How can schools attract, support and retain teachers in the face of growing teacher shortages? Together with Ghent University (UGent), IDEA Consult evaluated pilot projects in Flemish primary and secondary education in which schools were able to experiment with more flexible HR measures.

The challenge

Teacher shortages are putting schools in Flanders under ever-increasing pressure. To give schools more scope to develop their own solutions, 216 schools across 27 partnerships were given the opportunity to set up pilot schemes as part of the broader policy aim to revitalise the teaching profession.

Within these pilot schemes, schools were able to experiment with a more flexible application of staff regulations and develop measures tailored to their own context. These included initiatives relating to school organisation, the definition of roles, professional development, induction support, teacher specialisation, collaboration between teachers, mobility and the recruitment of staff with different profiles.

Approach & results

Evaluating innovation at school level requires more than simply listing actions. It demands an understanding of why schools take certain measures, how those measures are implemented, who is involved, and how teachers and school leaders experience the change process.

Ghent University and IDEA Consult therefore opted for a mixed-methods research approach. The evaluation combined document analysis of the project applications, in-depth case study research into selected projects, focus groups with school stakeholders, and survey research among school team members and school leaders. This enabled the research team to analyse the pilot projects from various perspectives: the underlying policy theory, the change processes that were set in motion, and the initial indications of effects on job satisfaction, professional experience and workability.

The evaluation shows that the temporary projects played an important role as policy laboratories. Schools and school boards used this scope to develop measures tailored to their own challenges and context. The wide variety of actions illustrates that teacher shortages are tackled in different ways, depending on local needs, school organisation and the intended target groups.

At the same time, the research identified key conditions for success. Schools need sufficient time to design, discuss, implement and evaluate initiatives. A clear focus and a well-defined target group increase the likelihood that initiatives can be fully implemented. Participatory decision-making is also crucial: school team members’ appreciation of both the policy theory and the change process is linked to the extent to which they are involved. In addition, school leadership, collaboration within the team, administrative feasibility and sufficient support emerged as important preconditions.

The results are encouraging, but also require some nuance. Many school stakeholders saw added value in the pilot schemes and indicated a desire to continue certain initiatives after the project period had ended. Improvements were reported in areas including school climate, collaboration, innovation, relationships between teachers, professional development and teachers’ sense of competence. As the evaluation took place whilst the projects were still ongoing, these are primarily initial short-term indications rather than proven long-term effects.

The policy recommendations emphasise the importance of continuing to provide schools with scope for experimentation, coupled with sufficient time, clear frameworks, administrative feasibility and targeted follow-up. For IDEA Consult, this project illustrates how evaluation can support policy learning: not only by assessing whether an initiative works, but above all by explaining how, why and under what conditions it can contribute to sustainable change.

Would you like to find out more about how school-based experiments can strengthen education policy? Download the final report with policy recommendations or contact IDEA Consult to discuss how evidence-informed evaluation can support your policy, programme or organisation.

Download the report via Evaluation of temporary projects in primary and secondary education as part of the revaluation of the teaching profession | Vlaanderen.be