A new study will find out if an early language teaching programme
which is delivered by parents at home for 20 minutes each day can
improve young children’s language and early literacy skills,
the Education Endowment Foundation
(EEF) announced today (Wednesday
14th November).
Families of pre-school children (aged 3 years) in 45 nurseries
will take part in the trial of Parents and Children
Together (PACT). The PACT programme, developed by
researchers now at the University of Manchester and the
University of Oxford, aims to provide
parents with the skills, strategies and resources to support
their children’s language development at home.
At the beginning of the programme, parents will go to a two-hour
session where they’ll be supported to use the programme
materials. Over 30 weeks, they’ll spend 20 minutes every day
delivering the programme to their child. Activities include
interactive book reading, talking about new words, and
storytelling skills. BookTrust, a national literacy charity, has
worked with the developers to produce the programme materials.
An independent team from the University of Durham will evaluate
the PACT trial to find out what impact
the programme has on children’s language skills, and how parents
and children respond to the programme. The EEF is funding this
trial because a smaller trial of PACT, funded by the Nuffield
Foundation, found that children who took part in the programme
made larger gains in language than those who did not.
The EEF has also announced another new study today too:
5,880 pupils
in 140 primary schools will take part
in a trial of a classroom management programmes
called STARS. Delivered by a team from the
University of Exeter, the programme supports teachers to improve
behaviour in their classroom by developing their classroom
management technique. Teachers will receive training over 6
whole-day workshops delivered over 6 months. The focus of the
workshops will be on collaborative learning – discussions of
teachers’ own experiences and group work – to find solutions to
problems encountered in the classroom.
Sir , Chief Executive of the
Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), said:
“We know that children from poorer homes are already behind their
better-off classmates when they start school. We also know that
the quality of the home learning environment and parental
engagement are key predictors of whether a child is likely to
succeed at school and in life.
“Some parents feel anxious about reading to their children,
particularly if their own literacy skills aren’t great. Others
worry that they can’t afford the same sort of books or trips out
that other families can.
“This new trial will test a programme that aims to provide
parents with the skills, strategies and resources to support
their children’s language development at home. Our independent
evaluation will find out what impact the programme has on
children’s language and early literacy skills across a large
number of early years settings.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The Education Endowment
Foundation (EEF) is a grant-making charity set up in
2011 by the Sutton Trust as lead foundation in partnership with
Impetus Trust (now part of Impetus–The Private Equity
Foundation), with a £125m founding grant from the Department
for Education. The EEF is dedicated to breaking the link
between family income and educational achievement.
- Early years settings and state schools in England can apply
to take part in the trials. More information can be found on the
EEF’s website.
