Managing continuing professional development to support school-based target setting

In this article the author attempts to make more problematic the sensible and rational DfEE model of school review, planning and action; and to argue the case for more continuous professional development (CPD) and mentoring support for schools, if target setting is to become the valuation ‘management tool’ which DfEE wish headteachers and governing bodies to use in their development planning. However, an historical review of CPD provision and support for the INSET revolution in England and Wales from the 1980s onwards, presents instead a picture of a lack of continuity and coherence in managing and supporting systematic school-based INSET. Instead, the dominant Government model of the late 1990s appears to be one of centrally designed and externally delivered off-site courses, as can be seen in the Teacher Training Agency's ‘TTA's’ National Professional Qualification of Headship ‘NPQH’ programme. The article ends with a brief description of the establishment of an inter-LEA Target Setting Research Network which incorporates the values of long-term action research and continuous mentoring support.