A major strand of the work of the CfEM programme was a randomised control trial to test the efficacy of a teaching for mastery programme in college settings. The research was conducted by the Centre for Research in Mathematics Education (CRME) at the University of Nottingham during the 2021-22 academic year, and involved maths teachers and learners from across the 21 CfEM colleges and their network partners.
Teachers in the intervention arms of the trial taught seven lessons specifically designed to exemplify a Teaching for Mastery in FE approach, based on our five key principles. Copies of the lessons and a rationale for each can be found on the research lessons page.
The outcomes of the trial suggest that the programme leads to increased attainment as measured by marks in GCSE assessment. The three-armed randomised controlled trial detected improved outcomes equivalent to one month of additional learning for students taught by teachers who had taken part in the most intensive intervention programme. This increased to two months of additional learning for the most deprived students (as measured by free school meals uptake).
The full evaluation report from the trial and a summary report are available for download below.