Closing the attainment gap through evidence-informed teaching

Julie Nelson, Senior Research Manager

Raising standards and attainment through evidence-informed teaching

Inside Government9 May 2019

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Persistence of the attainment gap

The challenge of the attainment gap is well known

• It begins in the early years and increases through a child’s school career

• The gap between disadvantaged children and their non-disadvantaged peers is 9.5 months by the end of primary school, and almost two years (19.3 months), by the end of secondary school

• It is a persistent challenge

While the attainment gap has reduced a little over the past decade, it remains significant. The current slow progress in narrowing the gap means it will persist for decades’ (EEF, 2017, p.2)

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What potential does evidence-informed

teaching (EIT) have to close the gap?

• Some limited evidence that EIT helps schools to improve (Mincu, 2014; Cordingley, 2015; Greany, 2015). But a causal link yet to be established

• This can be a problem in making a case for change with busy school and system leaders

• However, multiple studies have shown a variety of benefits for schools that engage with evidence, including:

− encourages teachers to engage with information beyond their day to day environments; to innovate and to experiment

− supports a culture of professional development and continuous improvement

− Helps schools identify promising approaches (so aiding school improvement, esp. for schools in challenging circumstances)

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Ways of achieving this – working with teachers to close the gap

Teacher quality directly impacts on outcomes for

disadvantaged pupils (Mincu, 2014). So improving

teacher quality should contribute to closing the gap

Research engagement is a characteristic of high quality

teaching (Earl and Timperley, 2008)

Evidence-informed continuing professional development (CPD) can

make a positive difference to teacher quality (Cordingley

et al, 2015)

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Research engagement as a

characteristic of high quality teaching

Research-engaged teachers/schools:

• continuously develop their knowledge (pedagogic + subject-specific) by engaging with research and ‘what works’ evidence

• adopt a reflective/critical approach to their own development (having an ‘enquiry habit of mind’ that draws on research evidence and blends with professional expertise and enquiry)

• take a disciplined approach to innovation (having a process for systematically testing new ideas/approaches within the school/partnership/area)

• have systems in place to implement new interventions or approaches (including monitoring and evaluating their effectiveness)

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The contribution of CPD to high quality teaching

Evidence-informed CPD is:

• evidence-informed in content – introducing teachers to approaches which are:

− robust and based on high-quality research evidence

− most likely to improve pupil outcomes, esp. for disadvantaged pupils

• evidence-informed in style – delivered in a way to maximise development impact:

− high intensity and sustained

− endorsed, modelled and resourced by senior leaders

− linked to school priorities and day-to-day practice

− including regular follow-up and support activitiesRestricted 6

How close are we to achieving this?EIT is the ideal end goal of a complex process in which:

• there is an accessible bank of relevant, high quality synthesised research, tailored to schools’ needs

• teachers know how to access, sift and interpret the research (or are helped to do so by intermediaries)

• teachers trust and value the research and have the leverage to encourage engagement within their institutions

• School leaders diagnose needs effectively and support the implementation, monitoring and review of evidence-based approaches/interventions

A complex chain of supply and demand – easy to see how the process can break down!

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Our research on teachers’ research use – what do we know?

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There is still some way to go!

NFER teacher research use survey, Nov 2017 (N=1,670).

Respondents could give more than one response, so percentages do not sum to 100.

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What can ‘providers’ do to make a difference?

All quotes taken from current NFER/EEF school improvement study, 2019

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What factors help and hinder progress at school level

School leaders in the most challenging schools often struggle with:

• effective diagnosis of need (e.g. they focus on big challenges like

attendance; white working-class boys; pupils’ mental health).These are

essential building blocks if a school is to progress (Macleod et al. 2015), but

are all schools ‘ready’ to engage in evidence-informed approaches?

• a tendency to jump to an available solution before the challenge itself

has been properly defined (e.g. a partner school has said that X is a really

good phonics package, so the school decides to use it)

• a scattergun approach to school improvement (see below):

‘What you often see with school leaders in difficult situations is that they will try

lots of different things in the hope that something works. Whereas we know what

works in school improvement is identifying the right thing for your context and

implementing in a really judicious way, and giving it the time to implement and

have an impact, and not abandoning it right away’ [System leader, 2019].

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What can schools do to make a difference?

Messages for schools/partnerships/MATs

1. Start with precise diagnosis of need (providers can help schools to break

down big challenges into actionable research questions) e.g. ‘from a focus on

white working-class boys to questions like ‘how can I help my students

become more independent learners’? [CPD provider]

2. Identify evidence/approaches that can help to address the need (e.g.

EEF guidance; evidence-based interventions)

3. Consider whether current approaches would benefit from change

4. Have a system for monitoring and reviewing the change:

‘The important bit is the trialling, testing and tweaking’ [CPD provider]

5. Recognise that there are few ‘quick fixes’: ‘An evidence-informed

approach is a long-term approach to sustained school improvement: ‘It’s not

about the ‘shiny new thing’’ [System leader]

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Conclusions

The attainment gap is persistent. Many strategies are needed.

• EIT is just one contributor, but can help teachers to:

− continuously develop and apply new knowledge

− adopt an enquiring approach to their professional practice

− adopt systematic approaches to innovation and implementation

• Improved teacher quality has the potential to benefit disadvantaged students

and narrow the gap

• We know a lot about good practice, but it is difficult to achieve. Decentralised

education system contributes!

Put bluntly, mobilising knowledge in 20,000 individual schools is not an easy

task! (Campbell and Levin, 2013)

• So, a system-wide approach is essential, with partners working together

• Key system brokers have an important role to play (e.g. Research Schools;

Chartered College of Teaching; EEF; ResearchED)

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References

Campbell, C. and Levin, B. (2013). Building the capacity to use research in education requires a sustained

strategic and systematic effort’, LSE Impact Blog. Available online:

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2013/05/29/building-capacity-to-mobilise-knowledge-and-use-

research-to-improve-education/ [accessed 2 May 2019]

Cordingley, P., Higgins, S., Greany, T., Buckler, N., Coles-Jordan, D., Crisp, B., Saunders, L., Coe, R. (2015).

Developing Great Teaching: Lessons from the international reviews into effective professional development.

Teacher Development Trust.

Education Endowment Foundation (2017). The Attainment Gap. Available online:

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/attainment-gap/ [Accessed 2 May 2019]

Greany, T. (2015). ‘How can evidence inform teaching and decision making across 21,000 autonomous

schools? Learning from the journey in England’, in Brown, C. (Ed), Leading the use of Research & Evidence in

schools (pp. 11-29), London: IOE Press.

Macleod, S., Sharp, C., Bernardinelli, D., Skipp, A. and Higgins, S. (2015). Supporting the attainment of

disadvantaged pupils: articulating success and good practice. DfE research report: London

Mincu, M. (2014). ‘Inquiry paper 6: teacher quality and school improvement – what is the role of research?’ In

BERA/RSA (Eds), The Role Of Research In Teacher Education: Reviewing The Evidence. Available online:

https://www.bera.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BERA-RSA-Interim-Report.pdf [accessed 2 May 2019]

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Evidence for excellence in education

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