From One School to Many? Reflections on the Impact and Nature of School Federations in England

• In Event: Against the Tide: From the Margins to the Mainstream

Abstract

Objectives
School-to-school collaboration has been central to many improvement efforts over recent decades. In an attempt to promote both improvement and equity current developments in England have included changing formal governance arrangements to promote collaboration for improvement through ‘federations’ and ‘chains’ of schools. However, federations and school chains remain a relatively under-explored area. Furthermore, there is a noticeable absence of research exploring the impact of such arrangements on student outcomes. This paper draws on a programme of research involving the national evaluation of federations, the first quantitative study of the impact of federations on student outcomes and a longitudinal qualitative study of the development of federations to reflect on their potential to support systemic change.
Perspective
The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential for scaling up of improvement from one school to many by formalizing arrangements for collaboration to improve outcomes for all students. This paper examines impact, possibilities, potential and pitfalls of this approach through optimistic, pessimistic and realist perspectives (Sullivan and Skeltcher, 2002). These perspectives draw heavily on exchange theory (Levine and White, 1962), collaborative empowerment (Himmelman, 1996), political economy (Benson, 1962) resource-dependency theory (Emerson, 1962) and evolutionary theory (Alter and Hage, 1993) to explore impact, structures and processes associated with school-to-school collaboration and improvement.
Methods/ techniques
This paper synthesizes the findings from a number of empirical studies including:
• the national evaluation of the federations programme (Chapman et al., 2010),
• A qualitative study of leadership and governance arrangements in federations and other forms of ‘new structural arrangements’ (Chapman et al., 2008), and
• The first quantitative study of federations on student outcomes (Chapman et al., 2009 and 2011)

Results/ conclusions
The findings from the quantitative studies suggest federations designed to raise the performance of poorly performing schools impact student outcomes. There is also evidence suggesting federations of academies (independent state schools similar to charter schools) also have a positive impact on student outcomes. However, the qualitative findings suggest the relationship between federation and educational change is complex and heavily influenced by the local context. Leadership, management and co-ordination are key to building cohesive and trusting cultures that promote the transfer of effective classroom practice across organizational boundaries. The paper will draw on a range of illuminative examples of practice to examine the relationship between school context and the conditions associated with developing more successful federations.
Scientific/ Scholarly significance
In conclusion, this paper reflects on the findings to highlight potential possibilities and pitfalls associated with developing a federated school system with the potency to impact positively on student outcomes. In so doing, this paper makes a contribution to the emerging knowledge base regarding the power of school-to-school collaboration and networking as a mechanism for educational change.

Author

• Christopher James Chapman, University of Glasgow