EEF updates 9 more teaching and learning strands

📚 Is reading comprehension a focus area in your school improvement plans? We’ve just updated nine strands of our Teaching and Learning Toolkit — including our reading comprehension strand, which draws on 40 new studies. 🔍 The evidence is stronger than ever: effective approaches to teaching reading comprehension can boost pupil progress by up to seven months — up from the previous estimate of six. These updates bring the latest research into sharp focus, translating it into practical, accessible summaries for teachers and leaders. Explore the Toolkit: https://ow.ly/Hwn150WkYrU

Phonics? Nailed it. Across the country, schools have transformed early reading — decoding is fluent, automatic, and secure. Now comes the real challenge: helping children understand what they read. The new EEF guidance report and toolkit dig deep into what truly drives strong reading comprehension — from vocabulary and explicit teaching to the art of questioning and discussion. If phonics built the foundation, this is about building the meaning on top. https://lnkd.in/eq85z8Z2 #EEF #ReadingComprehension #Literacy #PrimaryEducation #EvidenceInformedPractice

Teaching & Learning Toolkit: Reading comprehension strategies — high impact (+7 months) at very low cost; teach strategies explicitly with modelling and metacognitive talk; plan progression to independence; choose suitably challenging texts and apply across subjects; short targeted interventions (≤9 weeks) effective; whole-class sustained teaching helpful; diagnose decoding/vocabulary issues for strugglers; evidence base 184 studies (security moderate→high)

What should you reflect on as you complete your Inquiry process? 🤔 The Inquiry process is a cycle of reflective practice designed to improve teaching, and stage 5 is to evaluate the effectiveness of your teaching. 💭 This final stage is crucial as it - analyses what's happened in the teaching and learning phase, and - lays the foundation for what will be improved in future. Learn more about how you can evaluate the effectiveness of your practice: https://lnkd.in/g_34NpDU

Teacher preparation in America is such a mess. “NCTQ’s analysis revealed that 40% of teacher prep programs are still teaching two or more practices that are incompatible with scientifically based reading instruction. There is a spectrum of programs, from those that are fully aligned to scientifically based reading to those that are fully wedded to debunked reading methods. And there is variation—and confusion—in between. For example, we identified over 200 programs that teach at least three of the five core components of scientifically based reading instruction right alongside at least one contrary practice.” Heather Peske https://lnkd.in/eWxqr4-i

Y'all ~ Check out this article/interview from Education Week with Zaretta Hammond focused on how we need a roadmap to help our students become powerful active learners. "So, we have to build our skills and capacity around instruction rather than just seeking engagement." (Zaretta Hammond) How do we as educators shift from engagement to instruction? I think this article and her latest book are a powerful resource to this end. Check out the article by following this link: https://lnkd.in/expqPD8H

What does intentional teaching look like in practice? We asked the Buffett Institute's Amy Schmidtke, the editor of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)'s new book, “The Intentional Teacher: Choosing the Best Strategies for Young Children’s Learning, Third Edition." "It looks like a teacher who is deeply attuned to children’s interests and developmental needs, and who purposefully weaves together exploration, curiosity, and rich content learning," she said. Learn how Schmidtke updated this valued teacher resource in our new blog post: https://lnkd.in/dGmJtU_g

How does the Power of Reading work in International schools and settings? 1. We have partnered with the International Curriculum Association (ICA) to map our Power of Reading books onto the IPC maps using the same principles we use for UK based schools. 2. Our online Power of Reading training, delivered over 8, 2.5 hour sessions, is underpinned by extensive research and is designed by our highly experienced team of teachers who support participants throughout the course. 3. It boosts confidence in choosing books that children will truly enjoy—helping teachers choose diverse texts for their pupils and ensuring every child feels excited to read. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/e_VF6EmZ

I’m excited to share that my review of Malia Hollowell’s The Science of Reading in Action has been published in Education Review! Read it here: https://lnkd.in/esYa7YTX In this piece, I try to highlight the need to connect evidence-based reading approaches with culturally sustaining and justice-oriented teaching.

We mistake memorization for wisdom, and compliance for education. The classroom too often becomes a factory line,answers rehearsed, formulas recited, essays written to meet rubrics. Yet, after the ink dries and the grades are tallied, how much understanding remains? Feynman reminds us that true knowledge is not the echo of someone else’s answer sheet, but the spark of curiosity, the struggle to ask better questions, the refusal to stop at “what” until we’ve reached “why.” Exams may measure recall, but they rarely measure insight. The real test of education is not whether we can pass, but whether we can think. Book : Hard Times , https://amzn.to/46OOm2n