In January 2019, we received an invitation to take part in the EEF’s trial of Focus4TAPS – a programme that aims to improve schools’ approach to teaching and assessment of Working Scientifically. Improving assessment in science was an important area for improvement at the time, so the project seemed like a good fit for us.
Most of EEF evaluations are conducted through a randomised controlled trial, which means participating schools are randomly assigned to one of two groups: the ‘delivery’ group, who implement the approach being tested; or the control group, where teaching continues as normal. This is the best way of finding out the impact of the approach being tested.
This research project included free training for all participating schools. We would simply be required to provide pupil attainment data both pre and post the trial period (irrespective of which group we were assigned to).
This seemed like a very minor cost to bear in return for high-quality training that we anticipated could help us progress towards a key priority for our school.
Being assigned to the control group
As the trial got underway, we learned our school had been allocated to the control group: we would still receive the Focus4TAPS training, but in a year’s time – once the trial had come to an end.
We were able to adjust our Action Plan and School Improvement Plan to acknowledge this new timeline, and prioritise other areas for improvement – knowing that we had a defined path ahead to address science assessment
It was straightforward to provide the data required by the project, and we were provided a small financial reward for taking part.
Training and delivery
After the initial intervention period, we eagerly looked forward to receiving our training.
Throughout academic year 2021 – 2, we benefitted from three whole-day training sessions, the first delivered via Teams and the latter two in person. This mixed approach to delivering training – a change to the programme brought in as a response to Covid-related challenges – worked very well for us as a school.
Three staff members benefitted from the full training programme, delivered to us free of charge. Cover to release these people was essentially payed for by the financial incentive provided to participate.
As the training had been developed and refined throughout its first year of delivery to the intervention group, we felt that the quality of training delivered to our school was even higher than we would have received in the first instance.
The expertise and research that underpinned the programme was clear, and all three direct recipients of the training were enthusiastic about the detail and methods involved. The training was provided in such a clear and practical way that it was simple for the subject lead to replicate the training in a few whole staff sessions, thus transferring the professional development to the whole school.
As our school implemented the Focus4TAPS approach, the benefits quickly became clear. Within the first full year of implementation, staff showed more confidence in teaching and assessing using the new methods and pupils seemed more able and assured when working scientifically.
The EEF’s evaluation of Focus4TAPS echoed our experiences of the programme, finding that the approach can boost science attainment by up to two months.
Participation in this trial has helped us to develop and improve our science provision, and tackle a key area for development in our setting. We are now confident that our pupils are receiving better science teaching that provides them with an improved understanding of the scientific method, as well as better developed critical thinking and analysis skills.
Even as part of a control group, we were able to achieve significant benefits for our school and pupils that have improved teaching and learning in the long term.