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Apparently Teaching assistants are a waste of time and teaching on the cheap!
Teaching assistants 'do not help improve grades', report into Pupil Premium spending finds
Teaching assistants have 'no effect' on improving grades, an influential report has suggested.
A study into how best to spend the new Pupil Premium dismisses many of the methods favoured by teachers to improve performance.
School uniforms have little impact, cutting class sizes is over-rated and homework has only a 'moderate impact', according to an education guide published by the Sutton Trust.
Not needed: Classroom assistants have little or no impact on better grades according to a new teaching guide by the Sutton Trust
Not needed: Classroom assistants have little or no impact on better grades according to a new teaching guide by the Sutton Trust
The document, compiled by researchers at Durham University, looked at different measures schools could consider introducing when allocating the Government's new Pupil Premium.
Under the scheme, poor pupils are allocated extra funding - £430 each for 2011/12 - which follows them from school to school. Schools can choose how to spend this money.
* School 'selection by mortgage' will stop: Poorer pupils to get priority over those living nearby
The ways forward favoured by the report are 'peer tutoring' - letting children learn from each other - and providing more feedback to pupils more quickly.
These measures can increase a child's performance by an extra eight or nine months, at little cost, according to the research.
Peter Lampl, of the Sutton Trust, hopes the guide will be a 'useful tool' for teachers
Peter Lampl, of the Sutton Trust, hopes the guide will be a 'useful tool'
It analysed evidence gathered from thousands of studies involving millions of pupils across the world.
The findings show that the benefits of reducing class sizes are 'not particularly large or clear' until they are cut to less than 20 or even 15 pupils.
However separate research by the Sutton Trust found that, when it comes to spending the Pupil Premium, almost three-quarters (73 per cent) of teachers see cutting class sizes as one of their top three priorities.
But perhaps more stark is the finding that hiring more classroom assistants has only a 'very small or no effect' on attainment.
While they can have a 'positive effect' on pupils' attitudes to work, they negatively impact on standards when used as a replacement for teachers.
The number of teaching assistants rocketed under Labour and their rise has continued under the Coalition government, with around 214,000 hired this year so far.
However, the findings again contradict the opinions of teachers with 44 per cent of those surveyed stating hiring more teaching assistants as one of their top priorities.
Peer tutoring: ' Letting children learn from each other is an effective and cost-effective way to improve performance
Peer tutoring: ' Letting children learn from each other is an effective and cost-effective way to improve performance
The new document also found that homework can have a moderate impact for low cost, but is more effective for secondary than primary school pupils, while there is 'no robust evidence' that introducing a school uniform boosts performance.
The benefits of 'peer tutoring', where pupils learn from each other, are clear and are low cost, as are measures to get pupils to think about their own learning.
Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: 'The key to improving the attainment of disadvantaged pupils is not necessarily how much money is spent in schools, but how much is spent on what is proven to work in the classroom.
'I hope this guide will be a useful tool for teachers to make informed decisions based on the educational evidence available.'
Teaching assistants 'do not help improve grades', report into Pupil Premium spending finds
Teaching assistants have 'no effect' on improving grades, an influential report has suggested.
A study into how best to spend the new Pupil Premium dismisses many of the methods favoured by teachers to improve performance.
School uniforms have little impact, cutting class sizes is over-rated and homework has only a 'moderate impact', according to an education guide published by the Sutton Trust.
Not needed: Classroom assistants have little or no impact on better grades according to a new teaching guide by the Sutton Trust
Not needed: Classroom assistants have little or no impact on better grades according to a new teaching guide by the Sutton Trust
The document, compiled by researchers at Durham University, looked at different measures schools could consider introducing when allocating the Government's new Pupil Premium.
Under the scheme, poor pupils are allocated extra funding - £430 each for 2011/12 - which follows them from school to school. Schools can choose how to spend this money.
* School 'selection by mortgage' will stop: Poorer pupils to get priority over those living nearby
The ways forward favoured by the report are 'peer tutoring' - letting children learn from each other - and providing more feedback to pupils more quickly.
These measures can increase a child's performance by an extra eight or nine months, at little cost, according to the research.
Peter Lampl, of the Sutton Trust, hopes the guide will be a 'useful tool' for teachers
Peter Lampl, of the Sutton Trust, hopes the guide will be a 'useful tool'
It analysed evidence gathered from thousands of studies involving millions of pupils across the world.
The findings show that the benefits of reducing class sizes are 'not particularly large or clear' until they are cut to less than 20 or even 15 pupils.
However separate research by the Sutton Trust found that, when it comes to spending the Pupil Premium, almost three-quarters (73 per cent) of teachers see cutting class sizes as one of their top three priorities.
But perhaps more stark is the finding that hiring more classroom assistants has only a 'very small or no effect' on attainment.
While they can have a 'positive effect' on pupils' attitudes to work, they negatively impact on standards when used as a replacement for teachers.
The number of teaching assistants rocketed under Labour and their rise has continued under the Coalition government, with around 214,000 hired this year so far.
However, the findings again contradict the opinions of teachers with 44 per cent of those surveyed stating hiring more teaching assistants as one of their top priorities.
Peer tutoring: ' Letting children learn from each other is an effective and cost-effective way to improve performance
Peer tutoring: ' Letting children learn from each other is an effective and cost-effective way to improve performance
The new document also found that homework can have a moderate impact for low cost, but is more effective for secondary than primary school pupils, while there is 'no robust evidence' that introducing a school uniform boosts performance.
The benefits of 'peer tutoring', where pupils learn from each other, are clear and are low cost, as are measures to get pupils to think about their own learning.
Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: 'The key to improving the attainment of disadvantaged pupils is not necessarily how much money is spent in schools, but how much is spent on what is proven to work in the classroom.
'I hope this guide will be a useful tool for teachers to make informed decisions based on the educational evidence available.'
