Global Leadership: Getting Evaluation and Management Right

Use evaluation as a learning engine, not a paperwork exercise.

Challenge

As‑is processes were heavy or misaligned to classroom change.

Result

Lightweight cycles tied to live priorities created visible movement in rooms within weeks.

Outcome

Trust grew, decisions sped up and impact became easier to see and evidence.

Innovation

Two‑page operating system, coached rehearsal, artefact reviews, humane short‑form measurement.

Brief overview

Evaluation should serve better teaching, not paperwork. We turned performance management into a short learning cycle tied to rooms and artefacts.

Mechanisms that move practice

Leaders visited short slices; departments codified models; artefacts stayed next to numbers so discussion stayed concrete.

Human moments that matter

Colleagues practised aloud, mentors stood beside them and families received plain English communications that explained what would happen next.

Keeping workload net zero

Templates replaced reinvention; calendars aligned deadlines; any process that did not improve teaching time was retired.

Evidence and alignment

Signals were simple and believable - time to settled work, clarity of models, retrieval movement and short viva checks.

Impact

Calmer rooms, clearer modelling and steadier workload produced better retention and more minutes spent thinking about quality ideas.

Lessons for leaders and investors

• Publish decision rights so accountability feels fair and fast.
• Review artefacts with measures; prefer evidence close to the work.
• Protect rehearsal time, especially in EYFS and key stage 1 where foundations compound.
• Retire low‑value tasks to keep workload net‑zero.

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What this means for school leaders and investors

Global Leadership: Getting Evaluation and Management Right is a reminder that implementation is the difference between a strategy and a routine. The surface story is familiar: leaders are asked to improve outcomes, protect wellbeing and keep the organisation financially credible, all at once. The deeper issue is whether a school can turn big ideas into small, repeatable acts that pupils experience every day.

For leaders, this means choosing fewer priorities, defining the classroom behaviours that show those priorities are real, and then protecting staff time so the work is sustainable. A plan that reads well but cannot be enacted in a normal week creates cynicism, and cynicism spreads quickly.

For boards and investors, the best question is not 'Do we have a strategy?' but 'Do we have a routine?'. Evidence should include artefacts such as model lessons, common resources, coaching logs and clear decision points, not only narrative updates.

Full narrative expansion

In practice, successful schools describe the problem with precision before they reach for a programme. They agree what will improve, for whom, and how they will know. This avoids the common trap of launching a new initiative that feels busy but does not change teaching.

The strongest narratives are not heroic. They are operational. Leaders build routines for modelling, rehearsal and follow up, and they create simple artefacts that make quality easier to repeat. They also define non-negotiables so staff are not left guessing what matters most.

This is where a practical lens is helpful. It asks: what does the teacher do at 8.55 on a wet Tuesday? What do pupils do? What do leaders look at in the first five minutes of a visit? If those answers are clear, the rest of the story is likely to hold.

What changed in practice

Whatever the theme, the shared lesson is that evaluation should serve learning, not paperwork. Performance management systems that burden teachers with lengthy documentation but do not improve teaching are counterproductive. The insight was to turn evaluation into a short learning cycle tied to rooms and artefacts.

The practical act was publishing a simple two-page evaluation template that focused on curriculum clarity, modelling quality and next steps for development. Leaders visited rooms fortnightly for five minutes, reviewed artefacts alongside teachers, and captured brief notes on strengths and priorities. Annual reviews were short conversations tied to evidence collected throughout the year. Professional development was aligned to priorities identified in rooms rather than to generic courses.

Human moments that built culture

A teacher received feedback focused on what she could control and improve, rather than vague praise or critique. She felt supported rather than judged. A mentor sat beside a new colleague during a leader visit, helping interpret feedback and plan next steps. A staff member who had felt evaluation was performative reported feeling the new approach valued her work and helped her grow.

Results

Within a half term, evaluation conversations became shorter, clearer and more useful. Staff reported feeling supported rather than audited. Professional development attendance and engagement rose because sessions were tied to real needs identified in rooms. Retention improved because teachers felt valued and helped to grow.

Workload

The shift saved time because the two-page template replaced lengthy documentation. Fortnightly five-minute visits were respectful of time and focused on evidence rather than opinion. Annual reviews were shorter because they built on evidence collected throughout the year rather than requiring new data.

Evidence and scale

Tracked signals included the rate of fortnightly visits completed, clarity of evaluation notes, professional development engagement rates and staff retention. These were simple, credible and close to the work. Patterns held across diverse contexts, suggesting the approach scaled reliably when adapted to local systems while protecting core principles of brevity, evidence and learning.

Sources and further reading

Selected links to expand on the themes in this article.

• Global Education Monitoring Report (UNESCO)
• A School's Guide to Implementation (EEF and IEE UCL)
• National Professional Qualifications (DfE)
• Standard for teachers' professional development (DfE)
• Education Inspection Framework (Ofsted)