Summary
Teacher observation is an integral part of CPD in English schools. A recent US study found that structured lesson observation led to gains in student and teacher performance. The EEF funded this evaluation to explore the impact of structured teacher observation in the English context.
The evaluation did not show any overall improvement in combined maths and English GCSE scores for pupils of the teachers involved.
The evidence from this evaluation suggests that the Teacher Observation intervention had no impact on pupils’ GCSE English and maths attainment, compared to that of pupils in control schools. The analysis also suggests the intervention had no impact on FSM-eligible pupils’ GCSE English and maths attainment. There was no evidence of an impact on pupils’ GCSE English and maths attainment in departments selected to receive a higher dosage of observations compared to low-dosage departments.
The independent evaluation by researchers at the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) found that the GCSE pupils (15 and 16 year olds) whose teachers were eligible to take part made, on average, no more progress in combined English and maths scores than a similar group of pupils whose teachers were not eligible to take part.