Project team

Dr Bronwen Maxwell, Dr Mike Coldwell, Eleanor Byrne, Bernie Stiell, Ben Willis, Sarah Reaney

Partner organisation

National Foundation for Educational Research (NfER)

Project date

2017-2021

Longitudinal evaluation of a major DfE fund to improve outcomes and social mobility for children and young people in England through CPD for teachers and leaders in areas and schools facing challenges

The Fund

This £75 million investment by DfE aims to improve the outcomes of children and young people, and their social mobility. This is to be achieved through projects that provide high-quality CPD and leadership development in areas and schools that are facing challenges.

The projects are also intended to stimulate the demand for and create a sustainable market in CPD and leadership development provision.

The Evaluation

• Comprises a fund-level evaluation and individual project evaluations. Round 1 project evaluations being undertaken by the SIOE are:
• NAHT ASPIRE: Innovation in teaching and learning (Edison Learning).
• Transforming Teachers Programme (Institute for Teaching).
• Behaviour management training (Tom Bennett Training).

• Aims to:
• Assess the extent to which the fund as a whole and the individual projects have met their objectives.
• Add to the evidence base on effective teacher CPD and leadership development.

• Is a theory-based evaluation with a mixed methods design incorporating:
• An impact evaluation analysing secondary data to ascertain the effect on pupil attainment and teacher and leader progression and retention.
• An implementation and process evaluation to assess intermediate outcomes, identify mediating factors and explore the plausibility of the fund and individual projects' theories of change.

Learn more about the project and its evaluation on the NFER's project website

Funders

Department for Education (DfE)