Our initial EEF funded trial in 2013 showed evidence that ReflectED had a positive impact on children’s attainment. Pupils who participated in the study made an average of four months additional progress in maths and developed a more positive attitude to learning compared to the control group.
At the same time, pupils who participated in the initial trial made an average of two months less progress in reading compared with those in the control group. However, due to the relatively small numbers involved, the external evaluators based at Manchester University stated that these results should not be seen as statistically significant.
Evaluators found that year 5 pupils who took part in the ReflectED programme “developed a more positive attitude to maths” and that teachers “praised the systematic approach ReflectED brought to their attempts to develop metacognition”.
In the year-long trial, year 5 pupils across 30 primary schools completed 28 ReflectED lessons. Pupils were also encouraged to use reflection techniques throughout the rest of the curriculum.
The evaluation report suggested that expanding the trial may have improved results. Participating teachers said that “ReflectED would work best as a whole school programme”. Researchers suggested that “the programme might have a greater impact after the first year of delivery” as teachers became familiar with the ReflectED approach.
The finding in the trial have “moderate to high security”, scoring 4/5 on the EEF rating system. Researchers also found the programme to be extremely cost effective, at £18.72 per pupil, scoring 1/5 on the EEF cost rating system.
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