Developing classroom talk through school-based professional development

Jan Hardman will talk about the findings of a large-scale school-based teacher professional development intervention entitled `Classroom talk, social disadvantage and educational attainment: raising standards, closing the gap’.

The study was a collaborative project between the University of York (with Frank Hardman) and the Cambridge Primary Review Trust (Robin Alexander), funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF).  Using an experimental design, the study found a positive impact on children’s learning using standardised tests in primary English, mathematics and science. The presentation will focus on the findings of the process evaluation of the study.  It will present the findings from an intensive analysis of video recorded lessons designed to study the impact of the professional development intervention on the pedagogical practices of teachers and on the participation of pupils in whole class talk. The EEF report can be found at at https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/our-work/projects/dialogic-teaching/.