3-Read Friday #109

I Do, We Do, You Do, mixed-attainment, and Atomisation

Here are three blog posts I found interesting this week:

1. I Do, We Do, You Do - Or Do We? by Mark Enser

Regular readers will know I love nothing more than a bit of I Do, We Do, You Do. Here, Mark Enser argues that gradual release only works when teachers genuinely release — making expert thinking visible at each stage and accepting that productive struggle, not extended scaffolding, is the point at which learning actually begins.

2. Attainment Setting and the Wrong Argument by Becky Allen

I am going to do a deep dive into this week’s EEF report into mixed attainment setting in mathematics in Monday’s Research Bites newsletter. But in the meantime, the fantastic Becky Allen argues that the evidence now closes the setting debate in maths — setting helps high attainers and harms no group — but also exposes the deeper, neglected problem that low-attaining pupils have heterogeneous needs that no grouping policy, only specialised diagnosis and intervention, can address.

3. What Order Should You Communicate Atoms? by Kris Boulton

I absolutely love Kris’ Unstoppable Learning newsletter, and this one is absolute gold. Kris shows, through loads of concrete examples, that Atomisation lets teachers identify and focus instruction on only the genuinely new atoms in a cognitive routine — wherever they sit in the chain — building deep conceptual mastery before students ever attempt the full process end to end.

Have a great weekend!

Craig

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… checked out my brand-new book series: The Tips for Teachers guides to…

And checked out my all-new, ad-free, Mr Barton Maths website, including my new Topics page.