Every Child Counts

1^st[email protected] helps low attainers – it’s official!

The Education Endowment Foundation commissioned Oxford University to make an independent evaluation of 1^st[email protected] They carried out a randomised control trial in 133 schools with Year 2 pupils who had difficulties with mathematics, and published their report in July 2018.

They found:

1^st[email protected] works

Pupils who received 1^st[email protected] made two months’ additional progress in maths, on average, compared to pupils in the control group. This result has a high security rating. (p 5)

1^st[email protected] has the greatest impact on pupils who struggle the most

Pupils with the lowest prior attainment made seven extra months of progress in comparison to an equivalent subgroup in the control group. The result suggests that 1^st[email protected] might be an intervention most appropriate for pupils with greater difficulty. (p 53)

1^st[email protected] works very well for teaching assistants

TAs were confident that the training they received prepared them to implement the intervention, they enjoyed doing so and they had positive comments about the materials and the lesson plans. Most TAs expressed the view that pupils’ confidence in maths increased considerably . . . and indicated that they would like to continue to implement the intervention with further groups of children. (p 6 & p 65)