ABSTRACT
Randomised evidence is key to implementing novel effective educational interventions. Unfortunately, very few new interventions actually prove to be effective. Randomised trials play a key role in winnowing out the ineffective, and possibly harmful, educational techniques. Nevertheless, despite its undoubted power as the “gold standard” approach to evaluation, often the findings from RCTs are ignored. In this chapter we describe a number of examples, not just limited to education, where the findings of robust evidence have been ignored because they contradict either accepted values or political convenience. RCTs can be expensive to undertake and participants (including teachers, pupils and parents) give their time in good faith to identify whether a given intervention is of benefit. Therefore, it is critical all policy makers support the use of RCTs and ensure the implementation of their findings.
