Our flagship research theme for 2023 is on supporting the recruitment and retention of teachers in schools with high levels of disadvantaged pupils. We’ll also fund research into EdTechBy EdTech, we mean pedagogical programmes and approaches that use technology to support teaching professionals and pupils with classroom teaching and learning. This may include computer adaptive learning, or innovative Artificial Intelligence approaches. approaches, and supporting GCSE maths and English resits in post-16 settings.
Across the three areas and over the course of the year, we’ll fund different types of research – including evidence synthesis, practice reviews, quasi-experimental studies, and randomised controlled trials – to add to the evidence base of what we know about improving outcomes.
Teacher recruitment and retention
We know that high-quality teaching is the most important lever schools have for improving attainment, particularly for socio-economically disadvantaged pupils who benefit the most. Yet attracting and retaining teachers, particularly in schools serving a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils, is one of the biggest challenges our education system faces.
For our flagship research theme for 2023, we’re launching a rolling programme of research to generate evidence of different school-level approaches to improving recruitment and retention with a focus on schools with high numbers of socio-economically disadvantaged pupils.
To start, we’ll be commissioning a suite of evidence review work to explore the evidence on, and prevalence of the practice, across several priority themes:
- flexible working,
- leadership practices, school culture and climate, and
- distributing teachers to schools with high numbers of disadvantaged pupils.
Later in the year we’ll be commissioning a variety of research projects to test different strategies and add to the evidence base of what we know about the effectiveness of different recruitment and retention approaches. This work will introduce further priority themes of financial and other incentives (eg sabbaticals), and professional collaboration. We’ll also launch evidence and practice reviews on workload management.
Supporting English and maths resits in post-16 settings
Young people who don’t achieve a good pass in English and maths at GCSE have to continue studying these subjects after Year 11. But last year just one in five students retaking maths and one in four retaking English went on to pass, proportions that have remained stubbornly low since the policy was introduced in 2015.
Our funding in this area will focus on improving outcomes for young people taking English and maths resit classes in sixth form and further education colleges. We’ll be looking to fund programmes and approaches that help us to answer several priority questions, including:
- Can CPD interventions for staff teaching resit classes support learning?
- Can tutoring interventions support learners taking resits?
- How can we improve attendance in resit classes?
- How can we improve learners’ motivation and confidence as a path to increasing academic engagement and attainment?
Education Technology (EdTechBy EdTech, we mean pedagogical programmes and approaches that use technology to support teaching professionals and pupils with classroom teaching and learning. This may include computer adaptive learning, or innovative Artificial Intelligence approaches.)
Schools, colleges and nurseries often spend a lot of money and time implementing EdTechBy EdTech, we mean pedagogical programmes and approaches that use technology to support teaching professionals and pupils with classroom teaching and learning. This may include computer adaptive learning, or innovative Artificial Intelligence approaches. approaches. But there’s little robust evidence underpinning EdTechBy EdTech, we mean pedagogical programmes and approaches that use technology to support teaching professionals and pupils with classroom teaching and learning. This may include computer adaptive learning, or innovative Artificial Intelligence approaches. approaches to support teaching and learning, particularly on their impact on attainment outcomes for children and young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Our funding in this area will focus on programmes and approaches that will allow us to explore the role and implementation of EdTechBy EdTech, we mean pedagogical programmes and approaches that use technology to support teaching professionals and pupils with classroom teaching and learning. This may include computer adaptive learning, or innovative Artificial Intelligence approaches. in classroom teaching and learning.
Specifically, we’ll be looking to generate evidence to answer several research questions, across three sub-themes:
- Can EdTechBy EdTech, we mean pedagogical programmes and approaches that use technology to support teaching professionals and pupils with classroom teaching and learning. This may include computer adaptive learning, or innovative Artificial Intelligence approaches. programmes and approaches support effective formative assessment?
- Can EdTechBy EdTech, we mean pedagogical programmes and approaches that use technology to support teaching professionals and pupils with classroom teaching and learning. This may include computer adaptive learning, or innovative Artificial Intelligence approaches. be used for supporting the development of specific skills in mathematics, literacy, modern foreign languages, including for targeted groups of pupils? And are these approaches effective?
- Can computer adaptive learning and AI technologies be used for teaching and learning? And with what impact on outcomes?
Projects