Does the Realistic Maths Education intervention improve pupil attainment in mathematics?
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN21086912 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN21086912 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | N/A |
- Submission date
- 31/05/2019
- Registration date
- 01/07/2019
- Last edited
- 14/10/2022
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
RME uses realistic contexts and a notion of progressive formalisation to help the mathematical development of pupils. It is internationally recognised, and materials based on RME are used in many countries.
The RME project focuses on Y7 and Y8 pupils, and offers specialist training for teachers which aims to:
1. Develop pupils’ sense-making strategies and problem-solving abilities
2. Raise pupil attainment and engagement, including for pupil premium students
3. Support the development of a deep conceptual understanding
4. Support teachers to promote a more interactive classroom culture
5. Provide materials and guidance for use in both mixed and set groups
Who can participate?
Pupils in the 2018/9 Year 7 cohort at participating schools. Mathematics teachers from these schools take part in the training. Non-selective secondary schools in England were eligible for recruitment into the trial.
What does the study involve?
Teachers involved in the intervention receive training in how to use RME materials and develop their practice over the two years of the trial. Professional development focuses on both effective use of the curriculum materials, and on developing the underlying RME pedagogical principles combining off-site CPD days and in-school tasks. Participating teachers teach the pupils throughout the 2018/9 and 2019/20 academic years. In summer 2020, pupils will undertake a mathematics assessment in school, the results of which will be used to determine the impact of the intervention.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The intervention has the potential to improve the mathematics attainment of participating pupils. There are no credible risks to participating pupils beyond those associated with normal classroom teaching.
Where is the study run from?
The intervention is delivered by Manchester Metropolitan University and the evaluation is led by Sheffield Hallam University. Teacher training takes place in six regional centres (119 schools). Teaching takes place during normal classroom lesson time.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
Teaching will take place over two school years between autumn 2018 and summer 2020.
Who is funding the study?
The Education Endowment Foundation
Who is the main contact?
Sean Demack, Principal Investigator/Lead Statistician at Sheffield Institute of Education (s.demack@shu.ac.uk)
Contact information
Public
10101 Arundel Building
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield
S1 1AY
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-7329-8675 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 114 225 6072 |
| M.Culliney@shu.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Two-arm, multisite four-level clustered randomised controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Study setting(s) | School |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | https://www.shu.ac.uk/~/media/home/about-us/academic-departments/sioe/realistic-maths-evaluation-school-information-sheet.docx?la=en |
| Scientific title | Evaluating the effects of the Realistic Maths Education intervention on the mathematics attainment for year 8 pupils in England: a randomised controlled trial |
| Study acronym | RME |
| Study hypothesis | Does the RME intervention improve pupil attainment in mathematics over 2 years as measured by the GL Assessment Progress Test in Mathematics (PTM) for the intention to treat group compared to the control group, in general and specifically for FSM pupils? |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 11/07/2018, Sheffield Hallam University Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty Research Ethics Committee (SSH-ResearchEthics@shu.ac.uk), ref: ER6803657. |
| Condition | Mathematics attainment |
| Intervention | Intervention - teachers attend CPD training and teach their pupils using the principles covered in the CPD training during 2018/9 and 2019/20 academic years. Outcome assessment takes place in the summer 2020. Control - business as usual (normal teaching). Outcome assessment takes place in the summer 2020. A stratified randomisation approach was adopted that included controls for geographical hub region, whether a school was a middle or standard secondary school and whether a school currently had a policy of using within-school selection (setting/streaming) to sort pupils into maths classes in Y7 or not. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure | Mathematical skills and knowledge are measured using the GL Progress Test in Mathematics at the end of Year 8 (summer 2020). |
| Secondary outcome measures | N/A |
| Overall study start date | 01/01/2018 |
| Overall study end date | 01/07/2021 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Other |
|---|---|
| Age group | Other |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 8,142 pupils in ITT analysis; 23,196 pupils across Y8 cohorts in all participating schools. |
| Participant inclusion criteria | 1. Non-selective secondary schools in England. 2. Commit at least two maths teachers to the CPD training programme and associated teaching. 3. Teachers teaching Y7 pupils during 2018/9 and Y8 pupils during 2019/20. |
| Participant exclusion criteria | Selective schools. |
| Recruitment start date | 01/03/2018 |
| Recruitment end date | 05/10/2018 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- Northern Ireland
- United Kingdom
Study participating centres
WF7 6BD
United Kingdom
HU9 4EE
United Kingdom
YO17 7NH
United Kingdom
DH1 2QP
United Kingdom
NE65 7RJ
United Kingdom
WA12 0AQ
United Kingdom
BL4 0HU
United Kingdom
BL9 9NH
United Kingdom
M25 1JH
United Kingdom
M9 7SS
United Kingdom
OL9 9QY
United Kingdom
OL11 3LU
United Kingdom
M6 6QT
United Kingdom
SK16 5BL
United Kingdom
M32 9PL
United Kingdom
SK17 6AF
United Kingdom
WA4 5JL
United Kingdom
PR7 3AY
United Kingdom
BB3 3HD
United Kingdom
CH4 7HS
United Kingdom
LA13 9BB
United Kingdom
B11 2QG
United Kingdom
B20 1HL
United Kingdom
WS2 9UA
United Kingdom
WV3 8HU
United Kingdom
BS7 9NL
United Kingdom
CW3 9JJ
United Kingdom
ST8 7AT
United Kingdom
ST6 6LZ
United Kingdom
HR4 0RN
United Kingdom
ST7 2HR
United Kingdom
CV12 9EA
United Kingdom
NG20 8QF
United Kingdom
DE21 4QX
United Kingdom
LE7 1LY
United Kingdom
LN6 7DT
United Kingdom
NG31 8ED
United Kingdom
BR2 8HZ
United Kingdom
RM8 1XE
United Kingdom
SM5 4NS
United Kingdom
E4 9PJ
United Kingdom
LU2 OEZ
United Kingdom
CM15 8RY
United Kingdom
SG14 2DG
United Kingdom
HP23 5JD
United Kingdom
E6 5JG
United Kingdom
BS34 8SF
United Kingdom
BH21 1PL
United Kingdom
BH217AB
United Kingdom
BN3 7BW
United Kingdom
SO45 4ZF
United Kingdom
RG21 5PB
United Kingdom
PO2 0RH
United Kingdom
TR15 3PZ
United Kingdom
RH14 9RY
United Kingdom
WF10 4JQ
United Kingdom
DH3 2LP
United Kingdom
NE25 9QW
United Kingdom
NE24 2SY
United Kingdom
L5 0SQ
United Kingdom
M8 5UF
United Kingdom
M12 4WB
United Kingdom
OL8 3EP
United Kingdom
M27 6JU
United Kingdom
SK4 3HP
United Kingdom
SK8 1NP
United Kingdom
SK14 8LW
United Kingdom
M32 0XA
United Kingdom
WA5 3AA
United Kingdom
FY7 8HE
United Kingdom
BB3 0AL
United Kingdom
CW11 3NT
United Kingdom
CH3 5XF
United Kingdom
LA105AL
United Kingdom
CA15 6NT
United Kingdom
CA14 3EE
United Kingdom
B13 0TW
United Kingdom
CV3 6EA
United Kingdom
WV11 3ES
United Kingdom
WV10 6SE
United Kingdom
B79 8AH
United Kingdom
ST28DD
United Kingdom
ST6 6JZ
United Kingdom
TF29SF
United Kingdom
CV22 5PE
United Kingdom
LE12 8JU
United Kingdom
LE18 2DT
United Kingdom
DE14 3DR
United Kingdom
NG19 6BW
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
NN2 7HR
United Kingdom
EN5 5RR
United Kingdom
HA5 5RP
United Kingdom
RM1 4EH
United Kingdom
SM3 8PW
United Kingdom
LU3 1HE
United Kingdom
RG30 2BB
United Kingdom
TN11 0AU
United Kingdom
CT17 0AS
United Kingdom
ME20 7JU
United Kingdom
BT31 6JF
United Kingdom
DT1 2HS
United Kingdom
BH231JF
United Kingdom
BH15 3HS
United Kingdom
SO51 8ZB
United Kingdom
SO22 5PN
United Kingdom
PO2 9RJ
United Kingdom
SP4 7ND
United Kingdom
BN13 1JX
United Kingdom
BH21 3HQ
United Kingdom
LS6 2LG
United Kingdom
LS131DQ
United Kingdom
LS14 6TY
United Kingdom
SE14 5SF
United Kingdom
BR1 5EB
United Kingdom
DA1 4RS
United Kingdom
RM13 9XD
United Kingdom
RM16 6SA
United Kingdom
WS15 2UE
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Charity
9th floor
Millbank Tower
21-24 Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 207 802 1676 |
|---|---|
| info@eefoundation.org.uk | |
| Website | https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/03bhd6288 |
Funders
Funder type
Charity
Private sector organisation / Trusts, charities, foundations (both public and private)
- Alternative name(s)
- EducEndowFoundn, Education Endowment Foundation | London, EEF
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/11/2022 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Not expected to be made available |
| Publication and dissemination plan | The first publication will be the evaluation report, published by the funder (Education Endowment Foundation). Subsequently the evaluation and development teams are likely to pursue academic outputs such as journal articles and conference papers. |
| IPD sharing plan | After the project ends, data will be transferred to the EEF data archive, which is only accessible by researchers commissioned by EEF to conduct meta-analysis of EEF data. Participants are informed of archiving requirements at the start of the evaluation. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protocol file | version V1 | 28/05/2019 | 01/07/2019 | No | No |
| Funder report results | 22/09/2022 | 14/10/2022 | No | No | |
| Statistical Analysis Plan | 04/06/2021 | 14/10/2022 | No | No |
Additional files
- ISRCTN21086912_Protocol_V1_28May19.pdf
- Uploaded 01/07/2019
Editorial Notes
14/10/2022: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. A link to funder report results was added.
2. A link to the statistical analysis plan was added.
23/08/2022: The intention to publish date was changed from 01/02/2022 to 01/11/2022.
24/02/2021: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. The overall end date was changed from 31/07/2020 to 01/07/2021.
2. The intention to publish date was changed from 01/03/2021 to 01/02/2022.
04/11/2019: The recruitment end date was changed from 05/10/2019 to 05/10/2018.
01/07/2019: Protocol file uploaded (not peer-reviewed).
04/06/2019: Trial's existence confirmed by the Education Endowment Fund.
