ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the evidence on what works in raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, and concludes that many of the interventions popular in schools are based on myths rather than facts. These include aspiration interventions, small reductions in class size, and allocating TAs to support low-attaining pupils in class. The evidence for mentoring and enrichment is mixed, while there is very strong evidence for teaching approaches which develop metacognition and self-regulation, and the explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies. Also well supported by research evidence are one-to-one and group tuition, oral language interventions, social and emotional learning, collaborative learning and peer tutoring, outdoor adventure learning, phonics approaches and digital technology when used to support rather than replace the teacher.
