Evidence Into Practice

We are devising and developing techniques to engineer trustworthy research results into usable formats, such as CPD resources, toolkits and learning materials. We evaluate and monitor their impact over a substantial time period, with the aim of clearly improving both educational effectiveness and justice. We are conducted systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials of some of these approaches.

Recent presentations given by DECE founding members include

Higgins, S. "Using Research Evidence to Improve Educational Outcomes for Children and Young People" to the British Psychological Society (Home Counties Branch) at the London School of Economics on Tuesday, December 12th December 2017.

This lecture gave an overview of the Pupil Premium policy to raise attainment for disadvantaged pupils in England, where the family background is more strongly associated with educational success than in most developed countries. It described the work of the Education Endowment Foundation, which has commissioned over 100 randomised trials in schools in England, involving nearly a million pupils in the last five years. Their remit as the "What Works" Centre for Education involves advocating for and promoting evidence-based approaches. The talk considered the detail of some of the approaches, but also more broadly at the role of research evidence in improving outcomes for children and young people.

Higgins, S. "Research and evidence for teaching and learning" for the Raising the Bar / Closing the Gap Autumn Term Leadership Event organised by Rotherham School Improvement Service on Thursday 23rd November 2017.

This keynote looked at how can we can improve educational outcomes using research evidence and set out a model for how research engagement can provide a vision for educational practice and improvement. The Teaching and Learning Toolkit and the approach of the Education Endowment Foundation were used to exemplify the model. From a practical point of view, the talk focused on what school and teachers can do, but also what they might stop doing.

Recent relevant publications include

Dilnot, C. & Boliver, V. (2018). Admission to medicine and law at Russell Group universities: the impact of A-level subject choice. In Widening Participation in Higher Education: Towards a reflexive approach to research and evaluation. Hayton, A. & Stevenson, J. Trentham Books.

Gorard, S. (2018) Education policy: Evidence of equity and effectiveness, Bristol: Policy Press, ISBN 978-1447342151, 224 pages.