And when money is tight, financial decisions need to be made with care, evidence and discretion. Getting value for money has always been important. In today’s climate it matters more than ever.
So, is it possible to make savvy decisions using tight budgets and also do what’s necessary to raise achievement? Well, the answer is yes, it is. Here we show you how.
Founded in 2011, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is an independent charity that was set up to address the attainment gap in UK schools. One of the main ways it does this is by generating evidence about what works when it comes to teaching and learning.
Perhaps the most powerful and popular piece of work created by the EEF is their Teaching and Learning Toolkit.
This document provides teachers and school leaders with an accessible summary of international evidence about teaching 5-16 year- olds. You can find the toolkit online here.
Here’s the rub. Not only does the toolkit show us what has had the biggest impact on student attainment. It also shows us how much different teaching and learning interventions cost.
To put it another way, the toolkit gives you the evidence you need to make careful, informed decisions about how to spend money so it has the biggest impact on pupil outcomes.
For example, you might be considering reducing class sizes. A quick look at the EEF Toolkit reveals that the research suggests this can lead to a three month gain in pupil achievement, that the evidence strength for this is fairly strong, but that the cost is fairly high.
An alternative option would be to focus on metacognition and self-regulation, instead. The toolkit shows us that this has a high impact (seven months gain) for very low cost, and that this is based on extensive research.
Having the toolkit at your fingertips means having a trusted source of information you can call on to make decisions about how scarce resources are
allocated. It means having a guide to what works in the classroom, how much things cost and what impact they are likely to have on pupil achievement.
The toolkit gives classroom teachers and school leaders a reliable, evidenced-backed framework for making decisions about teaching and learning. It gives you everything you need to make the best, most cost- effective choices, helping you to deliver improved outcomes, even if budgets are squeezed. In short, the EEF Toolkit is the place to go for savvy teachers and leaders.
