Theme(s): Teaching assistants; Inclusion
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The effect of support staff on pupil engagement and individual attention
Authors:
Blatchford, P., Basset, P., Brown, P. and Webster, R., Institute of Education, London
Publisher:
British Education Research Journal, Vol. 35, No. 5, October 2009, pp. 661-686
Introduction
There has been a huge increase in the number of teaching assistants (TAs) in schools in
recent years – partly as a result of the large increase in the number of pupils with SEN in
mainstream schools, so it is important to understand the difference they make.
This study investigated the deployment and impact of TAs on pupil engagement and the
individual attention they received in class. Specifically the study authors made comparisons on impacts and processes – between TAs and teachers, pupils with and without special
educational needs, and pupils in primary and secondary schools.
The results showed that support staff have positive effects in terms of providing pupils with
more individual attention and increasing participation in classroom activities, but the
downside was that the amount of interaction pupils had with teachers tended to decline
when support staff were present.
Keywords: United Kingdom, England; Support staff; Teachers; Inclusion; Special educational
needs
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Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1
What did the study find out about the effect of TAs on classroom interactions? ................ 3
What did the researchers identify as key issues relating to the use of TAs? ........................ 4
How was the study carried out?............................................................................................ 5
What are the implications? ................................................................................................... 6
Where can I find out more? .................................................................................................. 8
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What did the study find out about the effect of TAs on classroom
interactions?
Overall, the study authors found that TAs spent 63.9% of their time working with pupils,
mainly working with one pupil, a small group of pupils or ‘roving’ round the class offering
help when needed. TAs spent slightly more time on individuals in secondary classes than in
primary ones.
With regards to interactions between the adults in the classroom, when TAs were present:
 pupils were much more likely to be in ‘audience mode’ i.e. listening to the speaker
with their teacher than they were when they worked with TAs;
 with TAs they were more likely to be in ‘focus mode’ i.e. receiving individual
attention;
 the amount of pupil-teacher interaction involving individual teachers decreased; and
 teachers spent more of their time on direct teaching.
Of the time with pupils teachers spent more of their time on non-SEN pupils whilst TAs spent
more of their time with pupils who either had SEN statements or were in receipt of school
action measures that aimed to support their learning. Sustained interactions (i.e. interaction
extends over a 10-second time interval) were more likely between TAs and pupils than they
were between teachers and pupils. The amount of individual attention (i.e. the target child is
the focus of the teacher’s or TA’s attention) provided by TAs increased with the needs of the
pupils concerned.
Pupil interactions with support staff were more active overall than they were with teachers
and SEN pupils were more likely to be engaged in talk with TAs than with their teachers. Offtask behaviour was more prevalent with teachers than with TAs particularly in case of SEN
pupils.
Teacher-pupil and TA-pupil interactions were equally likely to focus on task-related
behaviour and most interactions were of this type. Classroom engagement in lessons with a
TA present had different effects depending on the phase of the pupils. At primary level, nonSEN pupils were the most likely to increase their engagement in learning whilst in secondary
classrooms school action and SEN pupils increased their on-task behaviour.
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What did the researchers identify as key issues relating to the use of
TAs?
The researchers concluded that support staff had a positive effect in terms of:
•
increased individualised attention;
•
pupils’ more active role in interaction with adults;
•
increased classroom engagement; and
•
easier classroom control.
However, the study authors also concluded that the use of support staff had a significant
unintended consequence: the amount of contact individual pupils had with teachers
declined when support staff were present. In particular, pupils most in need missed out on
interactions with the teacher (and also contact with the mainstream class). Typically, SEN
pupils were supported in lessons and at times in pull-out sessions by support staff while the
teacher taught the rest of the class. The researchers felt that this was a “less than positive
consequence and one that might hinder pupils’ academic progress”.
The researchers believed it was necessary for schools to analyse the extent of attention
children in most need get less from their teachers. They suggested that as teachers had a
higher level of subject and pedagogic knowledge (given their level of qualifications and
training), those most in need should receive more of teachers’ time rather than less.
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How was the study carried out?
This study investigated the deployment and impact of TAs on pupil engagement. The
researchers randomly selected 49 schools (27 primary; 22 secondary). Visits to the schools
generally lasted four days. They used sophisticated statistical analyses that examined pupils’
and TAs’ moment-by-moment behaviours. Altogether, 686 pupils in two year groups were
observed:
 Years 1 and 3 (5-6 and 7-8 year olds) in the primary schools; and

Years 7 and 10 (11-12 year olds and 14-15 year olds) in the secondary schools.
The observations focused on a sub-sample of eight pupils per class targeting:
pupils with SEN;
 pupils who received extra help but who were not in the SEN group (school action pupils);
and

four non-SEN pupils selected at random from the class list.
The researchers conducted observations on each child in turn in blocks of 10-second
intervals with gaps of 20 seconds between observations. The observations relevant to this
study mainly explored adult to child talk and the pupils’ role in classroom interactions.
The systematic observations required observers to code the general activity of support staff
in the same classrooms as the observed pupils. This was done at the end of each block of 10
observations.
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What are the implications?
In completing this digest the authors began to ask the following questions about
implications for practitioners and school leaders.
Teachers

The researchers found that with TAs present the amount of teaching increases but the
amount of interaction between teachers and individual pupils goes down. Could you do
more to engage your pupils in discussion by setting group tasks and visiting each group
to share discussion with them? Perhaps you could also explore dialogic teaching
methods that involve the TA?

Whilst the function of interactions between teachers and their pupils and between TAs
and pupils is usually the same i.e. to increase pupil on-task behaviour it might be helpful
for you to ensure that the learning strategies being fostered by the TA are
complementary to your own. Could you spend time engaging in shared planning that
includes teaching and learning approaches relevant to the particular lessons?

If the TA you are working with withdraws children from your class for extra support, how
do you ensure that when the children re-enter the main class they are able to
participate in the lessons without undue difficulty? Could you work with the TA to create
appropriate scaffolding for this process, such as involving the pupils in mainstream tasks
before they go back into the mainstream class? How could you draw the learning that
happens outside of the classroom into your whole class teaching and interactions with
pupils withdrawn by the TA?
School leaders

The researchers found that when TAs were present the amount of teaching increases
but the amount of interaction between teachers and individual pupils decreases. Would
it be possible to make teachers’ individual engagement with pupils a focus for teacher
development?

The study suggests that teachers tend to have fewer interactions with pupils in greatest
need, when TAs are present, whilst TAs appear to be more prepared to do so. How could
you ensure that TAs work with more able groups of pupils to give the teachers the
chance to work with SEN pupils themselves? Would it be helpful to make enhancing all
teachers’ skills in working with SEN pupils a feature of the schools’ development
planning?

Teachers and TAs were found to engage pupils in on-task talk to a similar extent. Could
you improve this situation further by offering TAs paid time to work with teachers and
acquire the familiarity with the material and confidence in using it required? How might
you help teachers to make the best use of any time you give them to plan and prepare
with TAs? Could teachers and TAs undertake training together?
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Where can I find out more?
Website for dissemination of the DISS project and information about the research team’s
follow up work, visit
www.schoolsupportstaff.net
An ‘extra pair of hands’? Managing Classroom Assistants in Scottish Primary Schools
www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/teaching_assistants/WedFeb181416312004/
Cremin, H., Thomas, G. & Vincett, K. (2003) Learning zones: An evaluation of three models
for improving learning through teacher/teaching assistant teamwork, Support for Learning,
18 (4), pp154-161.
Learning support assistants and effective reading interventions for 'at-risk' children
www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/research/themes/teaching_assistants/learningsupportreading/
Research for Teachers summary: Raising achievement through group work
www.gtce.org.uk/teachers/rft/achieve1106/
Research for Teachers summary: The impact of classroom support
www.gtce.org.uk/teachers/rft/class_sup1004/