Seeing as research is the hot top and that I enjoy a splash of data here and there, let me share this corker of a databite (like a sound bite, only based on data) from a reputable education charity (backed by a leading Academy chain and government grants) at a Middle Leader event – 15 July, 2014.
Recent OECD data reveals that there is four times more variation in pupil performance within a school than between schools in England. This means that two children going to the same school are likely to receive a very different standard of education due to the inconsistency in the quality of teaching. A great headteacher cannot achieve consistently high quality teaching on their own, they need great middle leaders to drive this.
The bold effect was added manually by me. Recent. Interesting. Reminiscent of the world renowned Pacific North West Tree-Octopus – where did this information originate? The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – therefore, given it’s outrageous Scrabble value, it must be right.
Search the web – you will find numerous references to the fact that as much as 80 per cent of pupil outcome comes from within schools – four times more than that which occurred between different schools. Dig a little deeper, you will find out that this reference is itself, now a teenager, (12 years old), it takes 12 months to collect the data, and that the response rate too low from UK schools was too low to ensure comparability.
Leaders – at whatever level, question what you read.
Interesting. I’ve heard this one myself a few times in the last couple of years. It would be interesting to see some up to date and relevant data on this.