ABSTRACT
This chapter builds on scaffolding and group work skills by exploring a particular, and very familiar, everyday context. Accountability is important, so throughout this chapter, the author emphasizes the specific role and responsibilities of teachers in relation to interventions. Intervention programmes (sometimes known as 'catch-up' or 'booster' programmes) are highly structured courses of input designed to supplement classroom teaching and achieve specific learning outcomes. Intervention programmes also define the specific set of knowledge and skills to be learned or developed by the end of the course. Off-the-shelf interventions provide materials and resources for pupils and adults, including worksheets, screening and assessment tools, delivery scripts and instructions. A consistent lesson from the research on interventions tells that one of the keys to success is fidelity to the programme; in other words, doing what it says on the label! The research evidence shows that interventions tend to be delivered separate from classroom activities.
