Success for All Living up to its
name?
Dr Louise Tracey & Professor Bette Chambers
21 March 2013
Inequalities in Society
• Nearly 4 million children are living in poverty in the UK
(after housing costs) http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/
• Inequalities in pre-school/school entry
• Importance of the Home Learning Environment (HLE)
(Melhuish et al., 2001)
• Gaps increase throughout school career
(ages 7, 11 & 16).
Literacy
• Importance of early literacy
• Support for systematic phonics instruction (Rose
Review 2006, National Reading Panel, 2000)
• Primary framework & Letters and Sounds (2007)
Success For All (SFA): 1
• Started in US, 1987
• Introduced in UK, 1997
• Empirical studies in US (Mean effect size +0.29)
• Cost effectiveness
• Allen Report (2011)
Success For All (SFA): 2
Professor Bette Chambers
Background
• Success For All is a charitable foundation - a nonprofit making organisation.
• Success for All’s main aim is to work in areas where
there is underachievement.
• The overriding idea behind SFA is to use everything
we know about effective teaching and learning to
make a difference to the life chances of children and
their families.
Evidence-Based Intervention
• Success for All was designed to put into practice the findings of
longitudinal and externally validated research on teaching and
learning.
•
SFA has been subjected to rigorous evaluations including
large-scale randomised studies. SFA has been awarded the
highest rating for effectiveness by numerous raters.
Key Features
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Co-operative learning embedded throughout.
Balanced literacy teaching.
Extensive materials.
Pupils grouped by stage not age for literacy lessons.
Fast-paced engaging lessons.
Intensive initial training and ongoing in-school support.
Whole school reading assessments.
Pupils re-grouped according to their progress for the next
term.
• Tutoring for struggling readers.
• Family support.
Co-operative Learning - The Cycle of Instruction
Teacher Presentation
• Teach
• Model
• Guide Practice
• Recognise
• Celebrate
• Prompt
• Reinforce
• Peer pre-assessment
Assessment
• Monitor
• Assess
© 2011 Success for All Foundation
Partner/Team
Practice
Celebration
Success for All: The Curriculum
Curiosity
& Kinder
Quest
Cooperative
Learning
Year 1
(beginnin
g readers
to NC
level 2c)
Roots
Wings
Typically
year 2 - 6
(NC level
2c
readers
and
above)
© 2011 Success for All Foundation
Nursery
&
reception
Typically
year 7 &
8 (NC
level 2c
readers
and
above)
Success for All
Ofsted Key Judgements
•
SFA significantly improves the quality and consistency of teaching
throughout the school.
•
SFA increases pupil engagement and motivation.
•
Pupils are set challenging tasks matched to their particular needs – the
co-operative learning strategy engages all pupils in learning.
•
SFA raises expectations.
•
SFA enhances the quality of leadership and management - developing expertise
within the school and building its capacity to sustain improvement.
SFA in the UK
• Introduced in UK, 1997
• Small scale studies conducted
• First large-scale longitudinal study in the UK (20082012)
Research Design
• Quasi-experimental design (matched)
• 40 schools (20 control, 20 intervention)
• Long-term implementers to new starters
Study Design
Recruitment:
Reception September 2008 – Pre-test
Post-testing:
Summer 2009 (end of Reception),
Summer 2010 (end of Year 1)
Summer 2011 (end of Year 2)
Summer 2012 (end of Year 3)
Assessments
• BPVS – receptive vocabulary
• WRMT
– Letter ID
– Word ID
– Word Attack
• YARC
– Rate, accuracy & comprehension
Assessments
Schools profiles:
• No significant difference in pre-test
• No significant difference in gender
• SEN c.12% I, 9% C
• FSM c. 43% I, 36% C
• EAL c. 46% I, 24% C
Analysis
Clustering in schools
Results – end of Year 2
• Word ID +0.20
• Word Attack +0.25
• YARC
– Accuracy +0.12
– Rate +0.11
– Comprehension +0.06
Implementation fidelity
Observations – control & intervention
literacy instruction, co-operative
learning & assessment
Variations – control & intervention
literacy instruction, co-operative
learning & assessment
Discussion
• Educationally significant
– Positive effect sizes (& long-term)
• Fidelity – similarities & differences
• Working with schools
School Feedback
Assessments
Assessors
Feedback
change
Next Steps?
• EEF
RCT SFA
Team Alphie
Quest
Any Questions?
Questions for discussion
• How important is it to evaluate literacy
programmes?
• Are RCTs the way forward?
• If so, how do we get involvement of
schools?
Thank you!
Further queries: louise.tracey@york.ac.uk