Research and Insight
This section features Ambition Institute's research and insight into educational disadvantage, teaching, school leadership and system leadership.
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Early years explained
A series for primary headteachers and early years leaders exploring the four overarching principles of the early years foundation stage: the unique child, positive relationships, enabling environments, and learning and development. Get clear, practical guidance and expert insight on the areas that matter most.
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How to navigate the writing framework
The writing framework is non-statutory guidance for primary school teachers and leaders published by the Department for Education. These articles help teachers and school leaders to navigate the writing framework. Each focuses on a key area of writing and offers practical tips, reflection questions and action steps you can use to support your school’s ongoing writing journey.
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Why do people enter and exit teaching? An evidence-based review
Our latest research reviews what drives teacher recruitment and retention. Teacher shortages mean that schools and policymakers are often looking for ways to recruit and retain more teachers to the profession. We bring together 12 studies from eight countries to analyse the key factors affecting the decision, including salary, professional development and flexible working. Plus, we offer recommendations for school leaders and policymakers.
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A review of evidence-based teaching-assistant-led interventions
Many schools want to know how they can make the most effective use of their staff. Our latest research helps schools to improve the impact that teaching assistants have on pupils’ academic outcomes. It reviews the evidence on teaching-assistant-led interventions in the UK to identify which are the most effective. Plus, it shares tips for school leaders to consider when choosing an intervention.
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A research-based guide to pupil motivation and engagement
This guide helps teachers and school leaders understand pupil engagement and motivation, and why it is important in creating positive outcomes for pupils. It sets out 13 research-based insights on what works and why, to support turning the theory into practice.
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Exploring initial teacher trainees’ feedback orientation
Feedback orientation refers to how much a person values and accepts feedback. Could differences in novice teachers’ feedback orientation help us to understand why some improve more than others? Our Research team explored whether a novice teacher’s feedback orientation could predict how much their teaching skills would improve, and whether novice teachers’ feedback orientation changes during their training.
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Leading reading: putting evidence into practice
This guide explores what research reveals about the science of reading, shares 11 principles that define the underlying features of good practice to support leadership of reading, and brings the principles to life in four case studies showing how schools are putting the principles of effective reading leadership into action.
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The Expert Edits: The best conversations in education
As part of our commitment to getting better through sharing expertise and drawing on the best available evidence, we've put together free, downloadable journals filled with the best conversations in education.
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Advance organisers in teacher professional development
Do advance organisers help teachers learn new information during online professional development?
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Decomposition and recomposition in training novice teachers
Decomposition and recomposition: effects on novice teachers’ enactment and transfer of behaviour management practices
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Modelling evidence-based practice
Modelling evidence-based practice in initial teacher training: causal effects on teachers’ skills, knowledge and self-efficacy
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Teaching quality and economic performance
New research commissioned by Ambition Institute shows that great teaching is a key driver of economic growth. Read more.
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Developing non-cognitive skills: an exploration into schools' practice
A qualitative exploration of the approaches schools use to develop their pupil’s non cognitive skills.
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Deliberate practice for teacher educators: a handbook
Harry Fletcher-Wood shares our participants' experiences introducing and refining deliberate practice in their schools.
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The Learning Curriculum 3.0
Version three of Harry Fletcher-Wood's guide for teacher educators on how to teach teachers the science of learning.
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Remote Teacher Development: A guide
Ambition Institute's Teacher Education Fellows share insights on how to support pupils and colleagues remotely.
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School improvement in challenging contexts
This qualitative study gives us a fascinating, albeit small, insight into the behaviours of headteachers with different levels of expertise in response to similar school improvement challenges across England.
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People Power
Our latest research looks at how MATs can lead the way and help England be the best place to be an educator.
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Building Trusts
The second piece of research in a three-phase project by Ambition School Leadership investigating the traits of high-performing multi-academy trusts.
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Learning: What is it, and how might we catalyse it?
The paper endeavours to provide a coherent, high-level overview of the science of learning – organised around nine insights, and their implications for our classrooms.
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What makes an effective MAT?
Ambition School Leadership has conducted a three-phase project investigating the characteristics of high-performing multi-academy trusts (MATs).
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How to use Incremental Coaching to support teacher development
Ambition School Leadership has published the first ever report into incremental coaching, a form of teacher development. The report suggests the practice is an effective way to foster the professional growth of teachers and leaders.
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The Trust Diagnostic: a path to expertise, collaboration and peer review
Written by Sir David Carter this report is our first step in codifying and sharing best practice in multi-school improvement.
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Research Insight: Effective middle leadership
What does it mean to be a great middle leader? Sam Baars describes LKMco's findings.
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Persistently disadvantaged children make 20 months less progress in opportunity areas
Our research shows that persistently disadvantaged children in areas of low social mobility made 20.1 months’ less progress than their wealthier peers across England in 2015.
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Executive Headteachers: What's in a name?
This report examines the role and impact of Executive Headteachers (EHT) in England's schools.
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Expert Teaching: What is it, and how might we develop it?
This paper attempts to pull together the best available evidence from education and beyond, to offer a coherent, high-level overview of what expert teaching is, and how we can develop it.
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Designing Professional Development for Teacher Change
This paper reviews the existing evidence around professional development to argue for the importance of an underlying theoretical model teacher educators can use.
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Teaching Teachers: The bets of American teacher educators
A paper for teacher educators, by Matt Hood and Harry Fletcher-Wood
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School Leader Expertise: What is it and how do we develop it?
This paper explores the topic of school leadership, attempting to answer the question: ‘school leader expertise, what is it and how do we develop it?’.
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Isolated schools: Out on a limb
This research paper explores the relationship between school performance and relative geographical isolation in England, defined as the straight-line distance to the next nearest secondary school.