Embedding Formative Assessment (EFA) is a professional development programme, authored by Dylan Wiliam, Siobhan Leahy and SSAT, which aims to improve pupil outcomes by embedding the use of formative assessment strategies across a school. Schools receive detailed resource packs to run monthly workshops, known as Teacher Learning Communities (TLC), and teachers conduct structured peer observations focusing on the use of formative assessment strategies.
Each monthly TLC lasts 75 – 90 minutes. All teaching staff are involved and split into groups comprising 8 – 14 people. TLC agendas and materials focus on five key formative assessment strategies:
- Clarifying, sharing and understanding learning intentions and success criteria
- Engineering effective classroom discussions and activities
- Providing feedback that moves learning forward
- Activating learners as instructional resources for one another
- Activating learners as owners of their own learning
Within each of these high-level concepts, the TLC handouts introduce multiple formative assessment techniques for teachers to consider.
Each school appoints a lead teacher who co-ordinates an in-school training day for senior leaders and the schools Teacher Learning Community leaders. Following this initial day the school lead receives ongoing implementation support from an EFA mentor. This includes a mixture of visits, phone calls and emails.
The programme was developed based on existing evidence that formative assessment can improve students’ learning. Many schools already prioritise formative assessment, but often report that it can be challenging to implement. EFA provides schools with a structured approach to developing their formative assessment practices.
A previous EEF effectiveness trial in 140 schools had promising results, with students in the EFA schools making the equivalent of two months’ additional progress on their Attainment 8 GCSE scores. The result of this trial had a very high security rating.
As a result of the promising effectiveness trial, EEF supported EFA to scale up by subsidising the cost of the programme for schools through the Department for Education’s (DfE) Accelerator Fund, with schools in Education Investment Areas prioritised for access.
EEF commissioned a team from the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) to evaluate the scale-up of the EFA programme over four years (2019−2023). This evaluation assessed several key aspects of implementation to gain insights into how SSAT and EEF can support effective scaling.
Key findings include:
- Significant organisational and programme strategy adjustments were necessary, such as expanding the staff and consultant base, automating processes, and increasing marketing efforts to sustain the scale of operations.
- SSAT’s monitoring and evaluation framework was vital to understanding and effectively managing the programme’s reach and impact.
- Post-pandemic, challenges in reach and recruitment emerged as substantial. A new government fund to support catch up enabled a 70% DfE subsidy to encourage participation, resulting in increased recruitment and a participant pool from schools with higher-than-average free school meal (FSM) levels.
- Implementation fidelity remained high with minimal deviations from the core programme.
- Contextual factors such as a positive school culture and government support positively influenced adoption and implementation.
- Sustainability evidence showed that the programme continued to influence school practices after two years, with 56% of teachers noting a change in their general practices.
- The cost of the program was equivalent to £2.02 per pupil annually.
The scale-up was informed by two previous pieces of research. A 2022 mailer trial looked at how different marketing strategies encouraged the adoption of an evidence-based programme by schools. An interim report from the first phase of the research identified that School Leads, TLC Leaders and classroom teachers made a range of adaptations to the programme due to contextual factors including other CPD priorities, the ongoing impact of Covid, the school’s leadership and culture, and specific characteristics of a school’s staff and pupils. The research also identified a lack of data on mentors and systems to ensure that the data collected was acted upon. BIT subsequently worked with SSAT to develop a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan and a new set of feedback surveys to support this, which was shown to improve impact management in the final evaluation.