Wiggins, M; Jerrim, J; Tripney, J; Khatwa, M; Gough, D; (2019) The RISE project: evidence-informed school improvement. Evaluation report. Education Endowment Foundation: London, UK.

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Abstract

Research leads Improving Students’ Education (RISE) aimed to test whether a research-informed school improvement model improved the mathematics and English attainment of pupils in years 10 and 11. Each participating school appointed a senior teacher as a Research Lead who was responsible for promoting and supporting the use of research throughout the school. The Research Leads were supported by a programme developed and delivered by a team from Huntington School in York. This included an initial eight CPD sessions, termly follow-up meetings over two academic years, a bespoke email newsletter, a website with resources, a peer network, and school visits by the RISE team. The team also provided a workshop for headteachers and annual workshops for English and mathematics subject leads. Research Leads were encouraged to deploy a research-informed school improvement model: 1. Decide what you want to achieve. Identify priorities using internal data and professional judgement 2. Identify possible solutions. External evidence summarized in the Toolkit can be used to inform choices 3. Give the idea the best chance of success. Applying the ingredients of effective implementation 4. Evaluate the impact of your decisions and identify possible improvements for the future 5. Secure and spread change. Mobilise the knowledge and use the findings to inform the work of the school to grow or stop the intervention. A randomised controlled trial was used to evaluate the impact of the intervention on GCSE grades in mathematics and English. 40 secondary schools were randomly allocated to either participate in RISE or to a control group which continued with business as usual. The impact evaluation examined the impact on two cohorts of pupils. The first cohort took their GCSE exams in the 2015/6 academic year and was only exposed to one year of the intervention. The second cohort was in year 10 in 2015/16, so took their GCSE exams in 2016/17 and was exposed to two years of the intervention. The accompanying process evaluation involved observations of training; interviews with Headteachers, Research Leads and heads of English and mathematics; and surveys of teachers. The project was funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the Department for Education and the Mayor’s London Schools Excellence Fund as part of a round of funding exploring Research Use in Schools.

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