The trial found a statistically significant negative literacy impact for FSM-eligible pupils, treated with caution¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i1 small
Currency · newest study 2016 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i1 FSM-eligible pupils in intervention schools showed a statistically significant negative literacy effect (ES -0.24, CI -0.41 to -0.06), but the report urges considerable caution because no negative impact appeared for low-attaining pupils generally. → Menzies 2016

Evidence¶

Menzies 2016¶

Menzies, V., Hewitt, C., Kokotsaki, D., Collyer, C. and Wiggins, A. (2016). Project Based Learning: Evaluation report and executive summary. Education Endowment Foundation. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Projects/EEF_Project_Protocol_ProjectBasedLearning.pdf

q3 · i1 · causal · r2

Subgroup analysis of the cluster RCT's Progress in English 12 outcomes for FSM-eligible pupils. Table 1 prints an effect size of -0.24 (95% CI -0.41, -0.06), about -3 months' progress. The report states this adds to the uncertainty of the finding given design limitations and high attrition.

"The analysis did find a statistically significant negative impact on students eligible for free school meals (FSM), however no negative impact was found for lower-attaining pupils more generally, which makes it difficult to hypothesise why PBL might negatively impact FSM pupils specifically."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Socioeconomic Status — moderator: an instructional effect differs by group

Related Claims¶

• EEF-funded interventions improved FSM pupils' literacy outcomes with a pooled effect size of 0.06, equivalent to about one month's progress — related
• Small group and one-to-one interventions produced larger literacy gains for FSM pupils than whole class or whole school approaches — related
• EEF interventions showed a small overall narrowing of the literacy attainment gap in favour of FSM pupils, dependent on Key Stage — related
• Literacy benefits for FSM pupils were greatest in Key Stage 1 (ES 0.09) and Key Stage 3 (ES 0.08) and smallest in Key Stages 2 and 4 — related
• A year of Learning through REAL Projects had no clear impact on Year 7 pupils' literacy attainment — related
• The TextNow programme showed a differential effect by free school meal eligibility: a small non-significant positive effect for FSM-eligible pupils and a significant negative effect for non-FSM pupils — related