Draft policy as of 1 August 2009 by HM Inspectorate of Education after endorsement by HMIE
Management Board on 26 May 2009. Subject to final approval by HMIE Senior Management Group.
HM Inspectorate of Education
Policy on Research May 2009
Introduction and purpose of policy
The core objective of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) is to promote
and contribute to sustainable improvements in standards, quality and achievements
for all learners in a Scottish education system which is inclusive. We are committed
to increasing the use of research to develop HMIE as a learning organisation, inform
our practice and ensure that we can offer high quality advice, support and challenge
to all our stakeholders.
Research plays an important role in shaping the policies of the Scottish Government.
The outcomes of research can be used to inform high quality evidence based advice
for Ministers to inform policy development, implementation and evaluation. We want
to use research to ensure that we are forward looking and influence future practice,
focusing on the highest quality of learning for young people in Scotland.
Conditions and policy principles A greater awareness of and use of research by
HMIE staff will help to generate new ideas and open debate, challenge assumptions,
beliefs and attitudes, test policy ideas and develop a deeper understanding of issues
that affect the improvement of education in Scotland. This is essential if we are to
offer the highest quality of service to the educational sectors in which we work. Our
current models of inspection include greater opportunities for professional dialogue
and capacity building activities, which requires all HMI to continually update and
improve their professional knowledge and skills. We want to use research tools to
share and build on the expertise within the organisation, for example, the knowledge
and skills of national specialists. When disengaging early from evaluative activity
during an inspection, HMI will be required to tailor development activities to the
needs of a school and this further increases the need for us to be aware of the
issues and findings from established and emergent research.
The implementation of this policy will help us to achieve the ‘Smarter’ strategic
objective. HMIE can contribute to successful national outcomes such as:
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Helping our young people to be successful learners, confident individuals,
effective contributors and responsible citizens.
Creating a better educated, more skilled and more successful country,
renowned for its research and innovation.
Combining the information from inspections and review, identifying good practice
and using research to inform our work will help HMIE to continue to improve and add
significant value to education sectors at all levels.
Since 2008, good practice conferences have made clear and direct links between
educational theory, research findings and good practice (for example, dynamic
learning in the early years). The linking of theory and practice in this way helps
teachers to develop and sustain improvements to learners experiences.
Draft policy as of 1 August 2009 by HM Inspectorate of Education after endorsement by HMIE
Management Board on 26 May 2009. Subject to final approval by HMIE Senior Management Group.
Policy Implementation Procedures
HMIE currently works with colleagues within the Scottish Government to interpret
and respond to the findings of major research projects. The portfolio of national and
international studies currently includes The Scottish Survey of Achievement (SSA),
Trends in Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) and the Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA). We need to ensure that we drill down
beyond the headlines of this research and use our rigorous analysis to inform future
educational policy, advice to Ministers, schools and education authorities. Working
with our partners we need to ensure that this research is accessible to the classroom
teacher, with clear messages and advice on improving learning in Scotland based on
international research. HMIE will work continue to work in partnership and coordinate activities in relation to research with key partner bodies including other
inspectorates, Learning and Teaching Scotland, Scotland’s Colleges, the Scottish
Further Education Unit, Scottish Government departments and the Strategy Unit.
Our work with researchers enables us to offer ongoing professional advice to
Ministers on matters relating to both initial teacher education (ITE) and continuing
professional development (CPD) for teachers in post. We have also developed a ‘call
off contract’ with Universities. This can be used to commission specific tasks such as
literature reviews and research abstracts to support specific tasks. The contract is
managed by our Accountancy team within Corporate Services. It is currently underused. A gatekeeper is required to raise awareness of this service, manage the
allocated directorate budgets and carry out requests in relation to HMIE strategic
priorities.
HMIE currently use a wide range of strategies to ensure that research findings inform
our work. This includes:
 Secondment of researchers or those completing advanced professional study
on an area of interest to HMIE
 Use of research to inform specific tasks which HMI undertake
 Liaison with Scottish Government colleagues to analyse and interpret
research findings
 Summarising or extracting key data from research by our Statistics team
 National specialists informing HMI colleagues of research findings or
developments which may impact upon our work
 Working in partnership with researchers and university colleagues to write and
develop resources to support The Journey to Excellence, eg, research
abstracts, summary papers, etc.
 Attendance of HMI at major research conferences and the dissemination of
findings to colleagues.
 Representation at national and international research group meetings and
conferences, for example, the Scottish Applied Educational Research
Scheme.
 Professional reading and continuing professional development undertaken by
all HMI at a personal level and as part of directorate and corporate training
programmes.
This policy is subject to an Equality Impact Assessment.
Draft policy as of 1 August 2009 by HM Inspectorate of Education after endorsement by HMIE
Management Board on 26 May 2009. Subject to final approval by HMIE Senior Management Group.
Strategies for improving the use of research within the work of HMIE
The need to improve and extend our use of research was identified in the paper
Towards a Corporate Plan 2007-2010 which stated the following areas for
development:
 Increase time for research.
 Employ the services of researchers to create abstracts to support tasks
 Train corporate services staff to be more involved in sifting educational
research information (e.g. for National Specialists).
We need to continue to use research to improve the quality of our work, as we
contribute towards the achievement of the ‘Smarter Scotland’ objective. The strategy
paper details the actions needed to achieve the objectives set out in this policy.
We aim to increase our innovative use of technologies to access and use research
findings. There are an increasing number of online tools that facilitate research and
collaboration, such as document sharing; blog and wiki-writing; project planning and
scheduling, which we will increase our use of to remain at the forefront of 21st
century educational improvement. We are currently establishing an HMIE user group
on GLOW and need to develop a presence and a voice on various on-line
educational discussion forums, in order to extend opportunities for professional
engagement with our stakeholders.
Roles and responsibilities – moving forward
The creation of two key posts will enable us to move forward.
The post of ‘National Specialist: Research and Development’ has been created in
order to take forward the future direction of travel and support colleagues in using
the outcomes of research to improve the quality of our work. This post could be
supported by a Research Assistant. A draft job description is being developed for
consideration by SMG. The post holder would assist with the targets in the table
above and support HMIE tasks and activities through sourcing relevant research.
Some local authorities currently employ a research assistant to support school and
service level improvement. Many of these post holders are graduates in a related
field, such as psychology.
Maintenance and Quality Assurance
This policy was approved by SMG in May 2009. The first review will be in July 2010.
The National Specialist (Research) will consult with colleagues and key stakeholders
to review the impact of the policy.
Other relevant policies or strategies
The following policies/strategies adopted by HMIE are of direct relevance to
improving our use of research and will be taken into account where relevant.
 Communications policy and strategy
 Information systems strategy
 Best Value policy and strategy
 Procedures agreed for the work of national specialists
 Good practice policy and strategy
Draft policy as of 1 August 2009 by HM Inspectorate of Education after endorsement by HMIE
Management Board on 26 May 2009. Subject to final approval by HMIE Senior Management Group.
Any comments or queries on this policy should be addressed to:
Business Management Unit, HM Inspectorate of Education, 2nd Floor, Denholm
House, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.
Telephone: 01506 600258
e-mail: laura.burman@hmie.gov.uk