Why is Evidence of Impact important and how to use it

Using Evidence of Impact to support next steps in professional learning.

Self-evaluation involves asking questions about your professional knowledge, understanding, skills and practice. As part of this process, your self-evaluation should be supported by evidence from a range of sources drawn from day-to-day learning and teaching.

What do we mean by evidence? What can be considered as evidence? When and why is evidence important?

The importance of evidence

The Professional Learning Planning Cycle captures where the evidence of impact sits within the ongoing professional learning cycle.

To discuss the impact your professional learning has had; you should consider the following questions:

• How will I know the impact on my practice?
• How will I know the impact on my students?
• How will I know the impact on my students' learning?
• How will I know the impact on the learning of my colleagues?
• What evidence might I collect and how?
• How will I analyse and make sense of this evidence?

Gathering evidence of the impact of professional learning allows you to really focus on what you have learned and see the impact of that learning.

Often this reflection on evidence involves a shift from a reactive to a proactive approach to professional learning. This encourages more informed decision making around the ‘so what?’ and the ‘what now?’ of the cycle.

Evidence in practice

Evidence can be gathered from many sources and in many ways. There is no requirement to keep extensive amounts of evidence for your professional learning records, however, depending on the professional learning being undertaken, there may be requirements to gather substantial evidence to determine the impact the learning has had on learners.

Evidence is not required to prove learning. Your learning can be shared through discussing your reflections and thoughts and how the learning has impacted on your thinking, teaching approaches and expectations.

Different professional learning will influence different amounts and varied types of evidence, so it is not expected that you will submit the same amount of evidence every year.

Copying evidence on to more than one system should be avoided at all costs, and local authorities and employers should ensure that measures are taken to avoid this happening.

LNCT agreements/ policies for your local authority will advise on the arrangements and expectations for teachers to share their professional learning records with their reviewers.

Where MyPL is used for recording professional learning the teacher can select the records they wish to share for discussion with their reviewer. In the year of PU sign off there is no requirement to share 5 years’ worth of records with your reviewer, only selected entries from the current record would be shared and/or discussed, as per local policy.