Building the evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on learning
Throughout the year, we’ve published new findings from our research projects investigating the impact of the pandemic on learning. Most recently, we published research taking a longer-term look at the impact on younger children (Key Stage 2).
The findings revealed some positive news showing pupils are, on average, making good progress. However, the socio-economic attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers remains wide, with reading particularly affected. Pupil wellbeing is also a significant concern.
We have lots of resources to support schools to promote literacy development, including guidance reports. Each contains practical, evidence-based recommendations to help educators maximise the impact of their practice.
You can access all of our guidance reports here.
Developing new practical guides for schools
One of our most popular resources of the year was “Moving forwards, making a difference: A planning guide for schools 2022 – 23.” Almost 25,000 of you have downloaded it since its launch!
We also published a guide on effective tuition. Evidence suggests tuition is a significant opportunity in helping to close the socio-economic attainment gap. Our “Making a difference with Effective Tutoring” guide aims to support school leaders to implement tutoring effectively in their setting.
Supporting SEND teaching in mainstream schools
We’ve seen huge appetite for our SEND resources this year.
These tools are based on recommendations from our guidance report “Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools”.
For example, our “Five-a-day” resource proposes five well-evidenced principles that can help to raise attainment for all pupils including those with SEND.
You can find our “Special Educational Needs in mainstream schools” guidance report here.
Take part in an EEF programme!
After the pandemic put pause to setting up and delivering new EEF-funded programmes in schools, it was great to re-start recruitment to projects this year.
We’ve scaled up three programmes that have previously shown positive impacts, so that more schools can access them at a heavily subsidised rate:
Embedding Formative Assessment
This two-year professional development programmeA programme is a package of support, including professional development, that helps early years educators to improve particular areas of practice and children’s outcomes. aims to improve secondary school pupil outcomes by embedding the use of formative assessment strategies across a school.
Mathematics Mastery
Mathematics Mastery programme aims to deepen Key Stage 1 pupils’ conceptual understanding of key mathematical concepts.
Switch-on Reading
Switch-on Reading is an intensive one-to-one, 10-week literacy intervention for struggling pupils in Year 7 and Year 8 that aims to support them to become confident and independent readers.
Discovering what works to improve learning
We’ve published dozens of independent evaluations this year, adding to the ever-growing evidence base.
Some interesting findings include ‘Focus4Taps’, a primary science programme which was found to have a positive impact on pupils in Year 5, with pupils on average (including those from disadvantaged backgrounds) making an additional two month’s progress in science.
ABRACADABRA (ABRA) and Reading and Understanding in Key Stage 1 (RUKS), focuses on small group intervention designed to improve reading outcomes in Key Stage 1. Pupils were found to make an additional 2 months’ progress.
All of our evaluation reports are here.
Top 3 EEF reads and listens
Here’s what you were reading on the EEF blog and listening to on our podcast this year.
Top 3 blogs and podcasts.
TOLD: Four Evidence-informed principles to promote high-quality talk in Maths
EEF blog: The Five-a-day approach: How the EEF can support
‘Evidence into Action’ –“Teaching reading: Developing fluency”