Neither the 30-week nor the 20-week version of NELI showed reliable short-term impact on children's word-level literacy skills¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2016 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? The evaluation found no reliable evidence that either version of the programme improved word-level literacy skills in the short term, despite the language gains. → Sibieta 2016

Evidence¶

Sibieta 2016¶

Sibieta, L., Kotecha, M., & Skipp, A. (2016). Nuffield Early Language Intervention: Evaluation report and executive summary. Education Endowment Foundation. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects/language-for-learning/

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Null finding from the same randomised controlled trial (350 pupils), measured on a secondary composite of word-level literacy (YARC letter knowledge, early word reading, and spelling). The report states it "provided no reliable evidence" of a positive impact for either version; no effect size is printed for this finding.

"However, this evalu ation provided no reliable evidence that either version of the programme had a positive impact on children’s word-level literacy skills in the short term."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The 20-week version of NELI improved language skills by an estimated two months of progress, though the evidence is less secure than for the 30-week version — related
• The 30-week Nuffield Early Language Intervention improved the language skills of children with low language ability, equivalent to about four months of additional progress — related
• Delivery of NELI deviated from the prescribed model in some schools, and teaching assistants reported difficulty devoting enough time to the programme — related
• Follow-up testing six months after the programmes ended suggested the language impact may have increased over time, but this could not be established with confidence — related