Forging Local Coherence: LocalEd project evaluation report

Greany, Toby; Cousin, Susan

Abstract

The LocalED project (2022 - 2024) was designed to test new locality models for the English school system led by local authorities, combined authorities and school led partnerships. Each of the nine localities involved focussed on one of three ‘pilot’ areas: i. Improving outcomes for vulnerable children; ii. Working as a Combined Authority; iii. Strengthening professional accountability. The overarching question for the evaluation was: What are we learning about leading successful locality working?

Local leaders worked to forge coherence in terms of how different partners worked together to improve place-based outcomes. Coherence was never ‘done’, so required continuous attention and effort. It was not about tight standardisation or straightjackets. Rather, it was about developing: collective moral purpose; a common cause; and integrated ways of working.

The overarching message from the evaluation is that local coherence is critical for successful and inclusive educational systems, and that that coherence can be strengthened through relatively low-cost forms of support and encouragement, as demonstrated by the LocalEd model.

More specific implications include:
• Where local leaders take time to focus on granular ‘human stories’ of individual children, and to understand what these examples tell them about fault-lines in their wider systems and support structures for vulnerable children, this can support transformative change.
• Where a Combined Authority works in collaboration with LAs, trusts, schools and wider partners to identify and address gaps in provision and to connect up professionals across boundaries, this can generate economies of scale and stimulate new ways of working.
• Where local school partnerships take collective ownership of professional accountability this can help to overcome some of the perverse outcomes that arise from hierarchical accountability systems.

Citation

Greany, T., & Cousin, S. (in press). Forging Local Coherence: LocalEd project evaluation report. Association of Education Committees

• Report Type: Research Report
• Acceptance Date: Jan 6, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jan 10, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 30, 2025
• Pages: 48
• Keywords: Locality leadership; Place; Education systems; Vulnerable children; school-led partnerships; Combined Authority; improvement science
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/43955268
• Publisher URL: https://localed2025.org.uk/monitoring/