A language intervention programme for Reception pupils can help reduce the disadvantage gap, new research has found.
A national evaluation of the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) has found that children who took part made four additional months’ progress in their language skills compared to those who didn’t take part.
They found that pupils on free school meals (FSM) receiving NELI made seven months’ progress in language compared to pupils not on FSM.
Josh Hillman, director of education at the Nuffield Foundation, said: “It is rare to see an intervention operating at scale with such solid evidence for narrowing the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children.”
The report evaluated wave two of NELI in 2022-23, which was intended to be delivered over 20 weeks via three 30-minute group sessions and two 15-minute one-to-one sessions a week for Reception pupils aged 4-5.
However, a lack of staff time and capacity meant around half of the schools surveyed weren’t able to complete the full 20 weeks of intervention. Instead, on average, schools completed about 30 group sessions, with around a third of the schools saying they hadn’t delivered any one-to-one sessions.
Staff and pupil absence due to Covid-19 also hindered progress in delivering the intervention, the report says.
Researchers found that NELI was more effective when TAs delivered more group sessions, and also more effective when more than half of the TAs in a school had attended training sessions on NELI compared with pupils in schools where less than half of TAs had been trained in NELI.
The Department for Education made NELI available to state school Reception pupils to help education recover post-Covid.
Around 6,500 schools signed up in wave one in 2021-22 and another 4,000 in wave two, with schools with more disadvantaged pupils prioritised.
Tim Oates, group director of assessment, research and development at Cambridge Assessment, has told Tes previously that he believes TAs are key to education recovery plans.
He said deploying TAs for one-to-one and small group work could help address skill gaps caused by the pandemic.
Today’s evaluation also found that NELI can help pupils who have English as an additional language make four months’ additional progress in language - though this effect was not statistically significant.
Most schools who had delivered NELI said they would be open to continuing with it, but many weren’t sure yet because of time pressures and not knowing yet what the next cohort would need.
The DfE has announced funding for NELI will be extended into the 2023-24 academic year, and some new schools in priority areas have been allowed to sign up.
For schools that delivered NELI in waves one and two, the DfE and OxEd and Assessment have made it so they can access the training and the LanguageScreen app, used to measure progress, for free.
Professor Becky Francis CBE, chief executive of the EEF, said: “Time and time again, NELI has proven its effectiveness in boosting young children’s language development.
“It’s hard to overestimate how exciting it is to see a programme have a significant positive impact on a national scale.
“This gives early years educators a programme that they can trust to help children needing additional support with their communication and language skills, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
David Johnston, children and families minister, said the programme was “important” as high-quality childcare and language development are “crucial” to ensuring pupils are ready for school.
