Reducing teacher workload

The Department for Education have reaffirmed their commitment to reducing unnecessary teacher workload and released a new video ‘Working together on workload’ which draws on the department’s research on effective marking practices.

The research report, A marked improvement?, which was published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in 2016 looks at what research evidence says about written marking and whether many of the approaches currently adopted are a good use of teachers’ time. The research which was led by Victoria Elliott in collaboration with Jo-Anne Baird, Therese Hopfenback, Jenni Ingram, Ian Thompson, department doctoral students Natalie Usher and Mae Zantout, and two authors from the EE,  says there needs to be more research into which marking strategies really work, but also identifies some approaches that do make a difference.

In the video the Chief Inspector for Ofsted, Amanda Spielman refers to the report, and a primary teacher explains how they used the evidence in it to revolutionise their marking approach and reduce teacher workload.

The Department for Education’s campaign draws on the report’s central message that marking needs to be making a difference to pupil progress – the time something takes needs to be balanced against the impact that it has. A marked improvement continues to be one of the most popular reports produced for the EEF and a Research Schools conference marking two years from the original publication will be held at Liverpool Hope University in June.

Watch the video in full here.