Teacher-led evidence: How North East schools are shaping what works
Schools across the country are under immense pressure — balancing rising SEND needs, tight budgets, and growing regional disparities. With a new Ofsted framework, Curriculum review and the long-awaited White Paper due early next year, one question keeps coming up: how do we really know what works in schools — and who decides?
A new pilot from Education Durham and WhatWorked Education is challenging the traditional model. Instead of evidence flowing from national research centres down to classrooms, teachers themselves are generating high-quality evidence through small, practical micro-RCTs in literacy and numeracy. You can read the full report here.
Over 900 pupils have participated in 33 trials, producing early results that show real impact in areas like number fluency, times tables, and spelling, all without adding extra workload.
Reframing how we think about evidence in education
In the “From Policy to Practice: Re-thinking What Works in Schools” episode of The Schools North East Podcast, we speak to Jane Kennedy (Education Durham), Professor Steve Higgins and Dr Wayne Harrison (co-founders of WhatWorked Education), and Elisabeth Lee, Head Teacher of Seaham Trinity Primary School. They discuss how the pilot came about, what it has achieved, and what it could mean for school improvement nationally, while highlighting the North East’s role in leading, not following, education reform.
This conversation reframes how we think about evidence in education. It shows that when teachers are trusted and supported, they can create credible, immediate, and relevant evidence rooted in the realities of their own classrooms. As the sector looks to the future, projects like this demonstrate the power of North East schools to innovate and lead the way, building solutions for their pupils rather than waiting for permission.
Listen to the episode to hear the full discussion, explore the insights from the pilot, and discover how the region is taking charge of its own educational evidence. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Schools North East Podcast for more stories about how North East schools are leading, not pleading.
Join us as a guest on the Schools North East Podcast
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