Mary Sheard

School leaders’ engagement with the concept of evidence-based practice as a management tool for school improvement

Strategies that encourage direct linkage and exchange between researchers and practitioners are more likely to support changes in educational practice informed by research evidence. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain in linking effectiveness education research to real-world practice: addressing the knowing–doing gap. The paper describes and evaluates an enquiry with a small network of three primary schools to demonstrate a ‘proof-of-concept’ for evidence-informed practice. The enquiry evaluated the effectiveness of a five-stage process of engagement with proven programmes and practices as a management tool for school leaders to address their schools’ improvement agendas. The paper reports on the change process in each school over a one year period and the enablers and constraints associated with the concept of evidence-based practice as a driver for change in teaching and learning. The paper discusses the contribution the enquiry makes to a theory of learning where practitioners and researchers are equal partners in the learning process, and the relevance of this to managing school improvement through research use.

Schools, Governance and Community: A Next Practice Intervention

The article analyses an innovative scheme for the re-organization of school governance that sought to enhance the voice of community members and contribute towards the improvement of educational achievement. The scheme was located in the north of England, a region characterized by high levels of social disadvantage and low participation rates in higher education. The research adopted a case study methodology informed by observation, minutes of governors’ meetings, training workshops, conferences, face-to-face interviews, online surveys and local authority (LA) documentation. The fieldwork was conducted in 2007—2008. The findings suggest that although aspects of community engagement are present they are inhibited by a number of factors operating at the strategic level in LA policy. This results in an aspirational model of school governance that reflects traditional practices in which the LA intercedes as the indispensable broker and external agent for innovation and change. In order to move away from the restrictions of this approach the LA needs to expand its strategies to involve members of the community in governance and develop mechanisms to devolve greater decision-making power to the community.

Promoting primary pupils’ social-emotional learning and pro-social behaviour: longitudinal evaluation of the Together 4 All Programme in Northern Ireland

Using a mixed-methods randomised experimental design, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the ‘Together 4 All’ (T4A) programme in Northern Ireland. T4A was designed as a culturally adaptive version of the widely used Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) programme. Its purposes are to foster pro-social and positive social-emotional behaviour among children of different religions and cultural backgrounds. Interview, observation, and assessment data were collected from children, teachers, principals, and parents from six T4A and six control schools. Year 1 results indicated: (a) implementation was adequate to strong in most classes; (b) teachers, pupils, and parents reacted positively toward the curriculum; and (c) programme effects on social-emotional learning were weak and inconsistent, but generally in a positive direction, particularly in pupils’ knowledge/expression of feelings and pro-social behaviour. Implications for programme development and sustainability a...

Educational effectiveness of an intervention programme for social-emotional learning

Abstract The article presents a critical reflection of the use of mixed and blended methods in the first 2 years of a 3-year longitudinal randomised evaluation of PATHS (NI), a social and emotional intervention programme introduced in schools in a region of Northern Ireland (NI) traditionally characterised by religious and cultural diversity. As described by Durlak and Weissburg (2010), social-emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adolescents acquire the attitudes and skills to: (a) recognise and manage emotions, (b) set and achieve positive goals, (c) demonstrate care and concern for others, (d) establish and maintain positive relationships, (e) make responsible decisions, and (f ) handle interpersonal relationships effectively. Implementation of the PATHS (NI) programme began in six schools for children aged 4–11 in September 2008 as a pilot phase of the programme’s development. The article reports how the analyses of data obtained from mixed and blended methods produced complementary and contrasting results, and how this tension produced meaningful evaluation findings. Conclusions are drawn about the evaluation process and the contribution made by interviews with key stakeholders, teacher ratings of pupil behaviour, and lesson observations to our understanding of the educational effectiveness of a relatively newly-developed social and emotional intervention programme.