DOCUMENT RESUME ED 394 170 EA 027 487 AUTHOR Myers, Kate, Ed. TITLE School Improvement in Practice: Schools Make a Difference Project. REPORT NO ISBN-0-7507-0440-3 PUB DATE 96 NOTE 180p. AVAILABLE FROM Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis, Inc., 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol, PA 19007 (paperback: ISBN-0-7507-0440-3; clothbound: ISBN-0-7507-0439-X). PUB TYPE Books (010) Reports Evaluative/Feasibility (142) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Action Research; *Educational Improvement; Effective Schools Research; Foreign Countries; Local Government; Program Effectiveness; Program Evaluation; *Program Implementation; *School Effectiveness; Secondary Education IDENTIFIERS *England (London) ABSTRACT When the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was disbanded in 1990, 13 separate education authorities were created in its place. Two years after its creation, in partnership with all of its secondary schools, one of the new LEAs initiated a school-improvement project to raise standards called Schools Make A Difference (SHAD) .This book describes the project from the perspectives of the people involved and describes which strategies worked and which did not. SMAD was based on research from four fields--school effectiveness, school improvement, management of change, and action research. Findings of the research are discussed in the prologue. In chapter 1, Christine Whatford, the director of education in the borough, explains the strategic, resourcing, supporting, and monitoring roles that LEAs play. In chapter 2, Joan Farrelly, the deputy director at the time SMAD was created, describes how the idea of a school-improvement project became a reality. Kate Myers, in the third chapter, relates what happened during the project from the project manager's perspective. The two following chapters are accounts from participating schools, Burlington Danes and St. Mark's. In chapter 4, David Lees, the deputy head at Burlington Danes, discusses his initial, less than enthusiastic reactions and occurrences that made him change his mind. Sue Gregory, the coordinator at the school, describes what the school attempted to do and what it succeeded in doing as part of the SMAD initiative. In chapter 5, Lesley Mortimer, the head of St. Mark's school, describes the value of the program despite the recent decision to close the school. In chapter 6, Keith Pocklington, the SMAD evaluator, discusses the project from the external perspective and identifies three areas in which intended developments were slow to come about. The final chapter is by Patrick Leeson, the acting chief inspector, who explains Low the local authority has supported the s,:hools following the formal end of the project. Four tables, four figures, and an index are included. References accompany each chapter. (LMI) -0 go- .sk oir U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Oliico of Educational Research and improvement EDy CATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it O Minor thanges have been made tO improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this , document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY I st TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERIC) 4- I'I 14 . ts=CTP.OPY AVAILABLE 4 School Improvementin Practice To l'aul, Sarah, Peter, Ben,Chloe, Charlie, Jack, Torn,Ben, Dan, Jody and their childrcn'schildren. 'Jt School Improvement in Practice: Schools Make A Difference Project Edited 41, Kate Myers Fa Imer Press (A member of the Taylor 8c Francis (iroup) London Washington. D.C. UK The Falmer Press, 4 John Street, London WC1N 2ET USA The Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis Inc., 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol, PA 19007 K Myers, 19% ill rights reserivd. No part of this publication may be repmduced stored in a retrieval sptem. or transmitted in any form or hy any means. electronk. mechanical. photocopying, recording or othertme, without permissum in writing from the Publisher First published in 1990 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-M-Publication Data are available on request ISBN 0 7507 0439 x cased ISBN 0 7501 0440 3 paper Jacket design by Caroline Archer "rypeset in 11.13 pt Garamond by Graphicratt Typesetters Ltd , Hong Kong Printed in Great Britain hy Burgess Scu.nce Press, Basingstoke on paper which has a specified pit value on final paper manufacture of not less than '5 and is thenfon, acid free' Contents Acknowledgments Foreword Kate Myers Introduction 1 Kate Myers Prologue Research in Practice 6 Kate Myers 1 The Director's View 28 Christine Whatford 2 The Chief Inspector's View 35 Joan Fa rrelly 3 The Project Manager's View 43 Kate Myers 4 A School's View Burlington Danes School 74 Sue Gregory and David Lees 5 A School's View St Mark's School 98 Donna Drake and Lesley Mortimer with Mike Dick 6 The Evaluator's View 123 Keith Pocklington Epilogue The Schools Make a Difference Project 158 Patrick Leeson List of Contributors 163 Index 165 V : , Acknowledgements Acknowledgements are due to the education department of the Lon- don borough of Hammersmith and Fulham for having the foresight and courage to mount an innovative and exciting project in a climate where such initiatives have not heen easy to introduce or sustain. The contributions of the heads, staff and students of all the project schools was the essential ingredient to its success as was the continual support from colleagues at the Institute of Education, London Univer- sity, especially Louise Stoll, and the generosity of colleagues in other schools and education establishments. It was the hard work, good humour and perseverance of the project coordinators, the assistance and cooperation of many colleagues in the education department, es- pecially Yvonne Mullarkey the SMAD administrator, the ongoing reassur- ance from the project evaluator and, in particular, the support, experience and wisdom of Joan Farrelly, that kept me going through usually en- joyable and often challenging times! Much appreciation is due to the following for constructive comments on early drafts: James Leannonth, Agnes McMahon, I Iarvey Goldstein, Louise Stoll, Anna Clarkson and to Sue Adler for compiling a user-friendly index. Finally, the late Desmond Nuuall was involved in early discussions about SMAD and his conviction that schools could make a difference and his advice about how to demonstrate this, informed the way the project operated. foreword 'Itis better to light a candle than curse the darkness.' (Chinese Proverb) When the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was disbanded in 1990, thirteen separate education authorities were created in its place. Two years after its creation, in partnership with all of its secondary schools, one of these fledgling LEAs instigated a school improvement project, called Schmls Make a Difference (SMAD). The story of SMAD is the focus of this book. Introduction The Local Context When the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was disbanded in 1990, thirteen separate education authorities, includingHammersmith and Fulham, were created in its place. Hammersmith and Fulhamshares many of the characteristics typicallyassociated with inner-cities. Many of the traditional manufacturing activities of this part of Londonhave left, with a consequent loss of manual jobs. Unemployment ishigh. Much of the housing stock was built in the nineteenth centuryand still needs extensive repair. Large, older, council estates sufferfrom poor environments which exacerbate the social andeconomic problems of those who live there. Owner occupation has greatlyexpanded in the last twenty years and has been accompanied by considerablesocio- economic change. However, the issue of the provisionof `affordable' housing has become very important within areas of multipledepriva- tion in the borough. Overall, the borough has the fourth highest population densityof any London borough. A fifth of theborough's population comes from the ethnic minority communities. The largest ethnic minority groupis the Irish followed by people from the Black Caribbean,Black African, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian and other Asian communities. Morethan eighty languages are used in the borough. In May 1994, 44 per centof secondary school students were eligible for free school meals a rise of 6 per cent compared with January 1993, when theSchools Make A Difference (SMAD) project started. This compares with a nationalfigure of 17.6 per cent of secondary pupils eligible for freeschool meals. Labour has a substantial majority of seats on the local council. The Schools The schools involved in SMAD were: Burlington Danes School Fulham Cross Secondary School 0 Introduchon The 1 lammersnuth Sc hool( sine e renamed The Phoenix High School ) Henry Compton Secondary School Hurlingham and Chelsea Secondary School Lady Margaret School Sacred Heart High School St Mark's Church of England School There are eight LEA secondary schools in the horough ( plus one grant- maintained school). Four of the LEA schools are single sex, three girls' and one boys'. Four of the eight schools are voluntary aided, three Church of England and one Roman Catholic. One of the schools has a sixth form and the others have a common sixth form arrangement off- site. When the project was first discussed with the heads, two of them were in their second year of headship. During SMAD three heads left the local authority, two schools had acting heads and two newly appointed heads started their new jobs during the last term of the project. The Director of Education revealed in her recent annual report that soon after her appointment in 1989 she was informed that overall the level of education in the secondary sector was not satisfactory. inbroad terms, based on inpublished information given to the Director and Chief Inspector by the local ILEA inspectors before aholition by the Regional I IMI, and by the initial moM- toring work clone by our own Inspectorate in our secondary schools, it would he reasonable to say that only 2 of the schools at the time of transfer were not cause of some concern and a further 3 were a cause for considerable concern.