Evaluation report on measures to enable colleges to improve performance

1. External evaluation report
Beyond coasting: the journey to excellence
Pilot purpose Conclusions
This short report draws on two more 1. Both colleges’ capacity to improve has been
detailed reports for each college in the pilot boosted by observable shifts in their leadership
project to work with the leadership of culture
middle-performing colleges:
Between 70%-93% of managers in both colleges
Gloucestershire College and Northampton
became confident of their staff commitment to - and
College. CEL specifically developed a
the capacity of their colleges to-improve. This
change methodology with Bath
demonstrably rose 15%+ in the college in which we
BCG used 30 days to work
Consultancy Group (BCG) to move FE
could measure it
with the Principal and
colleges from satisfactory to good to
managers of each college 2. The commitment of the Principals to their
excellent and commissioned them to trial it.
Gloucestershire: February-
This report outlines the project and four own leadership learning was central to change
July 2007;
key conclusions we think emerge from the
Well over 2/3 of managers in each college testified
Northampton: July 2007-July
perception data gathered about a project
to positive changes in their Principals leadership
2008
designed to:
3.We think the strongest impact may have been
• Accelerate progression from satisfactory on the confidence of managers to challenge
total improvement process ltd
or good to excellent, in particular shifting and act
External evaluators of this
the capacity to improve
project. Our evaluators conduct “More willing to challenge peers supportively,
• Raise achievement levels action-centred evaluations of clearer with team about priorities.”
capacity-building projects
• Build greater educative capacity amongst involving 60 UK FE colleges, the 4. We think the outcomes of this action
teachers and lecturers leading to an UN, Council of Europe, UK research indicate powerful opportunities to
County Councils and Regional
enhanced experience for learners galvanise colleges neither in crisis nor yet on a
Development Agencies. They
strong trajectory of improvement
• Lead to greater local partnership and advise the Association of
joint endeavour on local skills
In the college where we could measure it every
Colleges.
improvement and economic improvement score on 17 improvement questions rose an
average of 22% in 7 months

2. External evaluation report
Beyond coasting: the journey to excellence
Gloucester College is the “For curriculum managers there is an
“The Principal has released his need largest college in its region and overall view that we are moving in the
to be involved in all aspects of work one of the largest in the UK. It right direction and achieving…there's
and appears to be trusting his operates from mainly two sites been some quite dramatic moves - system
managers more. He now lets decisions and has about 40,000 learners in busting - there are fewer intransigent
on whether to allow a learner back to Further and in Higher Education. It areas. There is more optimism among
college after exclusion be made by has recently moved into new middle managers.”
another colleague.”
accommodation
Northampton College has
approximately 13,000 learners, a turnover
of almost £28 million and over 600 full
time members of staff. it provides Higher
Education courses funded through The
In its 2004 full inspection the college
University of Northampton. It is currently
was judged satisfactory. Leadership
beginning construction of new buildings In Spring 2008 Gloucester College was
and management were judged
judged to be a good college with strong
satisfactory. Improvements to finances
leadership from principal and senior
and the quality of teaching and
managers having led much improvement
learning were noted, as was improving
since 2004. Strategic direction with
retention. Targets were challenged as
In its last full inspection in 2005 the challenging targets was judged to be
insufficiently ambitious. Strong
college was judged satisfactory. understood and shared by staff, along
Leadership and management were judged leadership and communication were with a strong commitment to continuous
noted but quality assurance and action
satisfactory. It had very successfully improvement.
managed a merger with Daventry Tertiary planning were questioned.
College. Its curriculum management, “I feel that the Principal is much more
“My manager now trusts me to make
implementation of quality assurance and aware of the impact his response to
informed decisions on running my
self-assessment were questioned and its issues has on those around him and has
department. I do not have to justify
observations criticised as insufficiently therefore directed a lot of effort at trying to
every decision made and my budget
rigorous. Subsequent visits showed endure he gives out the right message, in
is my responsibility, This is a real
observations to be improving and some the right way.”
departure”
improvement in using quality data

3. External evaluation report
Beyond coasting: the journey to excellence
BCG methodology Evaluation focus Data collected
BCG’s approach integrated work on strategy, The project in Gloucestershire College
A questionnaire - asking questions
leadership and culture and began with a started in February 2007 and completed
derived from extensive interviewing
series of meetings with the Principal and in October 2007. Evaluation started in
of managers and stakeholders -
senior managers, enabling them to name and July and focused on emerging
requested respondents to score
tackle the challenges within the college. outcomes.
questions and also provide
This was followed up by a leadership and
In Northampton College evaluation examples of change It was put to 75
partnership workshop for managers based
started in July 2007 and a managers in one college of whom
on the work of Barry Oshry and designed to:
questionnaire for the manager 50 responded and 60 managers in
• Help managers better understand the issues
population with the same core of another of whom in January 39 and
that colleagues and customers are facing
questions was used in both colleges - in July 28 responded
and learn strategies for creating effective
but in Northampton was administered in
partnership up, down and across
January 2008 and again in July 2008 for
organisational
comparison.
• Learn strategies for creating effective
The main reason for the interviews was
partnership working up, down and across
organisational lines to identify the success criteria used by
A DCFS perspective
managers to judge the success of the
• Both Principals chose to use the BCG
intervention. “It's about engagement at institutional
consultants for coaching conversations.
level where they are chugging along
The focus of the questionnaires was a
• BCG facilitated follow up sessions with very nicely ..... it's getting their buy
combination of local success criteria
manager groups to reinforce the positive in.... Something very specific aimed
with leadership criteria used by
patterns of change. at that group. The core of it seems to
OFSTED to judge capacity to improve
be peer-to-peer support for the
and success criteria identified in
• In Northampton they helped the college
Principal.... which can only come from
experiment with cross-functional action- discussion with DCFS (formerly DfES).
building a foundation of respect .....
inquiry groups to address change tasks.
We were looking to see if BCG helped that is not a category of intervention
each college raise its “trajectory for
• Final workshops took stock of progress and you get from rent-a-consultants.”
identified next steps. improvement”

4. External evaluation report
Beyond coasting: the journey to excellence
Perception scores high …about behaviour
“My staff have noticed how much
The proportion of managers in both colleges who
Conclusion 1 more they have seen (the Principal)
scored their college’s capacity to improve at 6/10
and have appreciated the praise he
or more ranged between 70-90% (see Appendix). In
Both colleges’ capacity to has given them.”
Northampton College their scores improved
improve has been boosted by “…more willing to challenge peers
between January and July by about 20%
supportively”
observable shifts in their
Typical observations about what is now “Quality Improvement Network
leadership culture
established and providing network
being communicated
support against a common agenda.
“More roadshows which give more staff the
“..the culture we need to
New leadership and management
opportunity to attend and find out what’s going on”
make the yoghurt!”- Manager
“The message from (the Principal) is a lot clearer now: development appointment at senior
level.”
If leadership cultures work at three quot;Are you happy working in a merely Satisfactory
levels (see Edgar Schein, (Grade 3) college or would you rather be working in
inventor of the term “corporate one that is good or better?quot;. That has made them able
culture”) then we would argue to discuss concerns with senior managers.”
they are:
“The managers have a new vocabulary with which to
…about mindset
• What is communicated
discuss roles and behaviours”
• Behaviour “There is more shared responsibility
• Mindset about making it happen ......now we
Example of significant change
We see indicators of change in know satisfactory is not good
“There is greater involvement of staff rather than a
both colleges at all three levels enough ......there was a
purely ʻtop downʼ approach. An example would be the
impacting on two key aspects of complacency, we are mobilised to
recent staff conference which brought strategy down to
capacity to improve: action now ...... we are worried now
a level that could be understood by most staff and
• The ability of managers to focus and feeling inadequate but doing
managers and actually engaged them rather than
on and act to make something”.
asked them to ʻrubber stampʼ something.) The strong
improvements “I think I now look at things from
message from the Principal that ʻonly the best is good
• The commitment of staff to other peoples point of view and try
enough for our learnersʼ has strong resonance with
improvement and confidence in to understand the frustrations they
most staff in the college and is a clear indication of his
their managers to lead have with some of my actions”
vision for the college.”
improvement

5. External evaluation report
Beyond coasting: the journey to excellence
”More robust statements being
Perception scores
made about the goals of the
Between 70-75% of managers in both colleges
Conclusion 2
organisation, relaying the message
rated positive changes in the leadership behaviour
that satisfactory is no longer good
The commitment of the of their Principals. In one college the Principal’s
enough, more visibility, Big
Principals to their own shift dominated perceptions - in another over a
Breakfast for staff. Has been open
longer period it seems to have bred a shift amongst
leadership learning was
about own personal development
managers across the college.
central to change journey”
In our experience Principals can
“The Principal has made reference
often underestimate their influence.
himself to his adoption of the
Managers in both colleges focused
What they learnt included… project’s principles. I welcomed his
on their Principals, each of whom
interactive” roadshows”
“My personal learning has been that we've not as
had reputations for very different
yet found a way of having the conversations we
styles of leadership. One thing that
characterised both was an openness need to have about performance…to
accommodate strict notions of accountability… a
to change - significantly facilitated by
the trust earned by their respective steely core within a humane and respectful
culture ..We have now managed to find more of
BCG consultants. Another was a
But the change can be
an edge in our relationships and I expect my
readiness to set an example of
learning by deliberately talking direct reports to do this with theirs.” unsettling for those who
about their mistakes and the
mastered the earlier style
“I probably knew the issues before .... but this
personal changes they were setting allowed me to be reflective..... It meant
“I feel that there has been a greater
themselves. There is evidence from recognising how seriously my words get heard.”
degree of autonomy and less directed
interviews and questions of just how
What people noticed…
influential this was. ‘control’ from above. I am a middle
manager. The cultural change from
“I feel that (the Principal”) is much more aware of
the very top to director level has been
the impact his response to issues has on those
mixed but evident. But many are still
around him and has therefore directed a lot of
cautious of this ‘new school’
effort at trying to ensure he gives out the right
approach.”
message, in the right way.

6. External evaluation report
Beyond coasting: the journey to excellence
“More willing to challenge peers
Questionnaire responses supportively, clearer with team about
Conclusion 3
priorities.”
Just over 2/3 of responding managers in
We think the strongest each college were able to identify specific “I feel more freedom to make decisions.”
personal shifts in behaviour. Major
impact may have been on the “Maintaining the “Door B” scenario and
categories of examples included:
confidence of managers to trying to look at problems / issues from a
• more assertive/proactive
challenge and act positive point”
• more self-aware behaviour
“More feedback from my colleagues.
• more empathy
We specifically checked with
• more active in ways that aligned with the Engaging more….
managers claiming that behaviour
bigger picture
had improved about what they “I’ve listened more and stepped back,
themselves were doing differently. delegated more”
Stronger more proactive middle
A clear theme was a sense of being
managers “It has given me the confidence to
mandated to act differently; a
pursue working with frontline staff,
“Much greater inclusion of Programme
confidence to assert and also to
involving them more frequently in
Managers in the running of the College and
step back. BCG have reflected on a
decision making. It has enabled me to
decisions on procedures and curriculum
shift from managers wanting to
challenge others and is giving me a
initiatives.”
please stakeholders to making
framework for not picking up other
choices between competing “Improved communication and working people’s ‘stuff’ as often as I have been
interests and asserting priorities. across college. People from different areas
doing.”
They noticed the unexpected now know each other better and are more “I look more closely
More aligned… at how my work,
impact of helping managers literally responsive to one another. In several
rehearse what they would say to instances individuals are meeting up on an and how I prioritise
staff. This dimension of confidence informal basis to support each other.” resources, relates
is very strong in the feedback we
to the vision for the
have gathered. Nowhere has this More assertive… College rather than
been more evident than in the
“I have become more strategic in my remaining insular
stronger voice of middle managers thinking. I have become more assertive in and relating only to
- especially curriculum managers.
my decision making. I have encouraged my own team.”
my line reports to do the same.”

7. External evaluation report
Beyond coasting: the journey to excellence
An OFSTED perspective
Indicators that BCG
interventions catalysed change “But the proportion of colleges that are
Conclusion 4
“The catalysts have been the BCG workshop and only satisfactory, at 35%, is still too high.
We think the outcomes of this Furthermore, almost three-quarters of
the 21st century leadership buddies”
action research indicate colleges currently in this category were
“There is a certain urgency around the place also judged to be satisfactory at their last
powerful opportunities to
now ......BCG made as aware of what we need to inspection and are therefore not
galvanise colleges neither in do ......going through Door B in pursuit of improving. quot;Coasting at satisfactory is not
crisis nor yet on a strong excellence” acceptablequot;,
trajectory of improvement “It’s the distance travelled between the Bath All should aspire to be
workshop in October and the Summit in July - good or outstandingquot;.
This pilot project has been action the level of commitment and activity of action OFSTED 2007
research to the extent that it has groups at the Summit, the change in Using this action research
been collaborative, experimental, language of leaders - lots of assertive
to generate new opportunities
generated rich data about statements and strong words, the move to
BCG has identified and tested through this
processes and responses and high challenge, high support in a range of
intervention a suite of possibilities for
created new possibilities. Our issues, meetings and working groups”
supporting colleges in this category such
interviews leave us in no doubt “I feel that a number of managers
as integrated change planning, team
about attributing leadership shifts to have taken on board a number of
coaching, diagnostics and systems
this pilot - albeit in alignment with the messages contained in the
thinking to enable feedback and dilemma
other activity and earlier work we did with BCG and are
management.
interventions. Between traditional proactively thinking about/
management development and modifying their own behaviour.” Change methodologies to sit alongside
consultancy this suite of action- traditional training and consultancy
focused facilitative interventions
“We've invested a lot in the Bath approach ..... lots “solutions” are already being used in
offers, we believe, a real
of the changes have been strongly influenced by improving healthcare in the NHS and in
opportunity for colleges whose regional improvement of FE
the BCG work ..... they have been very
managers don’t have the time to
influential ......I've invested a lot of my confidence responsiveness such as “Fusion” in the
“go on training” but they want to
in trying to learn from their approaches ..... tried to North West. We conclude these are
learn - and their colleges need opportunities that now need to be
follow them through and implement.”
them to learn - from action. explored.

8. Proportion of responding Northampton
Appendix: Questions and managers scoring 6 or more improvement
out of 10 in perception
scores related to capacity rating
Gloucs Northmptn
between Jan
to improve College College
and July 08
10. How confident are you that the college will build its 75% 93% 14%
capacity to improve in ways that achieve noticeable
impacts on learners over the next three years?
11. How successfully is planning by managers in the 77% 89% 16%
college based on a realistic assessment of the
strengths and weaknesses that exist in the part of the
college under consideration ?
12. How successfully would you say the focus on 79% 93% 17%
raising standards in the college has become an integral
part of everyone's day-to-day business?
13. How successfully do you think the college is getting 70% 89% 19%
the support of staff at all levels to make improvements
that really make a difference to learner experience and
achievement?
14. How successfully do you think the college is 60% 79% 21%
increasing the confidence of staff in managers' ability to
lead improvements that really make a difference to
learner experience and achievement?
17. How successfully do you think the college takes 70% 71% 21%
stock of the success of its attempts to improve learner
experience and achievement to see if they really work?