What Works!

As we start another year where resources are increasingly tight and we are looking for value for money in every decision we make, everyone who cares about learning, closing the attainment gap and achieving world class outcomes for all our children and young people should re-read the The Sutton Trust publication; 'Toolkit of Strategies to Improve Learning'.

The document helpfully summarises some of the research evidence on improving learning and attainment to help schools to make more informed choices about how to support their students. It takes different approaches to improving learning in schools, and identifies the strength of the research evidence and then makes an estimate of the costs of adopting that approach. The toolkit also provides guidance on whether the approaches are applicable to primary or secondary school settings, and in which core subjects – English, maths or science. The aim of the toolkit is to encourage schools and teachers to make their own informed choices and adopt a more ‘evidence based’ approach. The authors make clear that schools will need to carefully monitor the effect of any chosen approach and evaluate the investment to ensure it is having the desired effect. The publication also makes it clear that whatever approach is chosen schools will still need to evaluate the actual benefits to ensure the investment really does help learners achieve their educational potential. You can find the publication at http://www.suttontrust.com/public/documents/toolkit-summary-final-r-2-.pdf.

Chris