Benchmarking for School Improvement: A Practical Guide for Comparing and Achieving Effectiveness

Benchmarking is a term used by the DfEE and OFSTED to describe a school's performance against a national or local average. This useful guide helps senior management teams of schools or colleges, to undertake their own benchmarking, with the aim of increasing effectiveness and improvement. Tony Kelly looks at the different types of benchmarking and what should be benchmarked and why. He discusses the possibility of forming a benchmarking partnership with another organisation which is acknowledged to be better performing. He also addresses the process of forming a benchmarking team within a school or college. Practical guidance is provided on techniques such as making an effectiveness comparison, targeting for improvement, and producing target-setting tables and benchmarking comparison charts. The content of the book has been based on extensive research from the UK and overseas. It provides step-by-step advice, photocopiable templates and suggestions for further reading.