smaller working memory capacity with greater risk factors comes greater benefits from intervention

Learners are more likely to have a smaller working memory capacity than their peers with these risk factors

risk factor	summary	title	reference	who	where

risk factor	summary	title	reference	who	where
ALN and SEN both diagnosed e.g. ADHD and undiagnosed such as “slow to learn”	The majority of children with poor working memory are slow to learn in the areas of reading, maths and science, across both primary and secondary school years. Learning difficulties arise because they are unable to meet the memory demands of many structured learning activities ``as a consequence, their working memory becomes overloaded ... information that is needed to guide the ongoing learning activity ... is lost''.	Working memory in the classroom	Gathercole 2008	Gathercole, S	Presidents' Award Lecture at the Annual Conference of The British Psychological Society
poverty	Learners living with poverty are likely to have a smaller working memory capacity than their peers.	Childhood poverty: Specific associations with neurocognitive development.	Farah, et al. 2006	Farah M.J., Shera, D.M., Savage, J.H., Betancourt, L., Giannetta, J.M., Brodsky, N.L., Malmud, E.K., Hurt, H. (2006)	Brain Res 1110 : 166 - 174
trauma	Learners living with trauma are likely to have a smaller working memory capacity than their peers.	Trauma-related deficits in working memory	El-Hage et al 2006	El-Hage, W., Gaillard, P., Isingrini, M., Belzung, C.,	February 2006, Cognitive Neuropsychiatry

Happily, learners with a smaller working memory capacity than their peers are likely to gain more benefit from these interventions than their peers.

intervention	summary	title	reference	who	where

intervention	summary	title	reference	who	where
assessment for learning (AfL)	When teachers find out what learners know before and during teaching and alter their teaching in response to this information, attainment is raised.	Assessment for Learning: why, what and how	Wiliam 2009	Dylan Wiliam	An Inaugural Professorial Lecture, 2009, Institute of Education, University of London
differentiation	In schools identified at raising the attainment of their low attaining learners, the learning needs of low attaining learners were met with differentiated materials and other strategies, whilst AfL was used to keep high expectations.	Effective Teaching and Learning for Pupils in Low Attaining Groups	Research Report No DCSF-RR011	Dunne, M., Humphreys, S., Sebba, J., Dyson, A., Gallannaugh, F,. and Muijs, D.,	Department for Children Schools and Families © University of Sussex 2007
reduce working memory load of learning tasks	When primary school teachers use strategies which reduce the working memory requirements of tasks, proved to be a predictor of the progress of learners with smaller working memory relative to their peers with smaller working memory capacity (unclear if this was also relative to their peers with higher working memory capacity)	An Evaluation of a Classroom-Based Intervention to Help Overcome Working Memory Difficulties and Improve Long-Term Academic Achievement.	Elliot et al 2010	Elliott, J., Gathercole, S.E., Alloway, T.P., Holmes, J. & Kirkwood, H.	Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 9, 227-250
reduction in high stakes testing	Although graduation tests have no appreciable effect on the probability of dropping out for the average student, they increase the probability of dropping out among the lowest ability students.	Getting Tough? The Impact of High School Graduation Exams	Jacob 2001	Jacob, B.A.	June 2001 Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 23(2):99-121
retrieval practice	The benefits from retrieval practice are greater for students with lower working memory capacity.	Benefits from retrieval practice are greater for students with lower working memory capacity	Agarwal et al 2016	Agarwal, P.K., Finley, J.R., Rose, N.S., & Roediger H.R.,	Memory 25(6):1-8 August 2016