James Croft
Croft states that school-to-school collaboration is often seen as an important factor in improving pupil performance within the school system. However, he argues, most research in support of collaboration has been ‘dogged’ by poor methodology, is qualitative and tends to focus on staff development, rather than quantifiable student outcomes.
He believes there is a danger that collaboration is seen as an end goal, regardless of the educational merit, and that proponents of collaboration often confuse chain and federation effects with collaboration effects, which are different.
Croft claims that more verifiable research suggests that federation arrangements deliberately designed to improving pupil attainment, and which have organised themselves to deliver, are likely to be more impactful than collaborative efforts.
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