We are often asked if it is ethical to withhold an intervention from children in schools, however we argue that it is unethical to implement an intervention if we do not know if this will work. It is crucial that we critically assess the interventions we implement in our classrooms, ensuring they are not only effective but also grounded in high-quality evidence. By embracing a rigorous approach to evaluating educational strategies, we can make informed decisions on which interventions to adopt and which to discard. The consequences of relying on ineffective interventions can be far-reaching, potentially stalling students' progress, wasting valuable resources, and inadvertently widening achievement gaps. By prioritising evidence-based practices, we can minimise these negative outcomes and contribute to the overall success of our students, schools, and communities.

Yes, if you decide to run the intervention as a mini-RCT or single group pre or post-test we will complete the analysis of your data for our free school programmes. However, as with all interventions on the WhatWorked website, you will need to register in advance of starting your programme for your analysis to be completed. This cannot be completed retrospectively.  

All the data you submit is anonymised and ethical approval is granted at school level. We believe that until we know interventions work, it is not ethical to not test this robustly, or to check regularly that the interventions still work as intended. All mini-RCTs eventually provide the intervention to all students, this is just not at the same time.