This study is evaluating the Words for All (WfA) intervention, delivered by Whole Education. WfA trains teachers to deliver vocabulary-focused educational enrichment programmes to improve the attainment of pupils who have or have had a social worker. WfA will consist of bespoke enrichment activities developed by Whole Education and groups of three teachers (known as a ‘triad’) in schools. It will be delivered to eligible pupils, either by withdrawing them from class in groups, or via one-to-one support. The intervention under evaluation is the establishment of a triad of teachers and staff within each school with the resources and training provided by Whole Education.
The eligibility criteria for this study is Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 children (Years 7 to 11) who have or have had a social worker in the last six years. This cohort of children have significantly lower attainment than their peers. It is therefore crucial to identify effective interventions that close the attainment gap in education to stop these pupils falling behind.
This research builds on a report WWCSC released in February 2020 which revisited 63 trials funded by the Education Endowment Foundation to determine what works in education for children who have had social workers. WfA is a development of one of the ten interventions (the Vocabulary Enrichment Programme), which the research identified as showing signs of potential for children’s social care (CSC) experienced children, and which warranted further research.
This trial will include both an impact and implementation/process evaluation. The impact strand consists of a two-armed randomised controlled trial. Randomisation will occur at the level of family-group, stratified by school. The primary outcome variable for impact will be Standard Age Score (SAS), as measured by the New Group Reading Test (NGRT). The NGRT is a standardised reading and comprehension assessment split into three sections assessing phonics, sentence completion, and passage comprehension and was used in the original EEF evaluation as the primary outcome. Secondary outcome variables include GSCE attainment, attendance, and scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, a commonly-used behavioural screening questionnaire for children and young people.
The implementation and process evaluation will consist of surveys and interviews with professionals involved in delivering the enrichment or working with the youth involved (heads, virtual school heads, teacher triads, social workers), observation of the launch event and teacher training events, and group interviews of a sample of students participating in the programme. Lastly, a cost evaluation will also be conducted.
Due to COVID-related restrictions, some of the listed outcome measures (such as GCSE results) and timelines (such as data collation involving staff and students) may need to be adapted.