Tracking attainment without a counterfactual - lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic - A meta-method review - Review report - January 2026

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Kyle

Review report (January 2026) examining how attainment can be tracked without relying on counterfactuals, drawing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. Prepared by the National Foundation for Educational Research team for the Education Endowment Foundation, it summarizes and synthesizes evidence on teaching and learning, outlines the review scope, and reports results. The report extends ROBINS-E risk-of-bias approaches, addresses statistical review and risk of misinterpretation, and sets out implications, recommendations, and a methodology appendix.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages48

Reading Time2 h 1 min

AccessFree to download

About the evaluator

Acknowledgements

Executive summary

Background and review rationale

Research scope

Results of the review

Implications

Conclusion

References

Appendix A: Methodology

Appendix B: Recommendations

Tracking attainment without a counterfactual – lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic: A meta-method review Review report January 2026 Stephen R. T. Cromie, Gemma Schwendel, and Pippa Lord The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and education achievement. We support schools, colleges, and early years settings to improve teaching and learning for 2–19-year-olds through better use of evidence. We do this by: • Summarising evidence. Reviewing the best available evidence on teaching and learning and presenting in an accessible way. • Finding new evidence. Funding independent evaluations of programmes and approaches that aim to raise the attainment of children and young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Putting evidence to use. • Putting evidence to use. Supporting education practitioners, as well as policymakers and other organisations, to use evidence in ways that improve teaching and learning. We were set-up in 2011 by the Sutton Trust partnership with Impetus with a founding £125m grant from the Department for Education. In 2022, we were re-endowed with an additional £137m from government, allowing us to continue our work until at least 2032. For more information about the EEF or this report please contact: The Education Endowment Foundation 5th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21–24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP 0207 802 1653 [info@eefoundation.org.uk](info@eefoundation.org.uk) [www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk](www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk) Table of contents About the evaluator ...................................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................4 Executive summary...................................................................................................................................5 Background and review rationale ...............................................................................................................9 Research scope ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Results of the review ............................................................................................................................... 15 Implications ...........................................................................................................................................30 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................33 References .............................................................................................................................................34 Appendix A: Methodology ........................................................................................................................38 Appendix B: Recommendations ...............................................................................................................43 About the evaluator This review was conducted by a team from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER): Stephen Cromie; Gemma Schwendel; and Pippa Lord. • Stephen Cromie joined the NFER in 2023 as a research director with specialism in psychometrics. Within this project Stephen Cromie was the principal investigator, he was responsible for the design of the review, extension of the ROBINS-E (Risk Of Bias In Nonrandomised Studies– of Exposures)tool to ‘Risk of bias in result estimates from the educational measurement context’; and ‘Risk of bias in result of standard errors from the educational measurement context’, the reflections and recommendations made in this report

FAQs

Who conducted the review and what roles did they have?

The review was conducted by a team from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER): Stephen Cromie, Gemma Schwendel, and Pippa Lord. Their responsibilities included designing the review, extending the ROBINS-E tool, performing statistical and analytical work, and supporting the review process and reporting.

How does the report handle risk of bias in the included studies?

It uses an extended ROBINS-E framework to review papers, including developing a domain on the “Risk of misinterpretation.” The methodology covers risk of bias in result estimates and standard errors in the educational measurement context.

What does the report recommend or conclude for practice and policymakers?

The report presents implications and a conclusion based on the review’s results and evidence synthesis. It also provides recommendations in a dedicated appendix to support education practitioners, policymakers, and other organizations in using evidence to improve teaching and learning.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Kyle