ISRCTN ISRCTN83236864
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN83236864
Secondary identifying numbers N/A
Submission date
13/07/2017
Registration date
11/08/2017
Last edited
21/11/2022
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Other
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
The aim of this study is to assess how effective the Grammar for Writing programme is at improving the writing skills of Year 6 pupils. Grammar for Writing is a way of teaching writing that assumes that rather than teaching grammatical rules in the abstract, teachers should help pupils to understand how linguistic structures convey meaning. The programme is designed to be delivered by teachers as standalone units of work or as a series of units within a whole class setting. Each unit is around 4 weeks’ worth of work. A previous study looked at whole-class and small-group delivery of one unit adapted for Year 6 after Key Stage 2 SATs assessments. However, this found only limited effects. This evaluation of Grammar for Writing focuses on whole-class delivery of two units of Grammar for Writing during Year 6.

Who can participate?
Year 6 teachers and pupils at schools that have not have taken part in the previous Grammar for Writing study or introduced the programme previously

What does the study involve?
Participating schools are randomly allocated to one of two groups: either the intervention group or the control group. Year 6 teachers in the intervention group schools receive 4 days of training and deliver two units of work to their Year 6 classes. Teachers in the control group schools teach Year 6 writing using 'business as usual' methods. The pupils in both groups undertake two writing assessments from past Key Stage 2 (KS2) SATs (pre-2013) at the end of the Summer term 2017. Their KS2 scores for reading, writing and spelling, punctuation and grammar from the Summer 2017 assessments are also collected from the National Pupil Database (NPD). Key Stage 1 English results are also collected from the NPD. Teachers undertake a short online survey and grammar quiz at the beginning and end of the study.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Pupils may benefit from an improvement in their writing skills. There are no anticipated risks as the programme has been tested previously.

Where is the study run from?
The programme is delivered by the University of Exeter and Babcock LDP (UK)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
March 2016 to October 2017

Who is funding the study?
Education Endowment Foundation (UK)

Who is the main contact?
Dr Louise Tracey

Contact information

Dr Louise Tracey
Scientific

Department of Education
Berrick Saul Building
University of York
York
YO10 5DD
United Kingdom

ORCiD logoORCID ID 0000-0002-8304-613X

Study information

Study designTwo-armed effectiveness randomised controlled trial
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designCluster randomised trial
Study setting(s)School
Study typeOther
Participant information sheet Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request an information sheet
Scientific titleEvaluation of the Grammar for Writing programme – a school-level randomised controlled trial
Study objectivesThe aim of this study is to independently assess whether the Grammar for Writing programme, delivered to Year 6 pupils leads to improvements in children's writing skills.
Ethics approval(s)The Education Ethics Committee, University of York, 04/04/2016, ref: 16/18
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedTeaching writing
InterventionSchools are randomly allocated to intervention or control conditions. Randomization will be at the school-level to reduce the possibilities of diffusion which could occur with an in-school design. Schools were stratified by region (North-East/not-North-East) and then randomised using minimisation on a 1:1 allocation within region. Randomisation was conducted and recorded using MinimPy software (Saghaei & Saghaei, 2011).
1. Year 6 teachers in intervention schools receive 4 days of CPD and deliver two units of the Grammar for Writing programme to their Year 6 classes
2. Teachers in control schools teach Year 6 writing using 'business as usual' methods

The children (control and intervention) will undertake two writing assessments from past Key Stage 2 (KS2) SATs (pre-2013) at the end of the Summer term 2017. Their KS2 scores for reading, writing and spelling, punctuation and grammar from the Summer 2017 assessments will also be collected from the National Pupil Database. Key Stage 1 English results will also be collected from the National Pupil Database to act as a baseline measure. Teachers will undertake a short online survey and grammar quiz at the beginning and end of the study.
Intervention typeOther
Primary outcome measureCombined results of two tasks from past Key Stage 2 (KS2) writing assessments (pre-2013) independently administered to children in Year 6 classes in evaluation schools by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) in June 2017
Secondary outcome measuresYear 6 children's Key Stage 2 assessment scores on each element of literacy (writing; reading; grammar, punctuation and spelling) in Summer 2017. This data is collected nationally and will be accessed through the National Pupil Database
Overall study start date01/03/2016
Completion date20/10/2017

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Other
Age groupMixed
SexBoth
Target number of participants150 schools; c.7,500 pupils
Total final enrolment7239
Key inclusion criteria1. Eligible schools will not have taken part in the previous Grammar for Writing trial or have implemented the programme previously
2. All Year 6 teachers and Year 6 pupils in eligible schools
3. Half of schools will be from the North East and the other half will come from across the rest of England
4. There will be a high proportion of disadvantaged schools (on average 29% EverFSM as defined in the National Pupil Database)
Key exclusion criteria1. Although they do not have to be two-form entry, very small schools (fewer than 20 Year 6 pupils) will be kept to a minimum
2. Schools who have implemented the programme previously
3. Parental opt-out for use of pupil data
Date of first enrolment04/04/2016
Date of final enrolment05/10/2016

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • England
  • United Kingdom

Study participating centres

University of Exeter
Knightley
Streatham Drive
Exeter
EX4 4PD
United Kingdom
University of York
Berrick Saul Building
University of York
YO10 5DD
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

Education Endowment Foundation (UK)
Government

9th Floor
Millbank Tower
21-24 Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
United Kingdom

Website https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/03bhd6288

Funders

Funder type

Government

Education Endowment Foundation

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date01/08/2018
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareNo
IPD sharing plan summaryStored in repository
Publication and dissemination planEvaluation Report and Executive Summary to be published on the Education Endowment Foundation website in Summer 2018.
IPD sharing planThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be stored in the Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF) data archive subject to the agreement of the Department for Education. The EEF intends to have an open data policy whereby this data will be accessible for research purposes.

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Funder report results 01/02/2019 29/03/2021 No No
Protocol (other) 21/11/2022 No No

Editorial Notes

21/11/2022: Protocol file linked.
29/03/2021: The following changes have been made:
1. Publication reference added.
2. The final enrolment number has been added from the reference.