ReflectED Metacognition
This page covers the first (efficacy) trial of ReflectED, which tested whether it could work in schools under best possible conditions. To read about the second (effectiveness) trial - testing a scalable model under everyday conditions in a large number of schools - click here.
ReflectED is a programme that aims to develop pupils’ metacognitive skills - their ability to monitor and manage their own learning – by teaching specific learning strategies and encouraging pupil reflection.
ReflectED Metacognition
Rosendale Primary School
Using technology to teach pupils strategies they can use to monitor and manage their own learning
Project Info
Independent Evaluator
University of Manchester
Pupils
1858
Schools
24
Grant
£253,000
Themes
Key Stage 2
Key stage
Cross curriculum
Subject
EEF Summary
The EEF funded this project because there is evidence that improving pupils’ metacognitive skills is a powerful way to improve academic outcomes, but there is a shortage of programmes which support teachers to do this effectively. It was funded through the EEF’s 2013 Digital Technology funding round because the programme utilised digital technology to help children record their reflections.
The findings from this evaluation are mixed, but overall they suggest that the ReflectED approach is promising. The impact on maths was positive: children who received the ReflectED programme made four months of additional progress in maths compared to children who did not. However, there was an unexpected negative impact on reading: children who received ReflectED made two months less progress compared to other children. It is important to remember that this was a small project which indicates the impact of ReflectED in the schools involved in the study. Further research is required before we can be confident that similar impacts would be found in other schools. The positive maths result is promising enough that the EEF, the National Education Trust and Rosendale Primary School will explore the potential for developing the approach further and testing it in a larger number of schools.
Research Results
Evaluation Conclusions
Pupils who participated in ReflectED made an average of four months’ additional progress in maths compared to pupils who did not.
Pupils who participated in ReflectED made an average of two months’ less progress in reading compared to pupils who did not.
The findings for the schools in this trial have moderate to high security. However, the analysis conducted suggests that we cannot conclude from this trial alone that the intervention would have a similar impact in other schools.
Most schools were already teaching metacognitive and reflective skills similar to those encouraged by ReflectED. This might have limited the additional impact that ReflectED had on teachers’ practice and pupils’ outcomes.
Teachers suggested that ReflectED would work best as a whole-school programme, and that they could deliver the programme more effectively after the first year of delivery. Future research could examine the impact of implementing ReflectED across all year groups in the school and allowing more time for the programme to become embedded.
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Printable project summary
1 MB pdf - EEF-reflected-meta-cognition.pdf
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Project Protocol
265 KB pdf - EEF_Project_Protocol_ReflectED.pdf
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Evaluation report
721 KB pdf - EEF_Project_Report_ReflectED.pdf
Full project description
The ReflectED programme was developed by Rosendale Primary School to improve pupils’ metacognition—their ability to think about and manage their own learning. This includes the skills of setting and monitoring goals, assessing progress, and identifying personal strengths and challenges.
ReflectED consists of 28, weekly, half-hour lessons, which teach pupils strategies they can use to monitor and manage their own learning. Pupils are supported to apply and practise these strategies throughout the rest of the curriculum; reflect on their learning; and record audio, photographed and written notes of their reflections on Evernote, a note-taking app. Pupils are then encouraged to review and reflect on these records over time, so that they can observe their progress and consider which strategies seemed to work well. Teachers can also look across these records to get an overview of the areas that pupils are enjoying or struggling with, and identify specific pupil needs. For example, a teacher could explore the notes that a pupil has tagged as “maths” and “difficult” to see which ones they struggled with, and examine which strategies seemed to help them with this.
In this project, Rosendale Primary School trained teachers from 30 schools in five areas throughout England to deliver ReflectED over the academic year 2014/15. At the beginning of the year, participating teachers received a pack of lesson plans and supporting resources, and an initial day-long training session. This was followed by three additional half-day training sessions throughout the year. A website, digital resources, and weekly reminders and tips were provided by the London Connected Learning Centre. The National Education Trust supported school recruitment and test administration. The programme was co-funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), KPMG Foundation and Nominet Trust, and was part of a funding round focused on digital technology.
The impact of the programme on the attainment of pupils in Year 5 was evaluated using a randomised control trial involving 1858 pupils. Year 5 teachers within each of the 30 schools were randomly allocated to either participate in the programme or to a control group which continued with their usual teaching. The primary outcome measure was pupils’ maths attainment. The evaluation also examined the impact on pupil’s reading attainment and attitudes towards reading and maths, and the impact on the maths attainment of pupils eligible for free school meals. Class observations, interviews and focus groups were conducted to examine how the programme was implemented and adapted by teachers, explore activity in the control group, and identify factors that might affect the impact of the programme. The close involvement of the original developer in the delivery of the programme means that this was an efficacy trial. Efficacy trials aim to test whether the intervention can succeed under ideal conditions.
