Tag: EEF

Six recommendations for improving elementary science teaching

By Feifei Wang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Recently, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) released the “Improving Primary Science: Guidance Report”, highlighting the importance of high-quality science teaching in elementary education for fostering students’ curiosity and critical thinking. Drawing from a systematic review of international evidence and in consultation with academics and expert practitioners, this report presents six recommendations for making meaningful improvements to primary science teaching for students ages 5-11.

The six recommendations are as follows. First, develop students’ scientific vocabulary so they can participate in science learning, engage with new concepts, and communicate their understanding. Second, encourage students to explain their thinking in either verbal or written forms. This creates opportunities for students to recall, organize, and refine their understanding. Third, guide students to work scientifically by including activating prior knowledge, explicit strategy instruction, modeling of learned strategies, memorization of strategies, guided practice, independent practice, and structured reflection. Fourth, connect science learning to relevant real-world contexts. Fifth, use assessment to facilitate learning and responsive teaching. Sixth, strengthen science teaching by incorporating effective professional development into the implementation process. It is suggested by EEF that the six recommendations should be considered together, with careful reflection on how to align them with the specific school circumstances and teachers’ professional judgment.

Randomized trial of preschool math professional development program

By Susan Davis, Johns Hopkins University

Maths Champions is a program in England that provides online professional development to pre-school staff in order to improve preschoolers’ early math knowledge. Math Champions is delivered online to one main staff member (the “Maths Champion”), who then creates and implements an action plan for the center and trains the rest of the staff. The Maths Champion is offered support online that includes one-to-one advice, early math resources, and e-courses regarding math development.

A randomized control trial of Maths Champions was funded by the Education Endowment Foundation and Department of Education in England to follow up a previous trial finding that Maths Champions students made two months’ more growth than untreated control students. This previous study was flawed because not all students were post-tested. The current study re-tested Maths Champions in more settings than previously, and aimed to increase the validity of the findings. Subjects were 1034 preschool students (n=638 E, 666 C) in 134 centers, both private and school-based, across England. Centers were randomly assigned to either receive Maths Champions or to proceed with business-as-usual.

Students were pre- and post-tested using the ASPECTS math assessment. After seven months, students in the Maths Champions program made an average of three months’ more gains than untreated control students. In addition, children from disadvantaged backgrounds made an average of six months’ more progress than untreated controls.

Maths Champions was developed by England’s National Day Nurseries Association.

Six recommendations on how to effectively use feedback to improve students’ learning

By Carmen Pannone, University of Cagliari, Italy

Offering valuable feedback is essential for educators to encourage student advancement and enrich learning. Effective feedback helps tackle misconceptions and narrow the distance between a student’s current level and desired goals. However, inadequately provided feedback can have adverse consequences and impede progress. Teacher feedback is critical for enhancing student accomplishments, but identifying the most efficient forms of guidance remains a challenge.

The Education Endowment Foundation published a report containing six recommendations for teachers to support students’ learning through feedback. These recommendations are the result of integrating empirical research findings and the expertise of academics and practitioners. Each recommendation starts with a vignette, illustrating common challenges faced by teachers, includes case studies of feedback practice to represent current approaches, and suggests techniques and ideas that might work based on the evidence and the panel’s expertise.

The first three recommendations act as the main guiding principles: (1) establish the foundation for effective feedback through high quality instruction and formative assessment; (2) provide well-timed feedback that emphasizes progress in learning; (3) create a plan for students to receive and apply feedback, including time and opportunities for utilization. Two recommendations suggest teachers carefully consider the delivery method, whether to provide a (4) written or (5) verbal feedback, according to purpose and time-efficiency. The last recommendation is about (6) developing a school policy that emphasizes and illustrates the principles of effective feedback.

The report can be highly valuable for teachers, offering them a guide on how to provide feedback in ways that are most likely to have a positive impact on students.

Does quality of instruction improve outcomes in early childhood education?

The Education Endowment Foundation in the U.K. has published an evaluation of a program that trains preschool teachers to improve children’s language outcomes. The Using Research Tools to Improve Language in the Early Years (URLEY) intervention is an evidence-based professional development program for preschool teachers. It is designed to improve teacher’s knowledge of how children learn and develop oral language skills, and how to support that learning through evidence-based practice. Teachers take part in five day-long professional development workshops in which they are introduced to evidence-based learning principles and research tools to evaluate and refine pedagogy and practice. In particular, teachers are taught to use Environment Rating Scales (ERS) —research-validated observational rating scales known to predict aspects of children’s development, with higher scores linked to improved math and English achievement. Teachers watched videos of effective practice and were supported to use the language principles and ERS to “tune in” to language-supporting practice.

Nearly 2,000 children from 120 schools from the West Midlands, Liverpool, and Manchester participated in the trial from October 2016 to July 2018. The program was evaluated using a randomized controlled trial, testing the impact of the URLEY program on children’s language development over two years, compared to business as usual in control schools.

The results of the trial found that children in schools receiving URLEY did not make additional progress in language development compared to children in control schools, as measured by a composite language score (effect size = -0.08). However, the program did show a positive impact on the quality of instruction (as measured by ERS), with effect sizes in the range of +0.5 to +0.7