Fife Peer Learning Project

Peter Tymms

(Durham, Fife & Dundee)

Outline

• Why Peer Learning• The Fife Peer Learning Project

– Why Scotland– Confluence of Fife, Dundee and PIPS– Peer Learning

• Overall plan • Design• Decisions at Authority Level• Issues

Peer Learning

• Meta-analyses of pupil level RCTs generally positive

• Effect Sizes of 0.4 to 0.8

• For mathematics and reading (and other attainment).

• For social outcomes

• For tutors and tutees

• Across many ages groups

Scotland

• Well organised Authorities

• No high stakes tests in primaries

• No National Curriculum

• Alignment with the aims of peer learning

Fife

• Next to Dundee’s Centre for Peer Learning

• About 150 primary schools

• Already doing PIPS in P1, P3, P5 and P7

• Enthusiastic Authority

The Overall Plan

• Run Peer Learning in schools for two years in reading and mathematics.

• Use PIPS to check impact

We know that ..

Peer Learning is effective

But

• Can a whole Authority change together?

• Which is best – Cross-age or Same-age?– Mix or separate subjects?– Intensive or light?

Cross-age versus Same-age

• Research suggests Cross-age works best

But

• It is hard to sustain and organise

Mixing versus Separation

• Learning skills in one context may help in another

But

• Research suggests that transfer is problematic

Intensive or Light

• Harder more intensive work might get better results

But

• Intense work can confuse and be onerous

What data will we collect?

• What Heads and Teachers say• What schools have done• Pupils’

– Progress– Attitudes– Home background, sex, age etc– Behaviour

• From Fife primary schools and many others in Scotland

Compare

• Overall– Fife-in-the-future with Fife-in-the-past– Fife with other authorities

• Specifically for reading and maths– Cross-age with same-age– Separate and mixed approaches– Intensive and light approaches

Factorial Design

• Cross age vs same age

• Maths versus reading versus both

• Intensive versus light

Allocation for forms of peer learning

• 120 schools agreed to be randomly assigned

• A few more have since agreed

• Details of procedure in paper.

Strategic Authority Decisions

• Commitment

• Funding

• Ethics

• School Support

• Parental support

• Councillors

• Timing

So far

• The project is running

• A few schools have backed away from random allocation

• Project is running enthusiastically

• Exploratory data collected soon

• Fingers crossed.

Issues

• Getting the project going– Idea to implementation took years

• Coordination of three groups

• Persuading schools

• Leekage

• Maintaining momentum

• What are we evaluating?