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ECM premium project: full report

Author: QiSS, Canterbury Christ Church University and Leadership for Learning, University of Cambridge
Subject: Planning, quality and evaluation
Audience: Headteachers, Middle leaders and aspiring headteachers
Date of publication: June 2008   |   File format and size: PDF, 199 Kb

This report presents an overview of the findings of a study into school leadership, the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda and school standards. It provides evidence for a link between ECM and school standards - known as 'the ECM Premium' - and identifies the leadership characteristics that underpin this link.

The project was designed to provide us with a deeper understanding of the leadership implications of this to support leaders who wish to accelerate their progress in this area.

We have looked to some extent at the potential impact of ECM as a national and local strategy on standards in the medium to long term, but the primary focus of the project has, however, been on the impact that projects and programmes in individual schools and clusters have on standards in their own school(s).

The sample of schools in this study was selected from a list of 25 schools that met the following criteria:

  • Engagement with the QiSS quality assurance processes for both study support and extended services, through which a soundly established provision of extended services has been demonstrated.
  • In receipt of a good or outstanding grading in a recent Ofsted report for overall effectiveness and for leadership and management.
  • With a contextual value-added score that demonstrates significant progress in raising standards of attainment.

As the majority of the schools were located in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, the need for close collaboration with statutory and voluntary agencies was of particular significance. The outcomes of the study include case studies and leadership development materials.

A summary of this report is also available.