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Outstanding Teaching, Learning and Assessment Programme – Phase 7

Action Research Projects (English and Maths)Guidance for completing application form

IntroductionA team led by ccConsultancy in partnership with That Reading Thing and Skills for Life Network has secured funding from the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) to support action research projects that focus on approaches to teaching, learning and assessment in English and maths. This is a national Outstanding Teaching Learning and Assessment (OTLA) project, supported by a team of experts in Post-16 English and maths. The programme is funded and subsidised by the Department for Education and is open to eligible organisations funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

The OTLA (English and maths) programme aims to systematically improve the teaching, learning and assessment of English and maths through action research. For an introduction to the principles of action research, please see, for example, Cheron Verster’s article for The British Council’s website, Teaching English.

Projects will develop approaches and strategies that lead to improved practice, demonstrable through enhanced learner outcomes. Using action research as a vehicle, projects will develop and share approaches to outstanding practice across a wide range of contexts and topics.

Projects will be designed to have reach both within and between organisations. All who support direct teaching (including teachers, trainers, assessors, managers, administrative staff, employers, parents, carers and governors) will be given opportunity to participate, each sharing the overriding aim of devising, developing and supporting high quality, meaningful and effective teaching, learning and assessment processes. Learners will also play an integral role within projects, helping ensure that practices developed are learner-centred, inclusive and supportive of their progress.

ESFA-funded providers are invited to submit applications to be included in the OTLA programme. Funding, worth up to £5,000 for each organisation, is available to cover staff participation (including, for instance, remission / travel/ expenses). Note, project funding cannot be spent on equipment or any other form of capital expenditure. An additional package of support (managed by the OTLA programme team) will cover coaching / mentoring, CPD and dissemination costs. Funding will be distributed by the OTLA team directly to each participating organisation.

Applications are welcomed from individual organisations and/ or organisations working in partnership. Funding is available for a maximum of 27 projects. The themes of the projects will be determined by the sector but the ETF would particularly like to encourage action research projects focusing on approaches to teaching English and maths that:

seek to address current challenges in teaching, learning and assessment enhance attainment, retention and progression for learners.

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/action-research

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/action-research

To give you an idea of what other OTLA projects have done, please see the OTLA 6 (English) Summary booklet.

Organisations wishing to submit proposals for funding should read the following guidance before completing the online application form. This form is designed for applications from single organisations and/ or groups of organisations. The form must be completed and submitted by 9:00am on Monday 22nd June 2020.

We have also created a Screencast, ‘Is this project for me?’, which shares further guidance for applicants, including answers to frequently asked questions about the OTLA programme.

If you have any questions about the application process please e-mail us at [email protected].

mailto:[email protected]

https://youtu.be/APAydgRI4u0

https://forms.gle/7MnYfbTYmD49D8vT8

https://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/content/etf3157


General guidancePlease read this guidance carefully before completing the online form. You may find it useful to prepare your answers in this document before starting to complete the online form.

The application process is simple so as to encourage smaller organisations, who may not have dedicated bid-writing teams, to apply. We are not asking for a detailed action plan at this stage as the OTLA team will work with the successful applicants to develop this.

Our approach calls for groups of practitioners to work together on a common theme. This form is designed for single organisations or groups of organisations to apply to take part in projects. Outputs from the previous OTLA 6 (English) programme can be found here https://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/content/etf3157

All applications will be judged on their merits by a selection process which will take into account:

That the provider is eligible. That all proposal details have been completed. That the project is focused on research informed improvements in Teaching,

Learning and Assessment. That the project will achieve and measure learner improvement through a specific

intervention involving collaborative development between practitioners in different provider organisations.

That the project has clear outcomes with a realistic approach to demonstrating evidence of impact.

That the project enables collaboration within an organisation or between organisations and additional professional development opportunities that would not otherwise take place.

That the application clearly demonstrates it is practitioner-led and supported by a senior manager in the organisations involved.

Any innovative aspects of the project.


Organisation detailsOrganisations must be in receipt of funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Eligible providers may submit up to two different applications. Usually only one application will be funded per organisation but we may be able to accept applications from two different divisions within one organisation. Please note that we want to ensure that funding reaches as many providers and provider types as possible.

Organisation Name: Click or tap here to enter text.

UKPRN No (from UK Register of Learning Providers www.ukrlp.co.uk): Click or tap here to enter text.

Region: Choose an item.

Organisation Type: Choose an item.

Has your organisation previously taken part in an ETF-funded OTLA or Centres for Excellence in Maths research project? Choose an item.

If Yes, please describe your previous research

Click or tap here to enter text.

Briefly describe your organisation, e.g. its ethos/ values/ and the learners it supports with particular regard to maths and English (max 250 words).


Applicant detailsPlease enter here details of the person submitting the application. This is important as we will use these details to contact you to confirm that we have received your application and to inform you as to whether your application has been successful.

Name of Applicant: Click or tap here to enter text.

Job Title: Click or tap here to enter text.

e-mail address: Click or tap here to enter text.

Telephone number: Click or tap here to enter text.

http://www.ukrlp.co.uk/

Project typeWe have identified some different types of project that you can apply for. If your proposed project does not fit under one the project types listed, select Other and briefly describe your type of project.

1. Collaborative projects. Projects consisting of 2 to 4 organisations working together on a common research focus. We are especially interested in seeing applications that include organisations who have not previously received ETF project funding. Each organisation will receive £5,000 grant funding.

2. Dissemination projects. An organisation with previous action research experience leads and builds on their approach and works with 2 local partner organisations to explore the approach in other settings. Each organisation will receive £5,000 grant funding.

3. Follow-on projects. A single organisation with previous action research experience continues their research to further develop their approach and collect meaningful achievement data. The organisation will receive £5,000 grant funding.

4. Single organisation projects. Collaboration within a single organisation e.g. between English teachers and vocational tutors, English teachers with maths teachers, teachers with support staff and LRC staff or a recently merged partnership collaborating to research and develop a common approach to teaching English or maths across more than one site. The organisation will receive £5,000 grant funding.

Which of the project types would you like to be involved in? Choose an item.

Other: Click or tap here to enter text.

About your projectBriefly describe the Teaching, Learning and Assessment challenge/ issue you would like to address (max 250 words).


Please give a brief summary of your proposed project. Tell us what the problem is that you would like to address and how you know that it is a problem. Explain how the project will provide opportunities to investigate ways of improving teaching and learning experiences for learners and for colleagues,

Projects may focus on developing teaching, learning and assessment practices for English and/ or maths. You may wish to explore maths and English practices within different contexts, including, for instance:

Subject specialist teaching Vocational or technical teaching Other areas of teaching and learning (e.g. within educational support services/

student wellbeing/ library and information services)

Projects are encouraged to recruit and engage a project team that enables collaboration across either organisations, and/ or across departments within a single organisation.

What are the main activities that you intend to undertake as part of this project? (max 250 words)


Please briefly describe the activities that you intend to undertake during this project.

Project proposals should clearly indicate plans to engage staff and learners in (and throughout) the research process. A key outcome of the OTLA Programme will be that practitioners can lead their own learning in the future, having been guided towards contextually-appropriate development approaches. It is very important that practitioners themselves are those who will be developing and growing solutions to the challenges they face - we would expect to see this reflected in your proposal.

Please note that we do not expect applicants to be action research specialists. We will provide CPD (free of charge for project participants), which will support project teams to adopt and apply action research methodologies. CPD opportunities will also promote collaborative practices and support project design and dissemination.

The ETF expect OTLA projects to have at their heart the same core values and expectations as their previous work – Engagement with the Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers; a drive towards Ofsted outstanding (and similar success with other metrics); a clear focus on proven methodologies; intelligent and purposeful use of learner data; the need to work collaboratively/across organisational boundaries/across a variety of provider types to source and develop effective teaching and learning strategies; a desire to share best practice and disseminate outstanding approaches to teaching, learning and assessment across the sector.

How might your proposed activities impact on learner experience, achievement and attendance? (max 250 words)


You may wish to suggest how your proposed activities may achieve immediate classroom level changes, including improved learner engagement, greater commitment to peer-to-peer working or greater opportunities for constructive collaboration.

You may also suggest how discovering common approaches to recognised challenges will help staff across your organisation(s) to adopt shared strategies that will consolidate individual learners’ achievements.

So that other teachers might learn from your initiatives, it would also be helpful if you could identify how your proposed initiative may lead to improvements in attendance, retention and progression, and how these would be evidenced in attendance and progression records.,

What forms of evidence will you collect to help you judge the impact of your initiative? (max 250 words)


It is important to collect evidence throughout the action research process that will help you track and assess the effectiveness of your initiatives. Evidence could include, for example:

Annotated session plans Annotated examples of learner work Practitioner reflective accounts Artifacts/ resources (with accompanying commentary/ explanations) ‘Before and after’ attendance/ progress/ achievement data Transcripts/ notes detailing structured conversations/ interviews with learners/

practitioners

Each project will be required to identify a small number of learners whose progress will be tracked throughout the project. This will be presented as a series of learner journeys, which will help you understand the impact of the changes you make for learners during each action research cycle. Practitioners will also have opportunity to reflect on their teaching progress, aided by the ETF’s Professional Standards for FE Teachers.

The ETF is committed to robust evaluation of activity. An interim progress review will enable project refocusing if necessary, prior to producing a final report in which your project will justify claims of progress against the initial project aims. Your final project report will contribute to an evaluation of the whole programme.

Equality and DiversityHow will your project take account of equality and diversity? How will you ensure a diverse range of staff have the opportunity to participate and the delivery of the project supports a diverse range of learners?


A key feature of our approach is the mobilisation of providers and networks representing the breadth of the sector, engaging providers from diverse settings as equal partners in driving development of teaching, learning and assessment for the benefit of learners.

Please explain how you will ensure that a diverse range of staff and learners are included in (and can benefit from) your project.

Please note that we are actively seeking and encouraging applications from practitioners who hold protected characteristics (as listed under the (2010) Equality Act). We are also actively seeking and encouraging applications from practitioners who are working with socially-excluded and/ or marginalised learners, including those who hold protected characteristics. We especially encourage applications from BAME colleagues, who have been under-represented during previous OTLA programmes across all areas of FE.

Organisation Lead and DeputyA key element of this programme is the link between leadership, management and teaching. We will propose an “ecologies of practices” theoretical framework1 which adopts a whole-institutional approach to identifying and removing established unproductive practices. Frontline individual practitioners will be supported to effect long-term, sector-led professional development, beyond the life of the programme.

Each organisation must have a named Lead and a Deputy and have the support of a senior leader. Organisation Leads will play a key role in the project. They will be the main point of contact with the OTLA core programme team and will be required to submit a highlight report each month, an interim project report by the end of December 2020, a final project report by the end of June 2021 and lead on dissemination activities. The Deputy will ensure that, if the project lead has to move on, the project can continue in their absence.

Our experience from previous phases of OTLA projects suggests that the most successful projects were those that were led by experienced in-house facilitators who had some experience of practitioner research, who recognised individual practitioners’ needs, and who could contribute practical teaching strategies that met organisational requirements. This role could be filled by a teacher educator, CPD lead or advanced practitioner, ideally with good contact with maths and/ or English teachers, trainers and/ or support workers.

Organisation Lead Name: Click or tap here to enter text.




Deputy Name: Click or tap here to enter text.




Names and Job Roles of staff who will be directly involved as part of your project

Please list the names and job roles of direct participants in the project. The number of direct participants will vary depending on the size of the organisation. We accept that a small

1 Kemmis et al (2012) Ecologies of Practices (Chapter 3, pp 33-49) in Hager, P., Lee, A. and Reich, A. (eds.) Practice, Learning and Change, London : Springer.

training provider may only have one or two staff who will be able to work on the project but we would expect a large college to have approximately 10 to 12 participants.

Name Job Role

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ReachPlease give an estimate of numbers of staff and learners who may be influenced by the outcomes of the project.

How many other staff in your organisation may also be influenced by the project (i.e. by dissemination of outcomes)? Click or tap here to enter text.

How many learners will your project reach during the project? Click or tap here to enter text.

How many learners will your project reach across the organisation once your project findings are shared? Click or tap here to enter text.

Use of grant funding

Funding, worth up to £5,000 for each organisation, is available to cover staff participation (including, for instance, remission / travel/ expenses). Note, project funding cannot be spent on equipment or any other form of capital expenditure. An additional package of support (managed by the OTLA programme team) will cover coaching / mentoring, CPD and dissemination costs. Funding will be distributed by the OTLA team directly to each participating organisation. Please give a brief outline of how you will use the £5000 grant funding to support your project work.

What will you use your grant funding for? Click or tap here to enter text.

Senior Leader endorsing the project:All applications must be supported by a senior leader who can enable change within the organisation. Enter here the details of the senior leader from your organisation who is endorsing the project.

Name of Senior Leader endorsing the application Click or tap here to enter text.

Job title Click or tap here to enter text.

e-mail address Click or tap here to enter text.

Telephone number Click or tap here to enter text.

Short supporting statement from the Senior Leader (no more than 150 words) Click or tap here to enter text.

If you are submitting an application for a follow-on project or a single organisation project this completes your application.

If you are submitting an application for a collaborative project or a dissemination project please complete the following details to tell us about your partner organisations.

Partner Organisation 1 detailsOrganisation Name: Click or tap here to enter text.



















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Indicative TimelineActivity Date

Initial proposal submitted. 22nd Jun 2020

Proposals reviewed. 25th June, 2020

Successful applicants notified. 29th June 2020

Project inception meetings (key members of each project team meet with members of the OTLA team to agree project scope and objectives). Please note, they will take place online

By 31st July 2020

OTLA team assist project team to collectively design the research project and to agree the criteria that will be used to evaluate its success.

By 1st September 2020

Project plan outlining project scope and objectives mapped to the professional standards.

By 30th September 2020

OTLA team deliver free CPD to project participants. CPD will cover research methodology (including collaborative action research, joint practice development, lesson study), evaluation of impact, using the professional standards, etc.

By 31st December 2020

Project activity supported by OTLA team who will guide participants towards contextually-appropriate development approaches.

Aug 2020 – Jun 2021

Interim project report. 31st Dec 2020

Interim project evaluation and refocusing of project activity if necessary. 31st Dec 2020

Interim dissemination event Dec 2020

Dissemination activities (e.g. attendance at Professional Exchange Networks, regional network meetings, dissemination nationally).

Throughout 2020 - 2021

Final project report 30th Jun 2021

Final dissemination event June 2021

Final project reports and case studies submitted to ETF for publication By 15th July 2021

SummaryWe will provide:

Grants of up to £5,000 per organisation for the release of staff and relevant project expenses.

Support for coaching / mentoring, CPD, training, and dissemination activities. Free training for project participants on research methodology (including

collaborative action research, joint practice development, lesson study), evaluation of impact, using the professional standards, etc.

You will: Arrange a project inception meeting with the OTLA team by 31st July 2020 Work with the OTLA team to agree the design of your project by 1st Sept 2020 2019. Attend training for project participants on research methodology in Oct/ Nov 2020. Carry out agreed project activity supported by the OTLA team. Submit a brief highlight report by the 15th of each month reporting on progress,

planned activity, issues, risks and agreed metrics. Attend monthly project team meetings (online) Submit an interim project report by 31st December 2020. Work with the OTLA team to re-focus the design of your project if necessary. Participate in dissemination events throughout the year including (but not limited to)

national programme dissemination events in December 2020 and June 2021. Submit a final project report by 30th June 2021. Submit case studies for publication on the Practitioner Research and Evidence Portal

by 15th July 2021. Provide relevant achievement and attendance data for last year, this year and next

year.

https://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/prep

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