Innovation in inspection

Developing insight and internal challenge

Stephen McShane HMI

Porto, September 2012

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Established October 2011

Provides internal challenge on how we inspect: evaluates inspection frameworks and informs practice

Uses analysis of evidence to look outwardly at particular issues: briefs the Chief Inspector on educational policy and identifies good/best practice – Chief Inspector raises issues with Minister

Includes Ofsted’s international work and contacts with the academic community – we want to learn about best practice elsewhere

Purposes of the Challenge and Analysis team

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Located in ‘Strategy Directorate’

Led by a Divisional Manager (HMI)

Four HMI with a wide range of experience and business support

Works closely with Ofsted’s data team to make better use of our own evidence resources

Work with public involvement teams to use web surveys etc.

The team

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Leading inspection framework evaluations

Carrying out new-style rapid investigations by direct contact with schools

Delivering a programme of insight presentations for the Chief Inspector and the Executive Board

Co-ordinating international and academic work

The work

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Satisfactory schools (leading to significant changes to schools framework)

Early Years registration process

Fostering and adoption

Education in children’s homes

‘Early Entry’ at GCSE examinations

The Pupil Premium

Access and Achievement: analysis of the education of children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds

Some recent projects

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• The pupil premium is provided directly to mainstream schools to support the education of disadvantaged pupils The funding is not ‘ring-fenced’ so schools can make their own choices how to spend it

• From September 2012 inspectors will evaluate the effectiveness of school’s use of the pupil premium funding as part of their routine school inspections.

Innovative practice: the Pupil Premium survey

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Asking a small number of additional questions on 143 ‘live’ inspections

Senior inspectors (HMI) led telephone surveys of 119 school leaders using a standard questionnaire

An on-line survey coordinated by the Public Involvement Team

The next stage is to begin to identify good and best practice

This project used new methods to gather evidence quickly from routine inspections and school leaders

• Schools often don’t see the pupil premium money as genuinely additional funding

• It is hard to tell what is genuinely additional activity, and what replaces or continues what would already have been done

Only 10% of schools say the Pupil Premium is ‘significantly’ changing the way they work, but most say it is having some impact

• Most often the funding is being spent on in-school staffing, including spending on teachers, teaching assistants, and non-teaching staff who have contact with pupils

• The staff were often delivering small group and 121 tuition, often focused on low attaining pupils, most often English and maths

Schools told us that the money is most often being spent on staff

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Review of inspection data and analysis of wide-ranging evidence – the current picture

Commissioning of academic research and evaluation of initiatives – the wider picture

Work with wider interested parties: Expert Panel, invitations to submit evidence and focus groups

Additional fieldwork (in particular areas of the country and in schools)

Innovative practice 2- Access and Achievement

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Thos Telford: 16% FSM, 96% successStreford GS: 13%

FSM, 100% success

St Peter’s Essex: 32% FSM, 4% success

Swanlea: 79% FSM, 65% success

Bethnal Gn: 64% FSM, 83% success

St Aldhelm’s Ac: 26% FSM, 0% success

Outcomes for FSM pupils still vary hugely between schools

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In order to understand the links between education and deprivation, it is necessary to see how things operate ‘on the ground’

Most recent insight work has indicated the importance of location and geography – they influence both the problems and the solution

Some of these issues – such as the impact of admissions processes – we have avoided commenting on in the past

We wanted to try a ‘test case’ to set out the types of analysis that Ofsted could do in future

Conducting a local case study