Teaching young children to plan, monitor and reflect may help their school results

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   The 67 studies covered children without disabilities up to age 12. Average ages ran from about 5 to nearly 12, and most were in Europe or North America.

2. 02

   What they did

   The programmes taught children to plan before a task, check progress, choose ways of working and think back afterwards. Most gave clear teaching and practice. Comparison groups had usual lessons or similar activities.

3. 03

   What happened

   Language, maths and other school subjects rose at the end, but confidence and interest showed no clear change. About 15 weeks later, language gains were still there, while a gain in confidence depended on one study. A funnel-plot test was uneven, which can mean weak studies are missing, but the authors do not think this is strong.

What the review found

1. HelpedGoals

   In 38 studies, a programme that taught children to plan, watch progress and reflect helped their language test scores.

   • Action: Track your progresstested
   • Action: Reflect on how you performedtested
   • Rule: Get feedback on your progresstested

   Pooled analysis of 38 studies · vs usual lessons or similar activities · ⚠ the studies disagreed a lot; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

2. HelpedGoals

   In 11 studies, a programme that taught children to plan, watch progress and reflect helped their maths test scores.

   • Action: Track your progresstested
   • Action: Reflect on how you performedtested
   • Rule: Get feedback on your progresstested

   Pooled analysis of 11 studies · vs usual lessons or similar activities · ⚠ the studies disagreed a lot; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

3. No differenceMotivation

   In 18 studies, a programme made no clear difference to how sure children were of their abilities.

   • Action: Track your progresstested
   • Action: Reflect on how you performedtested
   • Rule: Get feedback on your progresstested

   Pooled analysis of 18 studies · vs usual lessons or similar activities · they rated themselves · ⚠ the studies disagreed a lot; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

4. No differenceMotivation

   In 14 studies, a programme made no clear difference to children's interest and drive to learn.

   • Action: Track your progresstested
   • Action: Reflect on how you performedtested
   • Rule: Get feedback on your progresstested

   Pooled analysis of 14 studies · vs usual lessons or similar activities · they rated themselves · ⚠ the studies disagreed a lot; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

Source