Breakout 1 Can early intervention improve social mobility? EIF National Conference 2017 Breakout 1 Can early intervention improve social mobility? Putting evidence into action

Sir Kevan Collins, Chief Executive, Education Endowment Foundation

Professor Robin Banerjee, University of Sussex

Early Intervention Foundation Daniel Acquah, Evidence Analyst Early Intervention Foundation Following Robin’s excellent survey of the field – I want to use my time to tell The EIF is the ‘What Works’ Centre for Early Intervention, providing evidence to Government, Local Councils and charities about what works, what doesn’t work and what is promising practice in relation to Early Intervention. Work conducted over the last year has focused on interventions based in schools and in the out of school context designed to improve young people’s social and emotional skills. This builds on the work carried out over the last few years. EIF’s assessment process Initial expression of interest where studies are submitted and programmes are selected Studies undergo an initial assessment against EIF’s standards of evidence by one of our researches. Our assessments are then quality assured by experts with expertise in SEL as well as evaluation design and statistics.

EIF’s assessment of SEL Programmes Type of programme N Universal SEL Development Interventions 10 Targeted SEL Development Interventions for Young People at Risk: Small Group Interventions 5 Anger/Behaviour Management and Violence Prevention Interventions 2 Out of School Interventions 3 Substance Misuse Prevention Interventions Total 22 Categorisation of interventions in terms of programme focus and level of need. Only a sub-set of the field – we hope to come back to other interventions in the future. Universal SEL Development Interventions The majority of the interventions we look at were implemented universally, typically to whole classes of young people. These included interventions focused on the positive SEL development (Roots of Empathy and PATHS) As well as intervention designed to prevent or difficulties such as anxiety and depression (FRIENDS Targeted SEL Development Interventions There were also a range of targeted interventions which were implemented with small groups of children at risk of developing problems with SES. Anger/Behaviour Management and Violence Prevention Interventions Two interventions were focused on developing behaviour management strategies in with both teachers and their classes (IY-TCM and Good Behaviour Game) Out of School Interventions We looked at a small number of out of school interventions, which included models based on mentoring and other encouraging participation in social action. Substance Misuse Prevention Interventions We also looks at a couple of interventions that aimed to reduce substance misuse by promoting self-management skills The majority of interventions we The three out of school programmes are: Family social emotional skill interventions (FAST) Mentoring Interventions (Teens and Toddlers) Social action interventions (The Go-Givers Make a Difference Challenge) EIF National Conference , 11th May 2017

Distribution of Strength of Evidence ratings For SEL programmes Four interventions had not yet reached the threshold for an EIF level, including due to a lack of standardised measures or a mixed pattern of findings. Ten interventions had preliminary evidence with at least one study demonstrating positive change from pre to post intervention. Seven interventions had evidence of efficacy, with at least one study having a robust comparison group. Cost The majority of intervention were estimated to low cost to set up and deliver. One possible explanation for this is that the majority of the interventions we have assessed are universal school-based programmes, delivered in group format by the class teacher. Evidence Origin EIF National Conference , 11th May 2017

Bethia McNeil, Director Centre for Youth Impact

Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard , Policy and Research Manager Joseph Rowntree Foundation

There are 14 million people living in poverty in the UK There are 14 million people living in poverty in the UK. By 2021/22 there will be 1.2 more children in poverty By age 3 a child born in poverty is significantly behind wealthier peers in cognitive development, a gap which widens by age 5 The association between family income and child’s social and emotional skills has strengthened over last 30 years Childhood disadvantage leads to future poverty via low attainment – in England the gap between poorer & wealthier children is 18% Those with low education levels are 5 times as likely to live in poverty as an adult Adults with low qualifications are more likely to unemployed Poverty also has an impact on the quality of family life including parenting and relationships, it affects child development and mental health 40% of the gap at 16 is already present at age 5, so early intervention key. And as a poverty prevention strategy education is hard to beat

What can we recommend? Early take up of free childcare for 2 year olds enabling development work in structured environments Addressing the barriers affecting take up - only 58% of parents of disadvantaged children have taken up the free childcare offer. Awareness raising with specific BME groups also key More importantly, tackling the broader drivers of poverty impacting upon families and children: Improving families incomes through increasing access to decent, secure work and better pay Aiding the balance between work & care to enable economic participation Providing childcare , school teaching staff & leadership with experience of working with children in deprived areas Improving routes from school to job market

Breakout 1 Can early intervention improve social mobility? EIF National Conference 2017 Breakout 1 Can early intervention improve social mobility? Putting evidence into action