Generating evidence, Using evidence

@EducEndowFoundn

Generating evidence,

Using evidence

Designated Teachers for Children Looked After conference

12 October 2017

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G e n e r a t i n g e v i d e n c e , U s i n g e v i d e n c e

The EEF was set up in 2011 by The Sutton Trust,

as lead charity in partnership with Impetus Trust

(now part of Impetus–PEF)...

… with a £125m founding grant from the DfE

The EEF and Sutton Trust are, together, the

government-designated What Works Centre for

Education.

The EEF is a charity dedicated to breaking the

link between family income and educational

achievement.

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Attainment at Key Stage 2 Attainment at Key Stage 4

Progress at Key Stage 2 (reading) Progress at Key Stage 4

‘Outcomes for children

looked after by local

authorities in England, 31

March 2016’ (DfE, 2017)

The attainment gap is BIG. The progress gap w i d e n s .

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The challenge facing schools

• Getting value for money The schools funding climate will be tighter – but the Pupil Premium will be protected.

• Continuing school improvement School autonomy means an increasing expectation that individual schools will deliver for all their students – higher attainment, narrower gaps.

So: how to do MORE with LESS?

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The key: informed use of evidence

“Research can never replace professional

experience and teachers’ understanding

of their schools and students.

“But it can be a powerful supplement to

these important skills.

“Used intelligently, evidence is the

teacher’s friend.”

Sir Kevan Collins, EEF

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3 big worries in schools right now (and how evidence can

help):

Money is tighter

Workload is a concern

Avoid fads and fakes


“How I learned to stop worrying and love evidence”

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Scaling up

evidence

Generating

evidence

Communicating

evidence

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C o m m u n i c a t i n g e v i d e n c e

EE

F-S

utt

on

Tru

st

Te

ac

hin

g a

nd

Le

arn

ing

To

olk

it

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-ve * When TAs substitute rather than supplement teaching from teachers; * When adequate training / support for TAs not provided.

+ve * When TAs are trained to deliver

a clearly specified approach; * When teachers / TAs plan work together (eg, by making time for

discussion before and after lessons).

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Two other practical EEF tools to help you decide what to focus on:

At school level… Families of Schools database

At pupil level… Assessing and Monitoring Pupil Performance guide

Supports schools to dig deep into their data and understand their attainment gaps

Helps ensure that the evidence put to use in schools has the best possible chance of targeting the right pupils at the right time

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Assessing

and

Monitoring

Pupil

Performance

guide

Early

Years

Toolkit

Making

Best Use

of Teaching

Assistants

Literacy

Guidance,

Key

Stages 1

and 2

Evidence

on

Written

Marking

10

School

Themes

10 evidence

reviews -

digital tech,

arts ed, EAL,

careers ed


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Scaling up

evidence

Generating

evidence

Communicating

evidence

@EducEndowFoundn

G e n e r a t i n g e v i d e n c e

EEF-funded projects - what we’re looking for:

We fund high-potential ideas that:

• Focus on raising attainment to close

the gap;

• Build on existing evidence;

• Can be scaled up cost-effectively if

shown to work.

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We directly involve schools, as

well as early years and post-16

settings, in trialling high-potential

projects.

Together, we are generating

significant new understanding of

‘what works’.

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Correlation does NOT imply causation!

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Year 9 Class 29 students

Data indicates low

rates of attainment

Year 9 Class 29 students

Data indicates 32%

increased levels

29 students

receive an

intervention to

improve their

attainment

Conclusion?

Oral feedback was

responsible for the

rise in attainment

Traditional approach to measuring intervention impact

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Answering the counter-factual question… What would have happened otherwise?

• Was 32% improvement better or worse than if you’d done nothing different (‘business as usual’)?

• Was 32% improvement better or worse than if you’d tried a different programme instead?

Answer: we have absolutely no idea.

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

‘Fair test’

approach to

evaluating

intervention

impact

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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

Group Months’ progress

All pupils -2 months

FSM-eligible -4 months

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76 EEF evaluation reports

published so far…

Positive, negative, neutral: all reports are

available on the EEF website

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Scaling up

evidence

Generating

evidence

Communicating

evidence

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S c a l i n g u p e v i d e n c e

Published guidance – issued to every school

Free CPD course – available online

3 guidance reports published so far – another 7 scheduled for the next year

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Not aware of the report

Read the report or aware of it

Read the report and acted on the recommendations

31%

52%

16% Source: Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey, November 2015

Publishing

guidance is just

the start…

Q: The EEF’s guidance

report, ‘Making Best Use of

Teaching Assistants’, was

published earlier this year

[2015]. To what extent are

you aware of the report?

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Campaigns to promote the effective use of evidence

1. Clear and actionable recommendations for schools (eg, guidance reports) 2. Recruiting local partners to support schools with this research (eg, teaching

schools, local authorities, charities) 3. Direct funding to promote the uptake of EEF-funded Promising Projects

Making Best Use of Teaching

Assistants

• £5 million

• Reach up to 1,000 schools in

south and west Yorkshire

Improving Primary Literacy

• £10 million (co-funded with Northern

Rock Foundation)

• All 880 primary schools in the

North East

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A network of schools which will support the use of evidence to improve teaching practice

It aims to support 2,000+ schools to embed evidence-based practice.

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3 things we have learned from the EEF’s first 5 years:

1. There is real appetite among teachers and

senior leaders for clear and actionable evidence

to inform their decision-making.

2. Robust and independent evaluation of high-

potential programmes is not only possible, but a

must-have. Time and money is too scarce to

stick with programmes which don’t make a

difference.

We know enough to start making a real

difference. Which means our next big challenge

is scaling the evidence we have for the maximum

benefit of our young people.

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Final thought… “Teachers might now be categorised in

three groups: evidence-seekers,

compliance chasers and the disengaged.

The challenge is to cater to all of

them while recognising that, like any

tool, the Toolkit will be most useful

when in the hands of professionals.”

‘Pupil Premium: Next Steps’

(EEF / Sutton Trust, 2015)

Prof. Steve Higgins, Durham University

Dr Lee Elliot Major, Sutton Trust

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Sign up for our EEF News Alerts

Hear about our latest news via email

Visit: http://bit.ly/EEFNewsSignUp

Connect with the Research School network

Supporting schools to make better use of evidence region-by-region

Visit: http://researchschool.org.uk/

Apply for funding

Our current funding round runs July – December 2017

Visit: http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/funding/

Volunteer to take part

We are always looking for schools willing to take part in EEF-funded projects.

Visit: http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evaluation/projects/

How to get involved…

Generating evidence, Using evidence

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