCSL) Source: Purpose: to improve the lives and life chances of all children and young people throughout the country by developing world-class school leaders, system leaders and future leaders. Activities: programmes for leaders at every stage of their career. All NCSL programmes are underpinned by their Leadership Development Framework. The programmes provide flexible learning and combine national standards with the opportunity to tailor learning to individual leaders’ own development needs and the needs of their schools. Key strands: National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH); Leading from the Middle (LftM); Leadership Programme for Serving Headteachers (LPSH)

Key NCSL strands  The National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH): designed to prepare candidates for the rewarding role of headship. It is a benchmark qualification, underpinned by the National Standards for Headteachers.  Leading from the Middle (LftM): a 10-month professional development programme for groups of two to four middle leaders plus one leadership coach in primary, secondary and special schools. The programme undergoes continual renewal to ensure it meets the needs of today's middle leaders.  The Leadership Programme for Serving Headteachers (LPSH): sits within the Advanced Leadership stage of the Leadership Development Framework. It is open to headteachers with at least three years' experience. LPSH provides participants with the opportunity to take control of their learning and reflect upon their leadership amongst peers in a confidential environment.

The study Aims: explore patterns of involvement in NCSL activity amongst secondary schools in England during the period investigate relationships between level of engagement and measures of educational standards Hypothesis: a greater level of engagement in the NCSL activity would be associated with better outcomes and more improvement Measures: Ofsted inspection judgements of the quality of leadership and management, teaching and learning, school effectiveness and improvement DfES national assessment data on key attainment indicators and value added measures of pupil progress

Overall pattern of engagement (1) The level of engagement of secondary schools in England in NCSL activities

Overall pattern of engagement (2) Pattern of engagement of secondary schools in England in different combinations of NCSL activities

Hypothesis 1: Greater or earlier involvement is more common in lower attaining and higher disadvantage schools.

Socio-economic background, represented by the percentage of pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) as a measure of low family income Relationship between level of engagement with NCSL and FSM Hypothesis 1: socio-economic background

Relationship between time of engagement with NCSL and level of social disadvantage of intake (FSM band) Hypothesis 1: socio-economic background

Hypothesis 1: Urban/Rural schools NCSL urban/rural schools against the national distribution

Hypothesis 1: Urban/Rural schools Crosstabulation of Urban/Rural Schools and Level of Engagement

Hypothesis 1: Other contextual factors Type of establishment (community, voluntary and foundation schools) Voluntary schools are more likely not to be involved in NCSL activities than the other two types of schools. Community schools are more likely to see multiple engagement. Religious/Non-religious schools Church of England and Roman Catholic schools are more likely to see a lower level of engagement than non-religious schools.

Hypothesis 2: Greater level of engagement leads to more improvement

Hypothesis 2: Pupil progress and attainment outcomes Mean scores of KS2-4 VA by Level of Engagement

Hypothesis 2: Pupil progress and attainment outcomes Mean scores of KS2-4 VA by year of engagement

Hypothesis 2: Pupil progress and attainment outcomes Means scores of KS3-KS4 VA ( ) by year of engagement Schools that were engaged with the NCSL in 2000/1 and 2002/3 showed better valued added results over 2004 and In common with the finding on the DfES KS2-4 VA results, the 2004/5 group saw a slight decrease in their pupils mean scores for the KS3-4 VA indication in 2005.

Hypothesis 2: Pupil progress and attainment outcomes KS2-3 VA mean difference between the 2000/1 group and 2002/3 and 2004/5 groups of schools over 2004 and 2005

Hypothesis 2: Pupil progress and attainment outcomes Means scores of %5A*-C GCSE by year of engagement

Hypothesis 2: Pupil progress and attainment outcomes Means scores of KS4 % 5A*-C GCSE ( ) by level of engagement

Hypothesis 2: Ofsted inspection results Level of Engagement and OFSTED Results –

Summary (1) The data suggest that schools that did not engage with NCSL were higher attaining originally and showed higher quality in terms of inspection results. Thus this context needs to be recognised in exploring changes in attainment and improvement/effectiveness over time. Analysis on the level of social disadvantage (as measured by the percentage of pupils eligible for FSM indicator) suggests that schools facing greater challenges are more likely to take advantage of the opportunities for development provided by the NCSL.

Summary (2) Nonetheless, there was some reduction in the significant achievement gap from 2003 to 2005 in terms of the KS3 and KS4 VA indicators and key benchmark indicators (% of pupils achieving 5 or more grades A*-C at GCSE and equivalents and KS3 % of pupils achieving Level 5 or above in English and Science ( ). From inspection data, the results suggest that more highly engaged schools showed relatively better results in the measure of Headteacher leadership in than the leadership and management profile in

Summary (3) There appears to be an interesting association with the time point at which schools became engaged in NCSL courses and programmes. Those that started earlier were at a lower base generally, but have shown the greatest improvement in the different attainment measures. All the evidence points to positive association with improvement, mainly in terms of reduction in the achievement gap evident among different groups of schools over time. It is likely that a range of improvement initiatives and activities have affected secondary schools during this period and thus involvement in NCSL activity is unlikely to have acted in isolation. Nonetheless the emerging picture is encouraging particularly in relation to the improvement of leadership capacity.

CONTACT: Do these patterns hold for primary schools? What are longer term trends (2006 data)? Need for case studies of a range of selected schools Further Directions