Teaching assistants: EEF publishes updated guidance to support schools achieve greater impact

380,000 teaching assistants (TAs) are employed across the country, at an annual public cost of some £5 billion, but previous research had shown that in many schools they were not being deployed in ways that improve student outcomes. Indeed, for students from poorer backgrounds the impact of TAs was too often negative.

However, EEF trials have demonstrated that, when they are well-trained and used in structured settings with high-quality support and training, TAs can make a noticeable positive impact on pupil learning.

To support schools in achieving this, in 2015 the EEF published its first guidance report, Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants. Written by the EEF's Prof. Jonathan Sharples, together with Rob Webster and Prof. Peter Blatchford, both at the UCL Institute of Education, it made seven clear and actionable recommendations.

Since then, the EEF has added a number of resources to support the implementation of this guidance report. This new material has now been incorporated online to bring the guidance up-to-date. It can be freely read and downloaded here.

Teaching assistants: ​EEF publishes updated guidance to support schools achieve greater impact

Prepare staff and resources

Create a clear implementation plan and judge the readiness of the school to deliver that plan

Define the problem you want to solve and identify appropriate programmes or practices to implement

Create a leadership environment and school climate that is conducive to good implementation

Treat implementation as a process, not an event; plan and execute it in stages

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Plan, support, and monitor SEL implementation

Reinforce SEL skills through whole-school ethos and activities

Use a SAFE curriculum: Sequential, Active, Focused and Explicit

Plan carefully for adopting a SEL programme

Integrate and model SEL skills through everyday teaching

Teach SEL skills explicitly

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Ensure explicit connections are made between learning from everyday classroom teaching structured interventions

Adopt evidence-based interventions to support TAs in their small group and one-to-one instruction

Use TAs to deliver high quality one-to-one and small group support using structured interventions

Ensure TAs are fully prepared for their role in the classroom

Use TAs to help pupils develop independent learning skills and manage their own learning

Use TAs to add value to what teachers do, not replace them

TAs should not be used as an informal teaching resource for low attaining pupils

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Provide high-quality literacy interventions for struggling students

Provide opportunities for structured talk

Combine writing instruction with reading in every subject

Break down complex writing tasks

Develop students’ ability to read complex academic texts

Provide targeted vocabulary instruction in every subject

Prioritise ‘disciplinary literacy’ across the curriculum

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Whole-school

Teaching assistants: EEF publishes updated guidance to support schools achieve greater impact

EEF Blog: Teacher choices - can we make complex findings actionable?

EEF Blog: The Pupil Premium – focusing on what matters

EEF Blog: Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants - what have we learned so far about supporting schools to put evidence into action?

EEF Blog: What do we mean by ‘disciplinary literacy’?

Use simple approaches as part of your regular routine

Amy Ellis-Thompson