1. How are more effective schools supporting disadvantaged pupils to achieve?
Shona Macleod
NFER
November 2016

2. What I’ll discuss... 1. Context 2. Aims and study design
3. Strategies adopted by schools
4. The building blocks of successful practice
5. The improvement journey
6. School risk factors
7. Conclusions
8. Resources for schools

3. The KS2 attainment gap has narrowed since 2011
70 % of disadvantaged pupils achieved level 4 in 2015 compared to 85% of others
Source: DfE, 2015

4. The performance gap at KS4 narrowed at first but then tailed off
36.7 % of disadvantaged pupils achieved 5 A*-C in 2015 compared to 64.7% of others.
Source: DfE, 2016

5. Negative consequences for disadvantaged pupils include
Lower wages
Higher unemployment
Poverty is transmitted from one generation to the next
Source: Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, 2014

6. Research study design 1
What are the characteristics of schools identified with success in raising disadvantaged pupils’ attainment?
(Analysis of national performance data) 2
What quantity and mix of strategies are being implemented in more and less successful schools?
(Surveys of over 1,300 schools) 3
How does implementation influence success?
(Interviews with 49 school leaders)

7. Strategies adopted by schools

8. Schools used an average of 18 strategies to support disadvantaged pupils between 2011 and 2015

9. Schools’ approaches to supporting disadvantaged pupils
Schools identified the following strategies as the most effective
Paired or small group additional teaching
Improving feedback between teachers and pupils
One-to-one tuition

10. How strategies related to success
Greater success was associated with:
schools introducing their most successful strategy earlier
using fewer strategies
using metacognitive, collaborative and peer learning (secondary)
Less success in primary schools was associated with the following combinations of strategies:
strategies to improve behaviour, attendance, aspirations, the classroom/school environment and pupil engagement in the curriculum
additional staff resources to work specifically with disadvantaged pupils, new literacy or numeracy interventions and paired/small group additional teaching

11. Overview of value for money (Diagram from Professor Steve Higgins and EEF)
1.0
Promising
Feedback
Meta-cognition
Could be worth it
EY intervention
Effect Size (potential months gain)
Peer tutoring
Collaborative learning
Homework (Secondary)
1-1 tutoring
Summer schools
Digital technology
Phonics
Smaller classes
Parental involvement
After school
Needs careful thought
Individualised learning
Teaching assistants
Performance pay £0
Ability grouping
£1000
Cost per pupil

12. Peer learning, collaborative learning and metacognition
Peer learning (same-age or cross-age tutoring, reciprocal learning to consolidate learning)
Collaborative learning (joint or shared tasks in small groups)
Meta-cognitive approaches (helping pupils to think about their own learning more explicitly) Examples include SRSD, Talk for Writing and Changing Mindsets

13. ‘Self-Regulated Strategy Development’ (SRSD)
EEF Project – based on US research
Calderdale Excellence Partnership
23 schools: Y6 & Y7
Focus on writing
Average 9 months additional progress
Greater impact for FSM
Now being examined at scale

14. Meta-cognition and self-regulation
Meta-cognition: explicit strategies to
Plan…
Monitor…
Evaluate… your own learning
Self-regulation
Move from external to internal regulation
“Scaffolding” learning (and dismantling the ‘scaffold’)
Includes managing motivation/perseverance
Aim is to become automatic

15. A simple model of meta-cognition
Strategies to plan
Key steps/clear goal/visualisation
Notes/diagrams
Strategies to monitor
Keeping on track
Comprehension monitoring
Progress check
Strategies to review
What worked/didn’t work (process)
Check criteria (outcome)

16. Making planning explicit
Clear objectives/ targets
Understood and explainable by learners
Strategies for planning
Talk partners, identifying key steps, visualisation, brainstorming
Tools
Diagrams/ maps/ flow charts, tree diagrams/ storyboards

17. Monitoring Use the plan – identify the ‘tricky’ bits
Identify how to deal with these?
What do you need to keep in mind?
Self or peer questioning strategies
Use ‘buddying’
Reminders
‘Keep on track’ mats/ organisers

18. Reviewing Hard to make effective Review prior to starting next time?
Strategies to improve – focus on process as well as outcome
Effective time to talk…

20. But if most schools are doing lots of similar things, why are disadvantaged pupils doing better in some schools than others?

21. The building blocks of successful practice

22. 1. Whole school ethos of attainment for all
More successful schools see pupils as individuals rather than stereotyping disadvantaged pupils as a group with similar problems and less potential to achieve.
They take responsibility for helping all pupils succeed

23. Successful schools avoid stereotyping disadvantaged pupils
Whatever we throw at these disadvantaged children, some of them are still struggling to make that progress. They just haven’t got it… So we don’t throw loads at these children. They make the progress that I think they’re capable of.
Headteacher, less successful primary school
When I am talking about our disadvantaged students I am absolutely determined that I see each of them as an individual rather than generalising them and moulding them together.
Senior leader, more successful primary school

24. 2. Addressing behaviour and attendance
More successful schools have effective attendance and behaviour strategies
They follow up quickly with individuals and families
They provide emotional support to address underlying issues

25. 3. High quality teaching for all
More successful schools emphasise high quality teaching first
They invest in staff training, monitor performance and share good practice

26. For poor pupils the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher is a whole year’s learning. Sutton Trust (2011)

27. 4. Meeting individual learning needs
Staff work to identify barriers, interests and what might help each pupil make the next steps in learning.
They provide targeted support for under-performing pupils during curriculum time, in addition to learning support outside school hours.
They seek strategies best suited to addressing individual needs, rather than just fitting pupils into their existing support strategies.

28. 5. Deploying staff effectively
More successful schools identify the strengths of each staff member
They devolve responsibility to frontline staff and use TAs well
They deploy their best staff to work with pupils who need the most support

29. 6. Data driven and responding to evidence
More successful schools review progress every few weeks, spot any signs of underperformance and address them quickly.
Teachers engage with the data themselves: they input, analyse and use it to underpin their teaching.
They have a consistent marking scheme which recognises pupils’ achievements and sets out the next steps in their learning.
They monitor the success of support strategies and make evidence-based decisions about whether to keep, adjust or replace.

30. 7. Clear, responsive leadership
Senior leaders in more successful schools ensure that staff are willing to do whatever it takes to help each pupil to succeed.
They hold every staff member accountable for pupils’ progress.
They share their thinking and work collaboratively. They ensure their schools are linked into key local/national networks.
They ensure staff share best practice.

31. The improvement journey

32. According to senior leaders in more successful schools ...
There is no ‘magic bullet’
Achieving better results takes time
The quality of implementation is important

33. Example: Small group additional teaching
More successful school
Pupils with similar needs are withdrawn from alternating non-core curriculum lessons for tailored support from a TA trained in literacy interventions
Less successful school
Struggling pupils are taken out of English lessons to work on an online literacy programme, supervised by a TA who has received no specific training.

34. Example: Parental Involvement
More successful school
Higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs) go to community centres to talk to parents about the importance of learning and aspirations. They show parents the curriculum pupils are covering and how to support their child.
Less successful school
Staff provide pupils with homework books showing the day’s assignments. Pupils take the book home. There is space for teachers and parents to leave comments about pupils’ progress.

35. Schools’ pathways to success
Continued development
Seek opportunities to share and improve practice
Embedded
Focus more strongly on taking calculated risks, using data and early intervention
Intermediate
Introduce T&L strategies and individualise approaches
Basic
Attendance, behaviour & emotional support. High quality teaching
Timescale 3-5 years

36. School risk factors

37. Characteristics associated with poorer performance of disadvantaged pupils
Schools with:
Disadvantaged pupils who had lower results on entry
Higher levels of pupil absence
A lower proportion of disadvantaged pupils
Larger year groups
Higher percentage of pupils with SEN (KS2 only)
Rural schools (KS4 only)

38. Some thoughts on how to address risk factors
If your school has fewer disadvantaged pupils or larger year groups, make sure they are not getting ‘lost in the system’?
If your school has little pupil premium funding, focus on low-cost targeted strategies ?
If your disadvantaged pupils have low prior attainment, identify and address under-performance when they enter your school?

39. Conclusions
Schools can make a key difference to the life chances of disadvantaged pupils
There is no single strategy or set of strategies that make the difference
Investing in high quality teaching is key
Schools need to make their own choices, monitor progress regularly and take action
The quality of implementation is as important as the choice of strategies.

40. Reflections or questions?

41. What’s your view?
What’s your response to the building blocks of success?
Does the four-stage improvement journey reflect your experience?
Have you got any other suggestions about how to address the risk factors?
How can you use these findings to inform your work?

42. Resources for schools

43. Useful resources
Details of this research and briefing for schools are available on the DfE and NFER websites: and
The families of schools tool: schools-database/
DfE service for comparison of school performance: performance.service.gov.uk/
Sutton Trust/EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit:
Pupil Premium Review Guide: Spring-2016-refresh-FINAL-1.pdf
Pupil Premium Awards case studies:
Teacher workload and marking: unnecessary-workload-around-marking.pdf
Teacher workload and data management: unnecessary-workload-associated-with-data-management.pdf

44. References
Department for Education (2015). National Curriculum Assessment at Key Stage 2 in England (Revised). (Statistical First Release 47/2015). London: DfE.
Department for Education (2016). Revised GCSE and Equivalent Results in England, 2014 to (Statistical First Release 01/2016). London: DfE.
Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission (2014). State of the Nation 2014: Social Mobility and Child Poverty in Great Britain. London: The Stationery Office.
The Sutton Trust (2011). Improving the Impact of Teachers on Pupil Achievement In the UK: Interim Findings. London: The Sutton Trust.