Workforce deployment strategies adopted in the school sector

Summary

Expressions of interest are sought to understand which workforce planning and deployment practices schools adopt, evaluate their effectiveness and efficiency, and what impact that have on pupils' attainment. The project will also evaluate what the school-specific context is that would allow these practices to be replicated more widely.

Background

Schools have the freedom to adopt their own approach to workforce deployment. However, the Department for Education has identified there are evidence gaps within this area, particularly surrounding workforce deployment practices at the school level.

Evaluation aims

In order to address these gaps, and to start to build a robust evidence base that can in future support schools in their organisational decision-making, the Department is looking to understand current approaches to workforce planning and deployment in schools, evaluate their effectiveness and efficiency, what impact they have, if any, on pupil attainment, and the scalability and applicability of these practices.

Methodology

The successful bidder will be responsible for designing and conducting the analysis and evaluation of current workforce planning and deployment practices adopted by schools. We anticipate the methodology will include:

• Case studies in schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs)
• Analysis to understand the practices schools employ and to examine their potential impact on overall performance; and,
• An assessment of the degree of applicability and scalability of these workforce practices.

The successful bidder will be expected to present the results of the project to the DfE, and prepare and finalise a final report combining all elements outlined above.

Additional information: Closing time is 5pm on 11th October 2017