Teaching Assistants

Effective Use Of teaching Assistants

Teaching assistants (TAs), often known as Learning Support Assistants (LSAs), can make a huge difference to the progress of students with additional learning needs. Research evidence shows that effective deployment brings the most gains to the student. These gains could be academic, social, confidence, self-esteem, physical or any other outcomes related to their additional needs.

Unfortunately, with schools being the busy places they are, teachers may not prioritise the time needed for effective collaboration with learning assistants. Building the teacher-TA relationship is key to developing the most successful support.

A recent report by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) highlights seven recommendations in their guidance report (Sharples, J., Blatchford, P. and Webster, R., 2016, Making best use of teaching assistants). I have summarised these below. Click here to read the report in full.

Recommendation 1: TAs should not be used as an informal teaching resource for low attaining pupils

The role of a TA needs to be well-defined. Teachers often 'let the TA handle it' when it comes to students with additional learning needs, and this can lead to the student becoming separated from the teacher, classroom activities, and peers. Students may also develop over-reliance on the TA.

Recommendation 2: Use TAs to supplement what teachers do, not replace them

Collaboration between teachers and TA is mutually beneficial. TAs can up-skill the teacher with the knowledge of the learning needs and what works well for the students, and teachers can suggest and develop pedagogical approaches that both can use to work with the child. The EEF report suggests ways to work together:

  • Make TAs a more visible part of teaching during their whole-class delivery, for example by using them to scribe answers on the whiteboard, or to demonstrate equipment. This can help the teacher maintain eye contact with the class.

  • Using TAs to provide ‘teaching triage’: roving the classroom and identifying pupils who are having difficulty with a particular task, need further help, and flagging this to the teacher.

  • Helping pupils in their readiness for learning – ensuring they are prepared and focused for the lesson.

  • Using TAs to focus on a supplementary whole-class objective. For example, focusing on writing in a secondary science lesson.

Recommendation 3: Use TAs to help pupils develop independent learning skills and manage their own learning

TA strategies that encourage independent learning include:

  1. Pupils to be comfortable taking risks with their learning

  2. Providing the right amount of support at the right time

  3. Pupils retaining responsibility for their learning

  4. Use of open ended questions

  5. Giving the least amount of help first to support pupils’ ownership of the task

TA strategies that inhibit independent learning include:

  1. Prioritising task completion

  2. Not allowing pupils enough thinking and response time

  3. ‘Stereo-teaching’ (repeating verbatim what the teacher says)

  4. High use of closed questions

  5. Over-prompting and spoon-feeding

Recommendation 4: Ensure Teaching Assistants are fully prepared for their role in the classroom

Schools or teachers can use strategies to improve collaboration between TAs and teachers. TAs may start and finish their working hours earlier, and have their planning time timetabled more effectively (e.g during assemblies or having the opportunity to join teachers during their planning time). Teachers can provide details of forthcoming lessons to TAs, which may allow the TA to carry out some pre-teaching with the student.

Recommendation 5: Use TAs to deliver high quality one-to-one and small group support using structured interventions

Small group and 1:1 interventions must be carefully chosen and well-structured. Again, it is essential for the TAs to have high-quality support and training. It is recommended that schools carry out a 'health check' on their existing interventions. The EEF report provides questions to support this process:

  • Are you using evidence-based interventions? If so, are they being used as intended, with the appropriate guidance and training?

  • Is appropriate planning provided for timetabling out-of-class sessions so TAs complement classroom teaching?

  • What does your data show for those pupils involved in intervention work? Is it in line with the expected progress from the research and/or provided by the programme developer?

  • Do your findings suggest that training for TAs (and teachers) needs to be refreshed?

  • How effective are TAs and teachers in reviewing work taking place in intervention sessions and are links being made with general classroom work?

  • Is there designated time for teacher/TA liaison?

Recommendation 6: Adopt evidence-based interventions to support TAs in their small group and one-to-one instruction

The EEF report lists these common elements of effective interventions:

  • Sessions are often brief (15-45 minutes), occur regularly (3–5 times per week) and are maintained over a sustained period (8–20 weeks). Careful timetabling is in place to enable consistent delivery

  • TAs receive extensive training from experienced trainers and/or teachers (5–30 hours per intervention)

  • The intervention has structured supporting resources and lesson plans, with clear objectives and possibly a delivery script

  • Ensure there is fidelity to the programme and do not depart from suggested delivery protocols. If it says deliver every other day for 30 minutes to groups of no more than four pupils, do this!

  • Likewise, ensure TAs closely follow the plan and structure of the intervention, and use delivery scripts

  • Assessments are used to identify appropriate pupils, guide areas for focus and track pupil progress. Effective interventions ensure the right support is being provided to the right child

  • Connections are made between the out of-class learning in the intervention and classroom teaching (see Recommendation 7).

Recommendation 7: Ensure explicit connections are made between learning from everyday classroom teaching and structured interventions

Small group and 1:1 interventions typically take place during lesson times. There is, therefore, the danger that students may not be able to connect their experiences with what they missed in the classroom. The EEF report states that "it should be a prerequisite of any TA-led programme that it at least compensates for time spent away from the teacher. Crucially, this does not mean that we should pile the responsibility for pupils making accelerated progress onto TAs."

Ultimately, the classroom teacher is responsible for the progress of children, including those who have classroom withdrawal sessions. As such, teachers need to discuss the planning/outcomes of TA interventions with TAs, and help prevent learning gaps that can develop as a result of classroom absence.