The Evidence on Teaching

Explore the evidence

8 of 88 decisions · clear everything

Survives the gold standard Independent, durable, rigorous The debunked shelf Cheap wins For parents at home Famous numbers, deflated Where we admit ignorance The terrain

evidenceall drop D A–B A only

evaluatorany no dev-led independent

durabilityany follow-up ≥1yr ≥2yr

what are these? →

Your situation · from the applicability layer — absence means “not yet assessed,” never “doesn’t apply”

who's delivering

group / setting

cost

outcome class

Testing yourself beats rereading — robust in real classrooms; honest durable size ~0.1–0.3 SD, biggest after delay, thinnest on transfer.

strong supportconf: highgc: low

10/1018/48connected:Feedback and formative assessment Mastery learning (teach → test → r Spaced (distributed) practice

Retrieval practice (the testing effect) · practice · ages 8–18 · method

Spacing beats massing at equal total time — the most robust finding in learning science. Space repetitions at ~10–20% of how long you need to remember.

strong supportconf: highgc: low

7/712/48connected:Interleaving (mixing problem types Math-fact fluency and timed practi Retrieval practice (the testing ef

Spaced (distributed) practice · practice · ages 6–18 · method

Grit is conscientiousness renamed and adds 0.4% to grade prediction; self-control genuinely predicts life outcomes but is 60% heritable with zero shared environment, and training moves ratings, not lives.

mixedconf: highgc: medium

20/2036/48connected:Should a school buy a social and e Does teaching a growth mindset rai How should a school run its classr

Are self-control and grit teachable levers on achievement? · character · ages 4–18

Growth-mindset interventions change beliefs almost everywhere and change achievement almost nowhere: the two independent national-scale trials measured standardized tests and found exactly zero.

mixedconf: highgc: low

18/1831/48connected:Fadeout Systematic/explicit phonics vs who Talent and trainability Are self-control and grit teachabl

Does teaching a growth mindset raise achievement? · character · ages 4–18

SEL programmes move the ratings they are evaluated on far more than the attainment they are sold on: the famous +0.27 is now 0.10, and no large independent trial has reproduced it on an externally marked test.

mixedconf: highgc: low

19/1948/48connected:Are self-control and grit teachabl How should a school run its classr

Should a school buy a social and emotional learning programme? · character · ages 4–18

Mixing problem types helps where confusion is the enemy — discriminating similar categories, mixed math practice — and is useless or worse for facts and prose.

moderate supportconf: mediumgc: low

7/718/48connected:Spaced (distributed) practice Science content sequencing

Interleaving (mixing problem types vs blocking) · practice · ages 10–18 · method

Life-skills courses reliably teach the content and rarely change the conduct; behaviour moves only where instruction sits close in time to the decision, and driver education is worse than nothing.

mixedconf: mediumgc: low

11/1148/48

Do life-skills courses — money, cooking, driving, health — change what students actually do? · practical · ages 6–18

Classroom order is causally worth a great deal — one disruptive peer costs classmates 3% of adult earnings — yet no branded behaviour programme reliably delivers it and exclusion makes things worse.

mixedconf: mediumgc: low

25/2536/48connected:Talent and trainability Can executive function be trained,Should a school buy a social and e Are self-control and grit teachabl

How should a school run its classrooms and its discipline system? · behavior · ages 4–18 · structure

Not yet assessed for this question · 2

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