Myths & Low-effect • Evidence Based Teachers Network

Myths, fads and low effect-size methods and policies

The easiest way to improve learning is to STOP doing things which have little effect, especially when it either takes a lot of time or money. There are at least 50 things which are better to do than those on this list.

Sources include the things at the bottom of Hattie’s list and the EEF list (see under ‘Evidence’)

Also: see this from Australian site

Myths about the brain	Detail of myth
Fixed intelligence	Intelligence is fixed by our genes
Fixed learning difficulties	You have learning difficulties for life, they cannot change
Critical periods for learning	If you miss the ‘time window’, the child cannot learn after that
Enriched environments for young children	They need especially stimulating activities, early tuition etc
10% of the brain	Most of the brain is unused
Left brain – Right brain	Some people are dominant on one side or the other
Gender differences	Girls and boys need to be taught differently
Learning Styles/Preferences	Everyone has a preferred way to learn, eg visual, auditory or kinaesthetic
Neuro-linguistic programming	A commercial product
Brain hydration	If students do not have water available at all times their brains will not function properly
Brain foods	Special foods are needed

Ineffective methods
Play them Mozart	Certain types of music aid learning
Brain Gym	Exercises which stimulate the brain or join the halves together
Teacher subject knowledge	Experts in their subject (eg PhD or commercial experience) make better teachers
Longer Initial Teacher Training	Longer training makes better teachers
Ability grouping	Mixed ability is always worse
Repeating a year	S/he failed this year, so should repeat it
Increased testing and marking	The more marking the teacher does, the better
Challenging homework	Homework is effective if it is difficult
Changing the length of the lesson	Shorter (or longer) lessons are more effective
Late start for adolescents	After puberty, students need to start later in the morning
Management reorganisation	Changing job-titles, job-descriptions and structure regularly
School finances	The more money, the better the results
Students outcomes linked to poverty	Poor children inevitably do less well
Charter schools	Freedom from Local Authority control will improve learning
Aspiration interventions	Simply increasing aspirations will help students learn more
Financial incentives for students	Pay them by results and they get better grades

Expensive, low effect methods
Reduce class sizes	Smaller class always do better
New buildings	Old building cause less learning
Non-specialist information technology	New computers and interactive whiteboards improve learning
Untrained teaching assistants	Any help is better than no help
Staff development with no follow-up	Any training session will help the learning. Teachers don’t need to practice.

Training in Evidence-Based Teaching is available from the Evidence Based Teachers Network.