How to evaluate the impact of in-school interventions

The effectiveness of pupil interventions depends not only on their delivery, but also on developing robust systems for evaluating their impact (Sharples et al, 2018).

Although the term “intervention” might encompass different activities from setting to setting, this article defines an intervention as the dedicated time spent by an individual or small group of pupils with an educator, aiming to improve attainment in a specific area or subject.

The challenge of quality assurance

One of the key challenges faced when implementing an intervention is determining whether or not the said intervention is having the desired impact (Ofsted, 2023).

The method of evaluation depends to a great extent on the intervention’s objectives but should ideally be a formal process. For example, where the objective is to improve pupil motivation, the evaluation might require formally recorded feedback on pupil confidence levels from the pupils and their parents/carers.