ABSTRACT

We can draw on a recent study funded by the DfES on the operation of teacher capability procedures (Earnshaw et al. 2002). The project received minimum information from 61 per cent of LEAs. The figures may have covered only formal capability procedures and so the figures may be underestimates. The study concluded that about 1 per cent of heads were subject to formal capability procedures each year. However, the researchers discovered that for teachers generally, almost half of the cases were dealt with ‘outside procedures’ (either informal or formal). The project suspected that for heads an even higher percentage may be dealt with in this way.