RfT

Alternative curriculum provision

What difference can alternative curriculum programmes make to students at KS4? A minority of 14-16 year old students feel that GCSE courses are inappropriate to them. The reactions of such students to the KS4 experience range from lack of interest to disaffection, which in turn can lead to underachievement and truancy. Consequently, many schools offer some kind of an alternative to the KS4 curriculum to at least some of their students.

Promoting students' persistence in meeting challenges

The study summarised in this TLA research summary focuses on student motivation and achievement and explores how they relate to beliefs that students hold about themselves and about the nature of ability. The book, summarised in Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality and development (Dweck 2000), aimed to explore why some young people exceed expectations and others fail to fulfil their potential.Carol Dweck has spent over thirty years researching how learners responded to experiences of difficulty and challenge.

Teaching phonics effectively

Should they be taught using the letter sounds (phonics), by learning whole words, or by both? If they are taught using phonics what is the most effective way to do so?   To help teachers find their way around the issue of phonics teaching this TLA research summary aims to highlight key features of phonics approaches in the context of literacy learning in England. We use the Rose report as the basis for the summary. This report was undertaken in the context of existing early literacy practices, including phonics, within the National Literacy Strategy in schools in England.

Interactive teaching and interactive whiteboards

Interactive whole class teaching has been identified by the British Government's National Strategies as a key way to help to raise standards in literacy and numeracy. At the same time, interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have been made widely available and are generally viewed as teaching tools which can promote interactive whole class teaching. They are often seen as a means of increasing pupil motivation to learn and of improving interactivity in teaching.

Pupils in low attaining groups

All schools work hard to identify and support pupils who are attaining well below the average. This TLA research summarises a study that explored the ways in which teachers and schools support such pupils by placing them in groupings and providing specific and tailored support. The study identified some successful classroom, department and school strategies for assisting low attaining students to learn.The study is:Dunne, M., S. Humphreys, J. Sebba, A. Dyson, F. Gallannaugh and D. Muijs. Effective teaching and learning for pupils in low attaining groups.

The enduring impact of quality early years education

This TLA research summarises the final report from the primary phase of the Effective Pre-school and Primary Education project (EPPE 3-11)*, Europe's largest longitudinal investigation into the effects of pre-school and primary education on pupils' development. The researchers followed more than 2,800 children from the start of pre-school (around the age of 3) along with a further 300+ children with no pre-school experience, until the end of Key Stage 2 (age 11 years) by which time 2,600 children were still in the study.

Inside the literacy hour

For this TLA research summary we looked at two reports from a study that investigated what happened when the literacy hour was implemented in small rural schools with mixed age classes. Teachers in single age classes will also find that there is much to interest them.