A Practitioner Guide To Applying Behavioural Insights
Retention and Success in Maths and EnglishA Practitioner Guide to Applying BehaviouralInsightsSusannah Hume, Fionnuala O’Reilly, Bibi Groot, Eliza Selley, Jessica Barnes, Xian-Zhi Soon,Raj Chande, Michael SandersFebruary 20181 Behavioural Insights Ltd
Table of ContentsEXECUTIVE SUMMARY . 4Summary of the ASK Retention and Success RCTs. 8ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . 10PART ONE: ABOUT THE RESEARCH . 111.1.The Behavioural Research Centre for Adult Skills & Knowledge . 111.2.Barriers to retention and success . 121.3.Applying behavioural insights to retention and success . 141.4.Beyond EAST: deeper barriers to success . 141.5.Knowing what works to improve outcomes for learners . 15PART TWO: APPLYING BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS IN FURTHER EDUCATION . 162.3.4.5.Principle 1: Remind and encourage . 162.1.The power of prompts . 162.2.How to create encouraging reminders . 172.3.In practice: Text message reminders lift attendance and achievement . 18Principle 2: Promote social support networks . 203.1.Help friends and family support learners more effectively . 203.2.In practice: helping friends and family support their learner . 213.3.How to craft supportive texts messages to engage friends and family to support learners . 233.4.Foster social commitments between classmates . 253.5.In practice: buddy incentives increase retention in basic skills courses . 26Principle 3: Create a feeling of belonging in the classroom . 294.1.Help learners identify intrinsic motivations for learning . 294.2.In practice: helping soldiers identify a purpose for learning . 314.3.Reduce feelings of threat in the classroom . 334.4.In Practice: a short online writing exercise can lift achievement . 354.5.Create a positive dialogue between learners and their learning environment . 374.6.How to foster positive learner interactions . 38Principle 4: Develop skills beyond English and maths.405.1.What do we mean by ‘essential life skills’? . 405.2.‘Grit’: passion and perseverance for long term goals . 425.3.In practice: boosting learners’ ‘Grit’ through online modules . 435.4.How to help learners build their essential life skills . 442 Behavioural Insights Ltd
6.How to implement behavioural insights in college classrooms . 466.1.Before learners arrive . 466.2.In the first week . 476.3.During term time . 486.4.Before and during breaks . 486.5.Before exams . 486.6.The importance of testing . 493 Behavioural Insights Ltd
Executive SummaryNumeracy and literacy are essential skills required for furthering education, succeeding at work andindeed navigating everyday life, yet around a quarter of adults are operating at below the levelexpected of a secondary school student.In 2014, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills funded the Behavioural Insights Team tocreate the Behavioural Research Centre for Adult Skills and Knowledge (ASK). The aim of ASK was touse behavioural science and rigorous evaluation to test different ways of supporting learners aged 16years or older in their pursuit of maths and English skills.On the basis of our findings and the broader academic literature, we have identified four principlespolicymakers and practitioners can implement to improve retention and success rates. For each, weprovide ‘how to’ guides for practitioners to implement with their own learners. Below we summariseeach principle and note our most relevant trial results. This is intended as a starting point, and aplatform for further research in collaboration with those who ultimately will deliver the changerequired – practitioners, policymakers and learners themselves. Like any research though, variationsto the approaches reported in this document may increase or decrease the effect of theintervention. Readers should be mindful of this if they are looking to adapt the interventions for theirparticular context. The Department for Education has separately published a full research report ofASK’s work, Improving engagement and attainment in maths and English courses: insights frombehavioural research.Principle 1: Remind and encourageLearners with low numeracy and literacy levels are likely to need support developing attendance andstudy habits. Text messaging is a scalable and cost-effective way to provide this support. In one of our trials, texting further education (FE) learners encouragement and remindersimproved attendance by 22 percent (7.4 percentage points, 34.0 to 41.4 percent) and improvedthe proportion passing all their exams by 16 percent (8.7 percentage points, 54.5 to 63.2 percent). Even in trials of our deeper interventions, we used text messages to reinforce their core contenton weekends or during breaks.4 Behavioural Insights Ltd
Principle 2: Promote social support networksMany learners lack the continuous encouragement needed to persevere with their studies, eventhough they may have friends, family and acquaintances who would be willing to help. These supportnetworks can be mobilised to great effect to improve engagement with learning. Texting a FE learners’ friends and family prompts to encourage the learner improved attendanceby 5 percent (3.2 percentage points, from 63.5 to 66.7 percent) and achievement by 27 percent(5.9 percentage points, from 22.2 to 28.1 percent). In a separate trial with parent learners at Children’s Centres, financial incentives requiring theattendance of a learner and a nominated classmate improved attendance by 73 percent (31.7percentage points, from 43.6 to 75.3 percent).Principle 3: Create a sense of belonging in the classroomLearners in numeracy and literacy courses may feel uncomfortable in the learning environment dueto previous experiences in education. We found that a short, but well-designed reflective writingexercise can help learners to overcome these anxieties and improve learning outcomes. An exercise where FE learners reflected on and wrote about their personal values improvedachievement by 25 percent (4.2 percentage points, from 16.7 to 20.9 percent). Separately, Army learners prompted to reflect on the relevance of their learning to their broadergoals did better on their exams, though further testing with additional learners is required.Principle 4: Develop skills beyond English and mathsResearch shows that non-cognitive skills such as self-discipline and creativity can be as important ascognitive ability for lifetime success, though our interventions delivered mixed results. A set of exercises targeting FE learners’ ‘Grit’ (i.e. their ability to persevere towards long rungoals) improved attendance for the first half of the year, but this effect was not sustained.How to implement these insights in practiceImproving learner retention and success through behavioural science requires an ongoing approachthroughout the learning process. Before learners arrive: organisations should consider contacting learners as soon as they haveregistered, and keep in contact until they arrive. Informal contact from (a) a course tutor, or (b) a5 Behavioural Insights Ltd
past learner may be more likely to be effective than for example, formal contact from a senioradministrator. In the first week: setting the right tone for the class by prompting learners to think about theirvalues and how the course can help them achieve their goals. Foster social commitmentsbetween classmates, and help learners access their own social support networks. During term time: maintain regular, encouraging contact with learners (for example, via textmessage), and continue to help learners’ social networks to support them. Before and during breaks: remain in contact so learners don’t lose their connection with thecollege while they are away from it. Before exams: simple, supportive prompts focused on (a) reducing feelings of threat, and (b) onhelping learners plan for their exams (e.g. how to get there, what to bring, how to study) can helplearners enter the exam room in a positive frame of mind.6 Behavioural Insights Ltd
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Summary of the ASK Retention and Success RCTsTable 1: Summary of the ASK Retention and Success RCTsTrialDescriptionResultTrial 1: TextMessages toImproveAttendanceand SuccessTrialThis trial used weekly text messagesto both help students plan forupcoming events such as returning tocollege after a break, or their exams,and to provide them withencouragement in the interveningweeks. A 22 percent increase in attendance (7.4percentage points, from 34.0 to 41.4 percent)amongst those who received the text messageswhen compared with the control group.Trial 2: StudySupporterand ProjectSUCCESS(follow-up)We asked learners to nominatepeople they would like to supportthem in their studies. These ‘studysupporters’ were then texted weeklyprompts to encourage the learnerwho nominated them. The textscontained planning tips, upcomingdeadlines, course content, academicresources and exam dates. The programme of texts to study supportersresulted in increased attendance of 5 percent(3.2 percentage points, from 63.5 to 66.7percent) for those whose Study Supporterswere texted, compared to those who opted inbut were assigned to the control. Learners who received the text messages were16 percent more likely to pass all their exams(8.7 percentage points, from 54.5 to 63.2percent). We also found an increase of 27 percent inachievement (5.9 percentage points, from 22.2to 28.1 percent) in the study supporter groupcompared to the control. The follow-up study, Project College SUCCESS,found that a programme of texts to both studysupporters and students improved attainmentrates by 24 percent (6.1 percentage points,from 21.1 to 26.2 percent) in GCSE results,compared to the control.8 Behavioural Insights Ltd
TrialDescriptionResultTrial 3:Children’sCentreBuddyIncentivesTrialWe worked with Children’s Centresclasses in maths, English, or relatedshort courses. In one group, theparents received a small gift carddepending only on their ownattendance; in the other, the gift carddepended on both their attendance,and that of their class ‘buddy’. Therewas also a group where parents werepaired with buddies, but without areward. We found that both the individual and buddyincentives significantly improved attendance inclasses. The higher-performing buddy incentiveled to increased attendance of 73 percent(31.7 percentage points, from 43.6 to 75.3percent), compared to the control.Trial 4:Purpose forLearningWe tested a motivation intervention,which used a combination of socialnorming and self-persuasion, andtested it with the British Army toencourage soldiers to identify selfrelevant reasons they should engagewith the course. We found indicative evidence that the soldierswho completed the ‘Purpose for Learning’exercise were more likely to pass their exam;however, owing to the small sample size in thistrial, this result requires further testing.Trial 5:ValuesAffirmationWe used a ‘values affirmation’exercise prompting learners toreflect on their personal values - theaspects of their lives that make themfeel happy or give meaning to theirsituation, which can serve as a meansof reducing the extent to which theyfeel that their self-identity is underthreat. We did not find a statistically significant impactof the intervention on attendance.Trial 6: GritWe tested a grit intervention, to In the snapshot analysis at 10 weeks, weobserved an increase in attendance amongthose who had undertaken the modules, but inthe full year this effect is no longer statisticallysignificant.address learners’ misbeliefs abouttheir capabilities, and to equip themwith the tools they need topersevere. The grit intervention isunderpinned by two theories – However, we found that the interventionimproved achievement by 25 percent (4.2percentage points, from 16.7 to 20.9 percent). We did not find a statistically significant effecton achievement in courses.‘Deliberate Practice’ and‘Expectancy Value theory’.9 Behavioural Insights Ltd
AcknowledgementsThe Behavioural Research Centre for Adult Skills and Knowledge (ASK) has been fortunate to workwith many collaborators. We acknowledge their contributions in the relevant sections of thisdocument, but wish to also acknowledge the insight, support and guidance they provided to theoverall work programme. We would like to thank our collaborators for their invaluable intellectual contributions, tirelessenthusiasm, guidance and patience. This work would not have been possible without them. Inparticular we are grateful to Professor Geoffrey Cohen and Michael Schwalbe, StanfordUniversity, Professor Angela Duckworth and Dr Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, University ofPennsylvania, Professor Michael Luca, Harvard Business School, Professor Todd Rogers, HarvardKennedy School, Professor Silvia Saccardo, Carnegie Mellon University, Dr Johannes Eichstaedtand Professor Andrew Schwartz as well as the ‘World Wellbeing Project’ team, University ofPennsylvania, Professor Heather Kappes and Professor Barbara Fasolo and Dr Jeroen Nieboer,London School of Economics and Political Science, Professor Sarah Smith, University of Bristol,Professor Syon Bhanot, Swarthmore College and David Mallows, Institute of Education, UniversityCollege London. Thanks are also due to our colleagues (past and present) at the Department for Education (DfE)including Catherine Paulson-Ellis, Eoin Parker, Helen McDaniel, Frank Bowley, Carl Creswell, JoAnna Irving, Richard Ward, Yeolanda Lopes, Gillian McFarland, Laura Reed and Alex Barker. We would like to express our appreciation to the collaborating organisations who played such avital role in making these projects happen, including the British Army, the Association ofColleges, not to mention the dedicated staff at the colleges, businesses and Children’s Centreswho went the extra mile to help us deliver this research. Thanks also to all those thatparticipated in the research. Lastly, at the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) we would like to thank Elspeth Kirkman, Dr DavidHalpern, Owain Service, James Watson, Miranda Jackman, David Nolan, Alex Tupper, Dr OanaBorcan, Sean Robinson, Professor Netta Barak-Corren, Professor Elizabeth Linos, Dr KarenMelrose, Lucy Makinson, Pieter Cornel, Jessica Hunt, Ed Fitzhugh, Dr Pantelis Solomon, ChrisLarkin, Jessica Heal, Sophie Odenthal, Samuel Hanes and everyone else who has contributedover the last three years.10 Behavioural Insights Ltd
Part One: About the research1.1. The Behavioural Research Centre for Adult Skills & KnowledgeIn 2014, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), funded the Behavioural InsightsTeam (BIT) to create the Behavioural Research Centre for Adult Skills & Knowledge (ASK), with theaim of using behavioural insights and rigorous evaluation to test different ways of supporting learnersin their pursuit of English and maths skills in England. 'Behavioural insights' is the application offindings from behavioural science about how we systematically deviate from the rational economicmodel. Many of us will know this from our day to day experiences - we can often behave in ways thatdo not serve our best interest. In the context of education and skills, behavioural insights can help usunderstand why learners don't study for important exams or even attend class, and can also help usdesign interventions to improve these behaviours.This report presents cross-cutting insights from all strands of work that shed light on ways to helpthose already engaged in learning (primarily in FE, but also in other settings) stay engaged andultimately succeed. ASK research spanned 23 projects across different learning settings, andinvolved tens of thousands of learners all over England.The Department for Education (DfE) has separately published a full Research Report of ASK’s work,Improving engagement and attainment in maths and English courses: insights from behaviouralresearch.1 That report outlines the findings from all strands of ASK’s research, including thetechnical details of the research mentioned in this report. Another DfE released report looking atthe area, Effective practice in the delivery and teaching of English and Mathematics to 16-18 yearolds2 was released in November 2017.Initially, ASK was specifically interested in how to support adult learners (defined as aged 19 andabove). However, the ASK remit was expanded to include 16-18 year olds pursuing thesequalifications in light of policy changes to help increase maths and English levels.Available at: coursesDepartment for Education (2017), Effective practice in the delivery and teaching of English and Mathematics to 16-18 year olds. Retrievedfrom: ds/attachment
use behavioural science and rigorous evaluation to test different ways of supporting learners aged 16 years or older in their pursuit of maths and English skills. On the basis of our findings and the broader academic literature, we have identified four principles
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