Research 02/12/2024

Predicting later classroom practice in those new to teaching

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The Future Teaching Scholars programme, delivered on behalf of the Department for Education in England, is a unique six-year route into teaching. We recruit outstanding maths and physics students before they go to university, and support them through their initial teacher training and qualification, and during the first two years of employment.

To qualify for the programme, candidates are required to take part in a rigorous assessment centre selection process. However, there is little data available about the extent to which teachers’ performance in assessment centres can be used to predict their later classroom practice.

We conducted a longitudinal research study into this question, and concluded that some assessment centre activities can be used to predict later classroom effectiveness, and therefore support teacher recruitment. In this report, the last to be published from this study, we present our findings and provide recommendations to policymakers and education leaders.

The previous reports from this series can be found here (published in 2022) and here (published in 2023).

Read more about the Future Teaching Scholars programme here.

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Predicting later classroom practice in those new to teaching

This report provides advice to policymakers and school leaders on the use of assessment centres as part of a teacher selection approach. It discusses the relationship between assessment centre scores prior to joining teaching, and teacher effectiveness over a six-year period. It draws from various stages of a wider research project.

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On behalf of the Department for Education in England, Education Development Trust is delivering the Future Teaching Scholars programme, a new route into teaching for passionate maths and physics students to create a new generation of confident and highly skilled teachers.

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United Kingdom

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