The Change refers to a new curriculum or teaching strategy or software package or school restructuring plan - generically anything than someone is urging you to try as a way to better educate kids.
The Persuader refer(s) to any personal who is urging you to try the Change, whether it's a teacher, administrator, salesperson, or the President of the United States (Willingham, p136)
The Audience refers to individual teachers, department, schools, LEAs who are being asked to adopt the Change
Stripping
In undertaking an evaluation of a Change Willingham states that it is essential to to be clear on the following:
- precisely what Change is being suggested
- precisely what outcome is being promised as a result of the Change
- the probability that the promised outcome will actually happen if you undertake the Change (Willingham, p136)
For example : If an 'inadequate' school is converted to an academy, there is a 50 percent that the school will double the percentage of pupils gaining 5 GCSEs (inc English and Maths) at grade C or better
Flipping is best explained by an example. Let's suppose that a school claims that 65 percent of pupils leave school at 16 with a least a GCSE grade C in both English and Maths, then 35 percent of pupils leave school without at least a GCSE grade C in both English and Maths. Now, all other things being equal, due to a framing effects a school with a 65 percent success rate is likely to be rated as better than a school with a 35 percent failure rate.
Things to watch out while flipping and stripping
Of course, there is far more to the stripping and flipping process than can be captured in a couple of examples. Things to watch of for include"
- Emotional claims about the need or benefit of the Change
- Claims that the Persuader is like you
- False Analogies
- Postive and negative framing
- Old stuff which we have seen before
- Vague stuff which is difficult to discern either the output or outcomes
- Over-reach - claiming the Change will help all teachers and all pupils
Table 1 : Summary of the Strip It and Flip It Process
Suggested Action
|
Why You’re Doing This
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Strip to the
form “If I do X, then there is a Y percent chance of Z happening.”
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To get rid of
emotional appeals, peripheral cues, and proffered analogies that may
influence your belief. The scientific
methods is suppose to be evidence-based and uninfluenced by these factors.
|
Consider whether
the outcome (Z) has an inverse; if so, restate the stripped version of the
claim using the inverse
|
To be sure
that you appreciate all consequences of the action – for example, that an 85
percent pass rate implies a 15 percent failure rate. We are subject to framing effects; we think
something is better if the positive aspects are emphasised.
|
Consider the
outcome if you fail to take action X.
|
To ensure that
the promised outcomes if you do X seems much better than if you don’t do X. When there is a problem; it’s tempting to
lunge toward any action because it makes you feel that you are taking some
action rather than standing idle.
|
Consider the
outcome if you fail to take action, this time using the inverse of Z as the
outcomes
|
To ensure that
doing something versus doing nothing looks just as appealing when you think
about good outcomes as when you think about bad outcomes. People are generally less willing to take
risks to increase their gains – they would rather have a sure thing. But they don’t want a sure thing for losses
– they will take a risk to try to minimise them.
|
Evaluate
whether the stripped promise is something you already know
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To be sure
that what’s being sold to you is something you can’t do yourself. Technical talk – especially neuroscientific
talk – can make old ideas seem cutting-edge.
|
Evaluate
whether the change is clear; ‘clear’ means that you feel confident that you
know how the Change will affect students’ minds
|
To ensure the
Change is implemented as intended.
Changes that sound good can go awry if they are not implemented in the
classroom as intended or if students don’t do what you’re hoping they will
do.
|
Evaluate
whether the outcome (Z) is clear; ‘clear’ means that there is a reasonably
objective measure of whatever outcomes you expect, how big the change in the
outcome will be, and when will it happen.
|
To be sure you
will able to tell whether or not the promised outcome is happening
|
Check the outcome
against the list of frequently claimed but unlikely-to-work promises
|
To be sure
that claims are not made that are unfeasible, from a cognitive perspective –
for example
An improvement
in all cognitive processes
An improvement
in a specific cognitive process (for example, critical thinking) irrespective
of material
An improvement
for all students who struggle with a complex skill such as reading
|
Implications for the School Research Leads
It is clear that School Research Leads are under constant time-pressure, with many colleagues being given only a small amount of time to undertake the role and using this check-list will take both time and effort. However, given the increased and relentless resource pressures on schools over the next 5 years, anything that helps make sure time, money and effort are invested in the right change initiatives is worthy of consideration and use. Furthermore, the role of the School Research Lead is still in its infancy, and if the role is to be continued to be supported and developed it is important that the role delivers discernible benefits. The chances of delivering these benefits will be increased if research-informed Changes are subject to rigorous pre-evaluation prior to implementation. And in doing so, yo are more likely to deliver to changes which benefit your pupils, which is, at the end of day, what it is all about.
Reference
Willingham, D. (2012) When Can You Trust The Experts: How to tell good science from bad in education, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.