Education Endowment Foundation:IRIS Connect: Developing classroom dialogue and feedback through collective video reflection

IRIS Connect: Developing classroom dialogue and feedback through collective video reflection

Whole Education and Iris Connect
Project info

Independent Evaluator

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University of Birmingham
Piloting an approach to using video observation and coaching in teacher development.
Schools: 12 Grant: £213,458
Key Stage: 1, 2, 3, 4 Duration: 1 year(s) 7 month(s) Type of Trial: Pilot Study
Completed December 2016

IRIS is designed to improve primary school teachers’ use of dialogue and feedback through using video technology for collaborative teacher development with a view to improving academic outcomes for pupils. It is based around a video technology system (IRIS Connect) which enables teachers to record, edit, and comment on teaching and learning.

In this pilot, the project comprised six film club’ events each lasting two hours: three in which teachers reviewed lesson clips from other schools, two in which they reviewed each other’s lessons, and one film club in which they reviewed their experience. The project aimed to create long-term, whole-school change, embedding the use of dialogue and feedback in school culture. This evaluation, however, focused specifically on the impact of IRIS Connect on the teachers attending film clubs, as stated in the original protocol agreed prior to the project starting.

Schools were free to choose which teachers participated in the trial, but were encouraged to focus on Year 5 pupils. Teachers worked collaboratively in the film clubs’ to review lesson clips from other schools and to plan, teach, record, and review their own lessons using the IRIS Connect online platform. The project was designed and supported by IRIS Connect and Whole Education with advice from academics at the Universities of Cambridge and Leeds, and additional content from Routledge.

This pilot project evaluated (i) how teachers implemented the intervention, and (ii) the change in teachers’ thinking and practice. Teachers participating in the project were compared with other teachers in their schools who did not participate. The project lasted for seven months from January to July 2016. The first three clubs in each school were held between January and April and the second three between May and July. Twelve schools were initially recruited for the project, eleven of which participated.

Question
Finding
Comment

Is there evidence to support the theory of change?

Moderate (with strong formative findings).

Participating teachers believed the intervention improved their practice. This change in practice is supported by evidence collected through surveys and analysis of videoed lessons. No data on pupil outcomes was collected as part of this pilot.

Was the approach feasible?

Moderate.

Although the intervention demands teachers’ time, teachers felt it was worth it and the participating schools planned to continue after the project. Three of the eleven schools did not fully implement the programme within the seven months of this pilot.

Is the approach ready to be evaluated in a trial?

Yes.

The online platform and the materials used in this project are ready for systematic delivery across a larger number of schools.