A catch-up programme to improve the language skills of
four- and five-year olds who are falling behind has been found to
boost their progress by three additional months, according to the
results from an independent evaluation published by the Education
Endowment Foundation (EEF) today.
193 schools across England took part in this trial of the
Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), a programme
published by Oxford University Press and delivered by the
University of Oxford in partnership with Elklan.
Teaching assistants were given 2 ½ days of training and
detailed lesson plans so they could lead short, structured
sessions, often around everyday topics, such as ‘time’ and ‘what
we wear’, with small groups of reception-age pupils. Rewarding
the children was an integral feature of each session, from
targeted verbal praise to more formal incentives like a ‘Best
Listener Award’, given to a child who had listened well in the
group.
The independent evaluation, by a team from RAND Europe led
by Alex Sutherland and Sonia Ilie, found that pupils who took
part in the programme made, on average, three months’ more
progress in language skills than a group of similar children who
did not receive the intervention. The evaluators also found that
the programme was an effective way of boosting language skills
for children with English as an Additional Language
(EAL).
Early language skills are vital for children’s long-term
success in education and other areas. Research has shown that
children with more advanced language skills at the age of five
are more likely to have better qualifications and subsequently be
employed in adulthood compared with their peers. However,
disadvantaged children are more likely to have fallen behind
before school starts.
The EEF is concerned that school and nursery closures could
lead to a widening of the early language gap between
disadvantaged pupils and their peers. Today’s
findings suggest that NELI could be an
effective way for schools to help young children who have fallen
behind during school closures catch-up with their
peers.
The trial was a large-scale effectiveness trial, which
tested the programme in everyday conditions. The findings have a
very high level of security, which means that the EEF has a high
level of confidence in the results. An earlier, smaller trial of
the programme found similar, promising results.
This trial was funded by the EEF with support from
Intermediate Capital Group Plc (ICG). The programme was initially
developed with funding from the Nuffield
Foundation. The EEF is exploring ways to
scale-up the programme across a large number of schools and
nurseries.
Professor Becky Francis, CEO of the Education
Endowment Foundation, said:
“School closures are likely to mean those children and
young people who were already struggling, fall further behind.
While schools are working hard to mitigate against this, in the
long-term, we need to focus on how best to help pupils bounce
back when schools open again. Catch-up teaching targeted
especially at those who have fallen furthest behind during this
period will be essential.
“This
is why today’s findings are so important. It is always welcome to
find good evidence that a particular programme or approach is
likely to boost outcomes, but today’s result suggest that this
programme could be a particularly effective way of helping young
children whose language skills have been particularly affected by
school closures catch-up when they reopen.”
Josh Hillman, Director of Education at the Nuffield
Foundation said:
“We are delighted that this EEF large-scale randomised
controlled trial has shown NELI to be a low-cost intervention
which improves children’s language skills by an average of three
months. When children go back to the classroom later this year,
effective, school-based interventions like NELI will be crucial
to closing the ‘disadvantage gap’ which will inevitably widen
whilst schools and nurseries are closed during the COVID-19
crisis.”
Professor Charles Hulme and Professor Maggie
Snowling, University of Oxford, said:
“Our research focuses on children’s language and literacy
development with a special emphasis on how to help children who
find learning language and literacy skills difficult.
A strong foundation in oral language is key to children’s
success in education.
“We are delighted that this most recent EEF trial of the
Nuffield Early Language Intervention delivered in
partnership with Elklan who provided the teacher and TA
training has produced such strong evidence of its
effectiveness. We hope that schools will be encouraged to adopt
the programme for the benefit of the many children whose
educational progress is hindered by language
difficulties.”
