Evaluation of Grammar for Writing
| 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
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
Scientific
Department of Education
Berrick Saul Building
University of York
York
YO10 5DD
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-8304-613X |
|---|
Study information
| Study design | Two-armed effectiveness randomised controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Study setting(s) | School |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request an information sheet |
| Scientific title | Evaluation of the Grammar for Writing programme – a school-level randomised controlled trial |
| Study objectives | The 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) studied | Teaching writing |
| Intervention | Schools 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 type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure | Combined 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 measures | Year 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 date | 01/03/2016 |
| Completion date | 20/10/2017 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Other |
|---|---|
| Age group | Mixed |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 150 schools; c.7,500 pupils |
| Total final enrolment | 7239 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. 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 criteria | 1. 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 enrolment | 04/04/2016 |
| Date of final enrolment | 05/10/2016 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- United Kingdom
Study participating centres
Streatham Drive
Exeter
EX4 4PD
United Kingdom
University of York
YO10 5DD
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Government
9th Floor
Millbank Tower
21-24 Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
United Kingdom
| Website | https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/ |
|---|---|
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/03bhd6288 |
Funders
Funder type
Government
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/08/2018 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Stored in repository |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Evaluation Report and Executive Summary to be published on the Education Endowment Foundation website in Summer 2018. |
| IPD sharing plan | The 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.
