How to evaluate the effectiveness of your department

Last reviewed on 7 January 2022
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 1619

Read on for details of 8 key actions to take when evaluating your subject department, with tips from our experts on analysing results, conducting pupil voice surveys and creating an action plan.

Article tools

Contents

  1. Analyse and evaluate your department’s results
  2. Use pupil voice
  3. Scrutinise pupils' work
  4. Focus on your subject's particular features
  5. Observe teaching and learning
  6. Evaluate the impact of your leadership
  7. Complete a self-evaluation form each year
  8. Create a departmental action plan

Analyse and evaluate your department’s results

Your analysis will depend on the measurements you use for attainment and progress over time.

You can compare pupil attainment data year on year, and with other schools. Your analysis will also help you see where individual teachers are being most effective.

If you use teacher assessment as part of the progress measure when analysing pupil progress, triangulate this with work scrutiny and moderated work analysis, to help make sure you can be confident the analysis is correct.

Read more about using data to support school improvement.

Use pupil voice

It's important to communicate with pupils about their experience of your subject.

Use pupil interviews to explore their views, and find out:

  • If you’re covering all aspects of the curriculum sufficiently from your pupils' perspective
  • Whether they enjoy the subject and are being challenged

Pupils' books and data Talking to

Read next

Also in 'Self-evaluation guidance'