Top PDF Switch-on Effectiveness Trial: Evaluation report and executive summary. May 2017

First, the process evaluation indicates that, in some schools, class teacher involvement in Switch-on was limited. While part of the appeal of Switch-on as an intervention is that it is TA-led, evidence from the literature indicates that one-to-one catch up interventions should be ‘additional but explicitly linked to normal teaching and that teachers should monitor progress to ensure tutoring is beneficial’ (Higgins et al., 2014, p. 10). This suggests that even if TAs deliver the intervention, class teachers should be involved to ensure that the intervention is embedded in a wider literacy strategy for the child. The fact that class teachers were not systematically included in the planning and delivery of Switch-on in schools could therefore have undermined the achievement of outcomes. This is a challenge common to many one-to-one interventions that require children to leave the classroom. The previous efficacy trial highlighted the challenge of scheduling the intervention within the school timetable as a barrier to successful implementation. This remained a challenge in the current effectiveness trial and the inconsistent involvement of class teachers appears to have exacerbated timetabling difficulties. Second, the literature identifies having a strong champion at a senior level as a success factor (for example, Tanner et al., 2015) for effectively implementing literacy interventions. Evidence from the process evaluation suggests that the engagement of senior level staff was inconsistent across participating schools. This meant resource and timetabling issues were not always resolved adequately, which affected schools’ ability to deliver the intervention effectively.

E4F has made good progress in establishing the service in a relatively short period of time—and indeed being able to set up and run the service within one and a half years was seen by those in the core team as a key achievement. Our evaluation concludes that E4F is not ready for trial, and indeed, may not be suitable for trial because of the flexible and responsive operating model; and the challenge in defining a measure of pupil-level impact to capture the effect of the intervention across a range of phases and subject areas. We suggest that the pilot would benefit from another year of operation where it can consolidate progress to date, continue to maintain momentum in service delivery and usage, address the challenges identified in our formative findings above, and build a secure platform for continued development and possible scaling up. We believe that these developments would help to strengthen E4F and extend its reach into schools’ culture, strategic improvement plans, CPD provision, and classroom practice where evidence is used by teachers on the frontline.

The results in this trial and evidence from the literature both suggest that large trials are required to pick up the potentially small effects form book-gifting programmes. Thus, a further larger scale trial is advisable to provide a sufficiently large sample to test the effectiveness of a Booktrust Summer Active Reading transition programme. Whilst this trial did not find robust evidence, the indication is for a small positive effect on attitudes towards reading (specifically amongst non-FSM pupils). Given the low cost and intensity of the programme, and the issues regarding recruitment and sample size, this is a tentative but encouraging finding. In order to examine whether the programme genuinely has a small positive effect a larger scale trial would be required. This trial would enable Booktrust to make changes to the delivery of the programme to increase attendance at the summer events and also the engagement of parents and schools and to assess whether this could possibly increase the effectiveness of the programme. Such a trial would also provide the opportunity for a process evaluation that could explore possible explanations for any differential effect between FSM and non FSM participants. Finally, by using a longer timescale, a larger trial could explore whether positive impact on attitudes towards reading lead on to positive impact on attainment (rather than assuming that this 'change' occurs almost simultaneously as was the focus of the trial reported here).

Writing about Values aimed to improve the academic performance of disadvantaged Year 10 and 11 pupils by reminding them of their important values. During English lessons, pupils wrote reflective essays about core values, such as relationships with friends and family, sport or music. These writing exercises aimed to remind pupils of positive aspects of their lives, and were administered by English language teachers at the beginning of the academic year, before mock GCSEs, and just before the actual GCSE exams began. Research suggests that an awareness of negative stereotypes about the academic performance of disadvantaged pupils can cause harmful feelings to these pupils and have a negative impact on academic outcomes. The project is based on the theory of self-affirmation, which suggests that engaging in value affirmation writing activities can give individuals a positive sense of value and negate these harmful feelings, fostering academic learning and improving performance. In this randomised controlled trial, Year 10 and 11 pupils in 29 secondary schools in the South East of England were randomly allocated to either an intervention or a control group. Teachers and pupils were not told which pupils were in each group, or about the theory behind the intervention, because there is evidence that knowledge of the purpose of this type of intervention can reduce its effectiveness. This was achieved by administering the writing exercises in plain individually-named envelopes, and giving the project the generic title of ‘Writing about Values’. While all pupils participated in the trial, the target participants were pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, defined as those eligible for free school meals in the past 6 years.

size: on average, intervention schools were smaller (n=397) compared with control schools (n=426); school level %EAL: the mean %EAL was lower for intervention schools (24%) compared with control schools (30%); last OFSTED inspection; a smaller proportion of intervention schools were classed as 'outstanding' (17%) compared with control schools (35%). A higher proportion of intervention schools were classed as good (66%) compared with control schools (62%) and a higher proportion of intervention schools were classed as 'requires improvement' (17%) compared with control schools (4%). Given the excellent balance across 13 variables, we do not think that the imbalance shown with the subjective OFSTED inspection outcomes serve to undermine the robustness of the trial. The overall effectiveness OFSTED ratings are based on the last inspection and were available for 105 of the 110 schools in the trial. It should be noted that the dates for the last OFSTED inspection ranged between Jan 2007 and June 2015. We included the OFSTED ratings on request from EEF but, given their subjective nature and wide range of dates, we do not think that they provide a valid or useful way of comparing the two samples at baseline. Given how strikingly balanced the two samples are across all measures of attainment at both school and pupil levels for the 2014 academic year, we do not think that the imbalance relating to OFSTED is a problem. Similarly, the slightly smaller schools and lower

27 U.S. states found that teacher observations, coupled with online, on-demand professional development, resulted in significantly improved student achievement in reading and maths on standardised assessments. For example, schools with Lower Observation Rates (with a mean number of teacher observations of 2.76) collectively experienced 2.22 net gain in the percentage of students rated as ‘Proficient’ or ‘Advanced’ representing a statistically significant 3.9% improvement. In contrast, schools with Higher Observation Rates (with a mean number of teacher observations of 8.49) collectively experienced 13.16 net gain in the percentage of students classified as ‘Proficient’ or ‘Advanced’ representing a statistically significant 24.9% improvement from baseline. The comparison reflects 6.37 times the growth in the Higher Observation Rate schools compared with the Lower Observation counterparts. Similarly, a study of mid-career elementary and middle school teachers in Cincinnati Public Schools found that teachers were more effective at raising student achievement during the school year when they were being evaluated than they were previously (Taylor and Tyler, 2012). 3 Participating teachers were evaluated over a year, based largely on classroom observation. The effect on student attainment was relatively small, at 0.11 standard deviations for maths attainment, but had not been tested using a randomised controlled trial (RCT). It was anticipated that the impact of the structured observation would continue to develop over time, particularly if schools adopted a cultural shift towards regular peer observation. Collectively, these findings suggest that effective teacher evaluation systems based on well-structured teacher observation can enhance teacher effectiveness and raise student attainment.

Certain chairing panel members might welcome further preparation for handling `hotly’ contested hearings and adjudicating between opposing viewpoints. It may also be helpful if the allocation of particular safeguarders to cases considering permanence away from home takes account of the specialist knowledge that is desirable. Where specific requests like this are made they can be met. Social work reports should emphasise and make clear the reasons why an early decision is

This executive summary of the School Accountability Report Card (SARC) is intended to provide parents and community members with a quick snapshot of information related to individual public schools. Most data presented in this report are reported for the 2010–11 school year. School finances and school completion data are reported for the 2009–10 school year. Contact information, facilities, curriculum and instructional materials, and select teacher data are reported for the 2011–12 school year. For additional information about the school, parents and community members should review the entire SARC or contact the school principal or the district office.

Internet access is available at public libraries and other locations that are publicly accessible (e.g., the California State Library). Access to the Internet at libraries and public locations is generally provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Other use restrictions may include the hours of operation, the length of time that a workstation may be used (depending on availability), the types of software programs available on a workstation, and the ability to print documents.

This executive summary of the School Accountability Report Card (SARC) is intended to provide parents and community members with a quick snapshot of information related to individual public schools. Most data presented in this report are reported for the 2011–12 school year. School finances and school completion data are reported for the 2010–11 school year. Contact information, facilities, curriculum and instructional materials, and select teacher data are reported for the 2012–13 school year. For additional information about the school, parents and community members should review the entire SARC or contact the school principal or the district office.

Internet access is available at public libraries and other locations that are publicly accessible (e.g., the California State Library). Access to the Internet at libraries and public locations is generally provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Other use restrictions may include the hours of operation, the length of time that a workstation may be used (depending on

“I undertake to promptly inform the Chief Executive Officer of the National Asset Management Agency of any modification that are required to maintain the accuracy of this declaration, and the above statements, arising or resulting from changes in my personal situation and/or financial arrangements”

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The primary tools used inside organizations to maintain a record of hardware and software are Asset Management and the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). In practice, however, many applications and particularly distributed system components are not properly recorded. There are concerns that many CMDBs have not caught up with the wide use of virtualization, so the creation of multiple instances of an application may go completely unrecorded leading to patching errors.

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and stroke, as distinguished by the Healthy People 2010 Heart and Stroke Partnership according to the different intervention approaches that apply. These goals (which are based on the one Healthy People 2010 goal) are prevention of risk factors, detection and treatment of risk factors, early identification and treatment of heart attacks and strokes, and prevention of recurrent cardiovascular events. An action framework that outlines the comprehensive public health strategy of the Action Plan (see Figure 1) highlights these goals. The main features of the action framework can be described briefly as follows (see full report for further discussion): • The Present Reality, which summarizes current knowledge of the

New Case-Management Workgroups Resulting From New Reports. Opening new case-management workgroups indicates that a new report on the family was received, and that after meeting with and assessing the family, workers decided that the safety of the child and/or the needs of the family warranted further monitoring and services. The rate of new case openings was significantly lower for low-risk AR cases compared to control cases. For every 100 low-risk cases provided a traditional response, current results indicate that about 21 could be expected to

Amongst these frameworks of results, the Per- formance Assessment Framework (MED) in the water sector as a tool for performance mea- surement of the Sector Development Plan and Basic Sanitation (PSD-SB) stands out. The MED reflects the government leadership in the sector and a particular operating framework thereby promoting ownership; while at the same time it promotes mutual accountability and alignment, by using annually verifiable indicators to measure progress, and it promotes harmonization, becau- se it is shared with other donors in the sector. The MED also includes indicators for measuring the progress made, towards the accomplishment of the compromises of the Effectiveness Agen- da, by international cooperation members in the sector.

There may be a wide variety of benefits that could accrue from the introduction of a new tourist transit system. These include reduced traffic congestion and revenue for many local businesses. The casino resorts could reap the largest benefits in terms of increased tourism revenue deriving from improved visitor travel convenience and increased competitiveness of area attractions with venues in other regions. Preliminary estimates of casino resort benefits are described below.

The level of flexibility in working hours and breaks is likely to be more a function of the role of the employees than of their work settings and there were differences reported for each role in terms of the ability to decide when to take a break and the ability to adapt working hours. Care workers tended to report the least flexibility in taking a break, and policy/administration staff tended to report the most flexibility in those areas, with nurses somewhere in between the two. Statistical comparisons indicated significant differences between the role groupings (Nurse, Care Worker, Policy/Admin, Domestic/Home Maintenance), with the exception of the comparison between care workers and domestic or home maintenance workers.