Developing teaching as an evidence informed professionUCET Annual Conference

Kevan Collins - Chief Executivekevan,collins@eefoundation.org.uk

www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk

• The Education Endowment Foundation is an independent grant-making charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement for children aged 3-16.

• The EEF was founded in 2011 by lead charity the Sutton Trust, in partnership with Impetus, with a £125m founding grant from the UK Department for Education.

• In 2013, the EEF and the Sutton Trust joined the What Works Network, as the government-designated What Works Centre for Improving Education Outcomes for School-aged Children.

• Since its launch the EEF has awarded £65 million to fund 115 projects working with over 700,000 children across England.

About the EEF

The attainment gap

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

42%

63%

45%

69%

81%

64%

27%

18%

19%

Gap Non-FSM pupils reaching expected level FSM reaching expected level

School readinessat 5

Attainment at 11

Attainment at 16

How evidence can help to:

• focus our effort where it will make the most difference to children

• capture the maximum possible benefit from effort and resources

• resist fads and fakes

Building the evidence base

Teaching and Learning Toolkit

The Early Years Toolkit

Screenshot to be added

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Self-regulation in the Early Years

Using the Toolkit (or any other source of evidence)

• What are our priorities for better learning?• Where should we focus our efforts?• What change do we want to make?

Understanding your context

• Who tells us what to do?• Where do get our ideas from?• Who do we trust?

Seeking independent, high quality information

• How will it work in practice?• Can we deliver this in our setting?• Should we stop doing that?

Promoting professional

conversations

EEF-funded projects: what we’re looking for

We fund ideas that:

• Focus on narrowing the gap;

• Build on existing evidence;

• Can be scaled up cost-effectively if shown to work.

We are looking to generate significant new understanding of ‘what works’.

Some ideas we’re trialling…

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• Does teaching children to play chess boost their attainment in Maths?

• Can peer observation by teachers, using a programme called Lesson Study, improve practice?

• Do pupils respond to financial or other rewards?

• Do summer schools improve attainment?

• What are the best ways of training and supporting Teaching Assistants?

• Does training parents to read with their children improve attainment?

• What are the best ways of grouping students, and what impact does this have on attainment?

• What impact, if any, does giving children breakfast in schools have?

• Does delaying school start times for adolescents (combined with a sleep education programme) boost Key Stage 4 attainment?

EEF’s approach to evaluation

All projects are robustly evaluated:• Independent evaluation

All projects evaluated by a member of our 26-strong panel of evaluation experts• Quantitative measures

Effect on attainment and cost—so we can compare and contrast between projects• Qualitative and process evaluations also crucial

To find out if/how it works in real world school conditions• Focus on longitudinal impact

All pupils will be tracked using the National Pupil Database

EEF approach to evaluating intervention impact

Control v. Treatment(keep everything constant apart from the thing we are testing)

Chatterbooks

• An extracurricular reading initiative that aimed to increase a child’s motivation to read.

• Weekly 1-hour sessions where pupils read and discussed an age-appropriate book.

• Delivered by trained graduates to pupils who had not achieved expected level at the end of primary school.

Accelerated Reader

• A whole-group programme that aims to foster the habit of independent reading.

• Online system screens pupils according to their reading levels, and suggests books that match their reading age and interests.

• Pupils take computerised quizzes on the books they have read and earn ‘points’ related to difficulty.

Group Months’ progress

All pupils +3 months

FSM-eligible +5 months

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Group Months’ progress

All pupils -2 months

FSM-eligible -4 months

Finding out what works (and what doesn’t)

Reporting our results

• All results published on EEF website

• Report on impact and security of findings

• Attempt to convey technical findings in a way that is accessible to schools

The TA Guidance Report

• Integrating established and emerging research

• Bridging the gap between research and practice

• Acting on the evidence - Providing actionable, evidence-based recommendations

7 recommendations on ‘Making best use of TAs’

Successes

• Reception for the Toolkit from schools has been very positive. The most recent survey found that 64% of school leaders are using the Toolkit.

• Rigorous evaluations are possible. Our first 44 evaluation reports have been published building the evidence of what works.

• The appetite to participate in future research from schools across the country is high.

Challenges and reflections

• Mobilising knowledge

Ensuring lessons from research are shared and consistently applied, while avoiding shallow compliance?

• Evidence for leaning Building confidence and trust to support disciplined innovation in a compliance and high stakes accountability culture

• Evaluation takes time

Finding out what works takes time, but policy-making moves quickly

• The nature of education evidenceNot every approach works and not every trial is conclusive. Presenting negative and complex findings is challenging