one or two term limited topic trial scheme of learning

The big picture question

Does teaching with timely practice embed significantly more learning than teaching following our

current scheme of learning and program of study?

See limited topic trial - is on hold for most of 2021-22 for full information

Overview of the trial 

The BAU (business as usual) units

• will be pre assessed in fine detail using timely practice app - to find which layers (bites of learning) within each suitable topic each learner already knows,
• the pre assess will be verified by asking the learners a second question on all the layers which the learners "seemed to know already" ,
• will be taught following the existing scheme of learning and using the existing lesson resources etc.
• will be post assessed following the schools existing regimen (some schools set an end of unit test) or not (some schools do not),
• will be assessed (again) in the "delayed summative assessment"  after the agreed wait of 4 or more weeks - this will be used to calculate the learning gain using the school's existing teaching and assessment regimen NB no revision must be done, nor prior notice be given to the learners, because we want to find out what they retain of their learning (see "Fair?"  box at the bottom of the page for more information)

The TP (timely practice) topic theme units

• will be pre assessed in fine detail using timely practice app - to find which layers (bites of learning) within each suitable topic each learner already knows,
• the pre assess will be verified by asking the learners a second question on all the layers which the learners "seemed to know already",
• the pre assess will done using a number of rounds of a  trial and improvement strategy, any topics from the topic theme may be taught, and therefore all will need to be pre assessed,
• topics may be prioritised (at the request of the school) if there won't be time to teach all the topics in the topic theme that the learners are ready to learn,
• timely practice recommends a breadth first scheme of learning e.g. only one small bite of new learning from several topics, most topics taught several times a year (in the two term trial most topics will be taught twice)
  • only one layer per topic will be taught per term, 
  • usually only one lesson will be allocated to teach each topic,
• the SOL will ask teachers will teach as many topics from the topic theme that the learners are ready to learn but not topics which the learner isn't ready to learn yet - it is likely that the scheme of learning we create will forgo some topics. e.g. the SOL may forgo teaching zzz correct to (rounding)- because the learners don't have the appropriate pre requisite skills, - but include other topics which will mean the learner will move closer to being ready to learn rounding in the future i.e. rounding ready, place value: integer and x/÷ by 10/100/1000, 
• there will be no post assess at the end of the TP topic theme units - although the teacher may choose to print out the learners progress page, so the learners may see what they have learned, if end of unit tests are the norm for the school,
• will be assessed "delayed summative assessment" after a wait of the agreed wait of 4 or more weeks - this will be used to calculate the learning gain using the school's existing teaching and assessment regimen,
• NB the learners will continue practising and getting feedback on a maximum of 6 questions per lesson between the last teaching of the topic theme and the "delayed summative assessment" this will occur in 10 minutes of most BAU units - which are allocated two extra teaching days to compensate (see limited topic trial - is on hold for most of 2021-22 for more details on this)
• will be assessed by the "delayed summative assessment"  after the agreed wait of 4 or more weeks - this will be used to calculate the learning gain using the timely practice assessment regimen NB no revision must be done, nor prior notice be given to the learners, because we want to find out what they retain of their  learning (see "Fair?"  box at the bottom of the page for more information)

Program of study and assessment for this trial

• It is likely that in the pre assess of a BAU unit we find considerably fewer layers which the learners "already know" than in the pre assess of a timely practice topic theme (TPTT) because:
  • The BAU unit is likely to be made up of less than 5 topics but the TPTT may teach 10 or more topics
  • The aim of the TP pre assess trial and improvement process is to find 2 consecutive layers per topic which the learner already knows - so the teacher knows they have found each learners firm learning foundations

If schools wish to they can organise the pre assess of the timely practice differently e.g. a pre assess and computer lesson once a week, or a week of pre assess lessons. However the teacher will need need to plan what the learners should do if they can perhaps only answer 2 of the 20 questions in the pre assess test for several lessons in a row. This is why we recommend using a trial and improvement pre assess program - so most learners can answer over half the questions that they are asked.

Trial teaching and assessment plan

Key

title	duration	activity	extra work for faster working learners	notes
pre assess	1 lesson	pre assess BAU1	round 1 TPTT1 round 1 TPTT2
pre assess	1 lesson	verification of BAU1 round 1 TPTT1 or round 2 of TPTT1	round 2 TPTT2 round 1  TPTT3	round 1 TPTT3 this will usually be for low attaining learners, who "already knew" very little of TPTT 1 and 2
		first analysis for trial - record total number of BAU layers learned and take snapshot of each learner		snapshot BAU (see  below)
teach BAU1	13 or 14 lessons	warm up: 6Q timely practice TP or another round of pre assess  main: teach & practice the topic from BAU1 as normal plenary: as normal (if applicable)	warm up Q on white board	towards the end of the BAU1 unit all of TPTT1 will have been pre assessed and validated at least once, usually much of TPTT2 will have been pre assessed and validated too
post assess	0 to 1 lesson	if schools normally do a post assessment of each unit - this should be done now (BAU1 will be taught for 13 not 14 lessons)	a timely practice TP assignment may be set to make use of lesson time	as school's normal practice
pre assess	0 to 1 lesson	finish verification of TPTT1	further rounds of pre assess or verification of TPTT2 or TPTT3	ONLY if TPTT1 has NOT been fully pre assessed and verified (each layer will have depth of learning of at least 2) will this lesson be required
		second analysis for trial - record total number of TPTT1 layers learned and take snapshot of each learner		snapshot TP (see  below)
teach TPTT1	6 to 10 lessons	warm up: 10Q timely practice TP  main: teach & practice a layer from one topic from TPTT1 plenary: extra practice Q or extra time for feedback or further rounds of pre assess for TPTT2 and perhaps TPTT2	warm up Q on white board (possibly more than 10 Q in timely practice TP) perhaps teach 2nd topic from TPTT1	if there isn't time to teach all topics from TPTT1 - not a problem - however ensure all prioritised topics are taught
		third analysis for trial - record total number of TPTT2 layers learned and take snapshot of each learner		snapshot TP (see  below)
teach TPTT2	6 to 10 lessons	warm up: 10Q timely practice TP  main: teach & practice 1 or 2 topics from topic theme TPTT2 plenary: extra practice Q or extra time for feedback	warm up Q on white board (possibly more than 10 Q in timely practice TP) perhaps teach 2nd topic from TPTT2	if there isn't time to teach all topics from TPTT2 - not a problem - however ensure all prioritised topics are taught
		possible fourth analysis for trial - record total number of TPTT3 layers learned and take snapshot of each learner		snapshot TP (see  below)
teach TPTT3	up to 8 lessons	warm up: 10Q timely practice TP  main: teach & practice 1 or 2 topics from topic TPTT3 plenary: extra practice Q or extra time for feedback	warm up Q on white board (possibly more than 10 Q in timely practice TP) perhaps teach 2nd topic from TPTT3	if TPTT1 and TPTT2 don't have enough topics which the learners are ready to learn, the teacher will teach this third topic theme
assess	1 lesson	"delayed summative assessment"  of BAU1   pre assess of BAU2		make this exactly the agreed 4 or 6 weeks after the last teaching/assessment of the BAU1 unit
assess	1 lesson	verification of BAU2	a timely practice TP assignment may be set to make use of lesson time
		next analysis for trial - record total number of BAU layers learned and take snapshot of each learner		snapshot BAU (see  below)
teach BAU2	13 or 14 lessons	warm up: 6Q timely practice TP (initially every lesson, this may  reduce to every other lesson) main: teach & practice the topic from BAU2 as normal plenary: extra practice Q or extra time for feedback	warm up Q on white board
assess	0 to 1 lesson	if schools normally do a post assessment of each unit - this should be done now (BAU2 will be taught for 13 not 14 lessons)	a timely practice TP assignment may be set to make use of lesson time	as school's normal practice
				Now is the time to decide if the schools want to complete the 2 term trial - because if so, BAU3 and BAU4 will need to be pre assessed and verified
assess	0 to 1 lesson	pre assess of BAU3 (and possibly BAU4)	a timely practice TP assignment may be set to make use of lesson time	Only required if 2 term trial is chosen
assess	0 to 1 lesson	verification of BAU3 (and possibly BAU4)	a timely practice TP assignment may be set to make use of lesson time	Only required if 2 term trial is chosen
teach BAU3	12 or 13 lesson	warm up: 6Q timely practice TP (probably every other lesson or twice a week will be sufficient) main: teach & practice the topic from BAU3 as normal plenary: extra practice Q or extra time for feedback
assess	0 to 1 lesson	if schools normally do a post assessment of each unit - this should be done now (BAU3 will be taught for 13 not 14 lessons)
assess	0 to 3 lessons	"delayed summative assessment"  of TPTT1, TPTT2 and possibly TPTT3 if trial is for one term		make this exactly the agreed wait after the last teaching of TPTT2 or TPTT3 - this may well need to split this test over 2 or possibly 3 days
assess	0 to 2 lessons	assess and verification of BAU4 if not done already	a timely practice TP assignment may be set to make use of lesson time	Only required if 2 term trial is chosen
teach BAU4	12 to 13 lessons	warm up: if trial complete - as teacher chooses else see BAU3 main: teach & practice the topic from BAU4 as normal plenary: if trial complete - as teacher chooses else see BAU3	as teacher chooses
assess	0 to 1 lesson	if schools normally do a post assessment of each unit - this should be done now (BAU4 will be taught for 13 not 14 lessons)
teach TPTT1 TPTT2 TPTT3	20 lessons	warm up: 10Q timely practice TP  main: teach & practice 1 or 2 topics from topic theme  plenary: extra practice Q or extra time for feedback	warm up Q on white board (possibly more than 10 Q in timely practice TP) perhaps teach 2nd topic from topic theme	Only required if 2 term trial is chosen
assess	1 lesson	"delayed summative assessment" of BAU2		make this exactly the agreed 4 or 6 weeks after the last teaching/assessment of the BAU2 unit
teach BAU5  BAU6	26 to 28 lessons	warm up: if trial complete - as teacher chooses else see BAU2 main: teach & practice the topic from BAU4 as normal plenary: if trial complete - as teacher chooses else see BAU2		No need to pre assess these units - although the teacher may choose to. Theses units are to ensure that TP timely practice continues as much as is required and we wait the agreed wait after the last teaching of TPTT2 or TPTT3 before assessment
assess	0 to 3 lessons	"delayed summative assessment"  of TPTT1, TPTT2 and possibly TPTT3 if trial is for two terms		make this exactly the agreed 4 or 6 weeks after the last teaching of TPTT2 or TPTT3 - this may well need to split this test over 2 or possibly 3 days

For analysis of the data return to limited topic trial - is on hold for most of 2021-22 page