Over the past few decades countless hours and millions of pounds have been spent on research to improve educational performance.
The aim has not only been to improve classroom practice but also to help MPs, civil servants and political leaders to develop education policies based on sound evidence.
The Education Media Centre aimed to help bring this research to policymakers whenever possible over its 10 years of operation - but it sadly closed earlier this year as financial support ebbed away.
During that time numerous examples of how research is used - or not used - by MPs were witnessed, revealing the difficulty of ensuring that research informs policy. There were also positive examples that demonstrate why it’s vital that an evidence-based approach is pursued.
Policymakers ignoring education research
A telling example of when evidence is ignored can be seen around the grammar school debate that has continued for decades.
Theresa May, when she was prime minister, put grammar school expansion at the heart of her education policy.
Yet research on selective schooling shows no evidence that grammar schools improve the attainment of students in areas where they are used. It also shows that they give only marginal benefit to those who attend, and average achievement levels in areas with grammar schools are often lower than those in areas with comprehensives.
Similarly, there is no evidence that streaming or dividing students into classes by ability results in improved standards when compared with mixed-ability classes in schools, despite some politicians insisting that it does.
Others have claimed that students perform better in school sixth forms than in further education colleges. Again, there is no evidence to support this assumption either.
Meanwhile, some research findings have been taken on board by politicians, but often after the policies they original lauded were launched and then found not to work. Training and Enterprise Councils, Individual Learning Accounts (ILA) and the original plan for National Vocational Qualificationss are three such examples.
Finally, one important factor that researchers persistently emphasise is the impact of socio-economic factors and family background on educational attainment.
Yet, despite promises about levelling up, successive governments have failed to deal with the underlying causes of the increasing gap between those from disadvantaged backgrounds and those who have grown up in a more favourable environment.
Successful research-based policies
However, while there are plenty of examples of evidence being ignored by policymakers, there are examples of research being absorbed into policy and making a difference - at least for a while. He are some of those examples:
1. Pupil premium funding
The pupil premium was introduced in 2010 in response to a wide body of evidence showing that the attainment gap was linked to socio-economical background.
The policy reflected a need to focus resources and efforts on disadvantaged pupils and, by linking funding to individuals, acknowledged that schools and pupils have different needs. The initiative appears to be working.
2. Nuffield Early Language Intervention
In 2020 and 2021 emerging evidence suggested that younger children’s language development had been negatively impacted by the pandemic.
A national rollout of the Nuffield Early Language Intervention was one of the outcomes, and trials - including two commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation - have shown a positive impact on the language and communication skills of four- and five-year-olds.
3. Sure Start
The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education research project played a part in the creation of the Sure Start programme, which provided families with support for childcare, pre-school education and health - helping to reduce the widening education attainment gap.
Sadly, many local authority programmes closed Sure Start as the funding was not ring-fenced, but the findings about the importance of early years investment were profound.
4. Teacher development reforms
There is considerable evidence showing that high-quality CPD for teachers has a significant effect on pupils’ learning outcomes and can close the gap between newly qualified and more experienced teachers.
High-quality CPD also has a greater impact on pupil attainment and teacher retention than other interventions such as performance-related pay for teachers or lengthening the school day. The introduction of the teacher development reforms in 2021 was based on this evidence.
However, some of the problems with getting research evidence into policy decisions are endemic within the nature of research, which can be inconclusive or lack the rigour to make a real impact.
Indeed, Professor Stephen Gorard, director of Durham University’s Evidence Centre for Education, has looked at over 300 pieces of research that sought to get good evidence into use by policymakers, and assessed them for their contribution to public policy.
His conclusion was that very few (around 33) were of the appropriate design and quality needed to make robust causal claims about evidence-into-use.
Clearly, then, researchers could do more to help their cause in bringing research forward to inform policy.
The power of research
Even so, as it is the politicians who have the means to enact policy change, it is incumbent on them to ensure that they are open to listening to research - especially when it may contradict long-standing views - and let that guide policy, rather than cherry-picking studies to suit their beliefs.
Get this right and it will mean that when schools have to enact new ideas or operate within frameworks conjured up by politicians, it will be with the best chance possible of delivering strong outcomes for all pupils.
That’s the true power of educational research.
Anne Nicholls is a former trustee of the Education Media Centre
