Andrew Berwick

Managing Director of @Carousel_Learn.

Tweet very occasionally about education and evidence.

[Andrew Berwick @AndBerwick]

@NPorter_ I can't remember much of our ITT beyond the stuff that was wrong (VAK!).

It made me think of growth mindset. I'm in favour of telling kids they can improve over time with practice, but when we try to isolate the impact of growth mindset as an intervention it is pretty elusive

[Andrew Berwick @AndBerwick]

@NPorter_ Hey Natasha, thanks for flagging as I had also missed it!

I'm not shocked by the finding. It could be true that TIP is a good thing, and that an RCT won't say if it 'works'. I think the YEF line is pretty sensible (you may want to do this - but not to reduce violence directly)

[Adam Boxer @adamboxer1]

In lots of schools, observation feedback is no longer delivered in person. It's given by email, a shared tracker, or some kind of online platform. It makes sense in terms of saving time, but is it a good idea?

Short video section exploring it here - interested in your thoughts!

[Adam Boxer @adamboxer1]

Most teachers in this country are regularly observed as part of their professional development.

Two thirds of teachers do not think this has made a difference to their actual practice.

Teachers do not understand the feedback they receive. They do not agree with the feedback they receive. They do not feel willing or capable to implement the feedback they receive.

These things are facts, and they are both worrying and upsetting. And none of this is a secret. We all know it, we've all experienced it.

When we asked Carousel Teaching users what topics they wanted us to make courses on, the most common response was "how to observe lessons and give feedback."

@BenRiceTeach and I are now MAD EXCITED to announce our How To Observe a Lesson and Give Feedback course.

It's mega. We filmed a bunch of lessons, and we also filmed me observing those lessons. We deconstruct the science of observations, and the art of giving feedback. It's pretty damn innovative, and we're confident it will help teachers and leaders get better at these critical skills.

We will also be delivering a FREE webinar where we will look at some of the core strategies, do make sure to come along :)

For more on the course: https://t.co/x6Gw1sFiOk

For more on the webinar: https://t.co/O44RkJZvpq

To book a demo so we can show you the whole platform: https://t.co/Ysd9NEBElG

[Carl Hendrick @C_Hendrick]

A LOT going on this month in the science of learning. New studies on the limits of retrieval practice, phone bans that don't move test scores, ChatGPT as cognitive crutch, and why early vocabulary growth tells us surprisingly little about later reading. Link ⤵️

[Adam Boxer @adamboxer1]

By sheer coincidence, it was my turn to do Thought For The Day at TTA this morning, so I chose to talk about the horrific attack in Golders Green yesterday, and what it means to be a Jew in 2026 Britain.

Please give it a few minutes of your time if you can.

[Adam Boxer @adamboxer1]

New Post!

In many classrooms, lots of students aren’t listening, which means they aren’t learning. In this post we outline a few common mistakes and simple techniques for building classrooms where ALL students expected to participate.

Please share if you can, link in reply 🙏

[Andrew Berwick @AndBerwick]

Loved this one. I almost spat out my coffee at "the biggest epistemic embarrassment in education... the spreadsheet of predicted grades"😂

[Craig Barton @mrbartonmaths]

In the latest episode of my AI in Education series, @C_Hendrick explains why AI will fundamentally change how students learn and the role of teachers. Listen to the full episode on the Mr Barton Maths Podcast.

[Daisy Christodoulou @daisychristo]

A lot of entrance exams consist of non-verbal reasoning questions - shape rotation, etc.

The argument in favour of them is that they are "tutor-proof".

But whether they are or not - kids are practising them with their tutors anyway! Is that a good use of their time?

https://t.co/LP3Sc2VWUp

[Craig Barton @mrbartonmaths]

For the past year, we at @HelloEedi have been working with Google to investigate the role AI can play in supporting one-to-one tutoring. Today, the report has been released.
Read the report here: https://t.co/7TCeqbrRA2
And our write-up here: https://t.co/w0lt0IAMRs

[Andrew Berwick @AndBerwick]

This is a great piece of exploratory research. Suggests that in this context (secondary school maths) AI tutoring can be as good as - or possibly even better than - online tuition from a human

[Craig Barton @mrbartonmaths]

For the past year, we at @HelloEedi have been working with Google to investigate the role AI can play in supporting one-to-one tutoring. Today, the report has been released.
Read the report here: https://t.co/7TCeqbrRA2
And our write-up here: https://t.co/w0lt0IAMRs

[Andrew Berwick @AndBerwick]

Obviously views differ on what is driving the increase in children entitled to EHCPs and/or disability benefits - but: it is happening, the scale is remarkable, and it has huge implications for the country

[Institute for Fiscal Studies @TheIFS]

NEW: The share of children receiving disability support and the share on high-level special educational support have both doubled since 2016, and are forecast to keep rising.

THREAD on @latimereduin, Luke Sibieta & Darcey Snape’s @NuffieldFound-funded IFS Green Budget chapter:

[Paul Johnson @PJTheEconomist]

Careful evaluation by my colleagues @TheIFS shows EMA was not effective in improving outcomes. Looks like due to reduced work experience among 17/18 year olds.

Big contrast with our evaluation of Sure Start which showed significant positive long term effects.

[David Thomas @dmthomas90]

TIMSS 2023 is out! And England has done well. Year 5 maths scores have held despite the pandemic, and Year 9 scores have increased by quite some way. Teachers across the country should be feeling proud!

Details in the 🧵...

[Jon Yates @jonpayates]

Just finished on Today programme. I was on as YEF’s massive survey of teenagers has found 1 in 2 teenage children in relationships face violence or controlling behaviour. How we start to fix this 🧵(1/6)

[Sarah Waite @sarahjwaite]

I’m thrilled to announce that in the next academic year @get_further will partner with the @EducEndowFoundn and @uniofwarwick to deliver a landmark Randomised Control Trial evaluating the effectiveness of our Resits Tuition Programme in further education. 1/4

[Andrew Berwick @AndBerwick]

@jonpayates Yes this was pretty much my feeling reading this report. It feels like an exploratory piece of analysis which then makes headline causal claims (but only for the positive outcomes), whilst minimising discussion of the limitations of the methodology

[Andrew Berwick @AndBerwick]

@brgadsby Yeah I don't really understand the mechanism that achieves higher moderately bad outcomes and lower severely bad outcomes

[Andrew Berwick @AndBerwick]

@jonpayates @steverollett Just to say this is a function of the fact that 82% of Secondary schools are academies! (i.e. they're not over-indexing)

[Andrew Berwick @AndBerwick]

@brgadsby There is a key difference - guns are not knives!

In 2022/23 there were 101 homicides using kitchen knives vs 14 with machetes/zombie knives/swords.

Unfortunately we're unlikely to be able to limit access to knives - so questions of behaviour are even more important

[Andrew Berwick @AndBerwick]

"We must look beyond the blade... It is urgent that we find more ways to show young people that their lives have value, before it is too late."

[Ciaran Thapar @ciaranthapar]

I wrote about why the zombie knives ban is a useful step, but so much more will be needed — and can be done — to prevent violence https://t.co/w8YIBpoT7d