Information about Multiply Trials
for Teachers and Tutors

The Government has invested in the delivery of a suite of Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs ) and Quasi-Experimental Trials (QEDs) as part of the Multiply adult numeracy programme, which aims to improve adult numeracy skills . The RCTs and QEDs will test promising approaches to improving adult numeracy and supporting more effective delivery of adult numeracy provision.  

A range of product developers are designing interventions which look like they could make a real difference. These currently include National Numeracy, Campaign for Learning, Mathematics in Education and Industry, and the Education and Training Foundation.

Confidence with numbers helps people in all aspects of their daily lives and we want to learn which interventions work best to support adults who want to feel more comfortable with numbers. These trials will generate new, high-quality evidence about what works.

Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) represent a robust approach to testing whether a policy or programme works. They involve allocating learners, classes or organisations at random to either a new initiative in teaching or to a control group.  If you are allocated to a control group, you will not be asked to deliver the intervention but would be expected to follow your business-as-usual practices and of course will still play crucial role in the trial. Outcomes for learners, such as course completion or exam results, are then compared to see if a significant difference has been made. The random allocation to treatment or control groups means that other factors that could influence learner outcomes are controlled for so researchers can be confident that changes in learner outcomes are due to the intervention being tested.

Quasi-Experimental Trials (QEDs) are similar to RCTs in that they involve comparing the outcomes of learners who have received the intervention being tested with those who have not. However, the key difference is that allocation to treatment or control groups is not random. Rather, the control group is identified from the wider population of providers or learners who have not received the intervention but who have similar characteristics to those who have. Known differences between treatment and control groups are then accounted for in the analysis. If you are recruited to take part in a QED trial, you will not be randomly allocated to treatment or control groups – you will be assigned to the treatment group and expected to deliver the intervention being tested.

The findings from the trials will be used to inform decision-making about where investment in adult numeracy is best made to really make a difference for adults and communities. Participation also offers an opportunity for you to play a key role in shaping future government policy.

Firstly, you’ll be making a real difference to adult learners who want to improve their confidence with numbers. You’ll be supporting your local community by ensuring that they are represented within the research and adding to the knowledge of what works.

For those already involved in Multiply core delivery this provides an opportunity for you to grow and enhance your provision to reach more adult learners.

If you’re part of the treatment group, you’ll be equipped with a promising approach to enhancing learning. And if you’re part of the control group, you’ll receive early notice of what has worked well.

Similarly, you can be sure that any fully funded training associated with the trial offers first class CPD

Your organisation will benefit from additional administrative funding to enable you to partake in the trials.

There is no obligation for you to take part, but we really hope that you will as we know this is going to be ground-breaking research which will make a difference looking forward.

This is a rare opportunity to participate in a large-scale research project which will make a difference to the future provision of adult numeracy learning, as well as inform future investment in adult skills more generally.

We don’t want to create lots of additional work or bureaucracy for you and will make taking part in any trial as easy as possible.

In general terms, you will be randomly allocated to either a treatment group or a control group.

  • If you’re allocated to the treatment group, the full details of the specific trial will be shared with you in good time with all expectations clearly laid out. These are likely to include:
    • Training in the initiative. This will be fully funded first-class CPD and dates will be shared with you well in advance.
    • Delivering the intervention as specified.
    • Collecting attendance data and any other specific information detailed to inform the evaluation of the trial.
    • Participating in research activities to inform an implementation and process evaluation, such as surveys and interviews, so we can understand how you felt about delivering the product/intervention, if you thought it was useful and any learning you can share to inform future roll out.

If you are allocated to the control group, you will not receive the intervention but would be expected to follow business as usual, collect attendance data and any other specific information required to inform the evaluation of the trial. This will all be clearly specified at the outset of the trial and in the accompanying documentation.

Only promising initiatives will be tested through the Randomised Controlled Trials and Quasi-Experimental Trials and so we are hopeful that your learners will benefit from taking part. If they’re in the control group, they will not be affected by participating in the trial and will proceed with their learning as normal, where applicable.

Learners recruited to treatment or control groups will be provided with full information on the trial, the purpose of the research and how their data will be collected, stored, and used. Learners will be made aware that unless they explicitly opt-out of being part of the trial, their data will be used for research in a way that will preserve their confidentiality and anonymity. Their data will be used to track outcomes through secondary datasets (such as attainment). They will also be invited to take part in pre and post intervention surveys and may be invited to take part on other research activities, such as interviews. Their data will not be used for any other purpose than to evaluate the interventions being tested.

Learners will also be made aware that they can withdraw their consent at any time during research and data collection and how to do that. Learners in the treatment group who opt-out of being part of the trial will still be given access to the intervention being tested. All information for learners will be provided in the clearest possible way so that they understand what they are signing up to.

How do we express interest in taking part?

Please express your interest in the form below and tell us a bit about your organisation so that we can keep you informed. We will also send you a document further outlining the benefits of taking part and further information about the Education Research Trials.

We’ll contact you immediately when the specification has been finalised for a trial that you are eligible to participate in, which will give you all the information you need. You will be able to take part in more than one trial. Meanwhile, if you have any questions then please let us know.

Express Your Interest:

 

How we use and protect your data

The purpose of the programme of trials is to evaluate interventions at a large scale and data collected for each trial will not be used for any other purpose. The trials will compare outcomes for learners in treatment and control groups, but there will be no comparisons made between individual organisations or teachers.

At an organisational level, we will ask for your contact details so that we can contact you when needed to arrange training, send you a survey or invite you to take part in an interview. 

During the trial period, we will also ask organisations to send the evaluation team the contact details of any learners who opt out of taking part in the trials, so they can make sure they are removed from the analysis.  For those learners who are taking part in the trials, we will ask for their contact details so we can send them a survey or invite them to take part in an interview about their learning experience. 

Finally, we will ask organisations to collect data on learner attendance and compliance with any homework tasks, so we can take into account the ‘dosage level’ (i.e. the amount of intervention received) in the analysis and see if this makes any difference to the results. All of these asks will be covered through appropriate data sharing documentation.  The full details of this will be included in the specification of an individual trial.

To find out further information about how government will use your data, please access this link.