Report: Executive Headteachers: What's in a Name? A Full Report of the Findings

A systematic review of research into executive headship, 2001–2021

“…For instance, National College (2014a, 2014b) highlights the effective utilization of school committees while Chapman and Muijs (2013) conclude that shared governance arrangements are the most commonly adopted model in EH contexts. Similarly, Lord et al (2016) identify four principal models which are adopted in practice in these situations, comprising: EH reporting to one governing board which manages the whole network. EH reporting to a governing board of trustees for the whole trust, and governing committee for individual schools. EH reporting to multiple governing boards, representing each individual school. EH being managed by the ‘executive’ branch, for example, CEO or director. Collectively, this wide variety in approaches results in a system characterized as complex and opaque (Baxter and Wise, 2013; Courtney and Gunter, 2015; Ehren and Godfrey, 2017), with variations in contracts (Lord et al, 2016) and alternative levels of autonomy (Ehren and Perryman, 2018; Greany and Waterhouse, 2016). Meanwhile, differences in MAT arrangements add further confusion (National College, 2014a).…”

“…This calculated that in 2014, there were 621 EHTs in England, rising to 628 in 2016. However, Lord et al (2016) note that these calculations almost certainly under-estimated the scale of this phenomenon and in particular missed many of those working as EH on a temporary basis. The significance of this under-calculation becomes more significant in light of Lord et al's (2016) claim that EHs are three times more likely to be appointed on a temporary basis than those in ‘normal’ headteacher roles, primarily due to its prevalence as a short-term intervention strategy.…”

“…In terms of profile, Lord et al (2016) found that compared to headteachers as a group, EHs were likely to be slightly older (51 years old on average cf. 49 years old for all heads), male (60% cf.…”

“…As noted previously, no reliable data exists as to the prevalence of each in practice (Lord et al, 2016). However, while both themes feature in theoretical and empirical work, empirical evidence places greater emphasis on how practical considerations were the principal driver behind decisions to appoint an EH.…”

“…Scant consideration is given in the literature to the support required by executive heads. Indeed it is largely ignored in both theoretical and smaller-scale empirical papers and only considered in some of the most significant research projects sponsored by NGA (Lord et al, 2016), National College (2010) and Ofsted (2011). It also features in the work by Chapman (2015).…”