Spare Glasses and Complicated Interventions [2/3]
1. There are multiple inputs, requiring significant planning and training over a period of time;
2. however, the mechanism for change is clear and implicit in the process and,
3. the desired output is clear and measurable.
In brief, there is a causal path through a Complicated process. The whole process is exactly the sum of its parts. However, the process is not easily replicable due to the multiple and varied inputs: not all teachers and schools will implement the research in the same way every time. Nevertheless, we should be mindful that teachers aren't researchers: there may still be merit in implementing the intervention, even if the process is not exactly uniform.
In a complicated intervention, if one part of the process fails, there exists a mechanism to fix the problem, as a kind of clock-maker, as the whole process is the sum of its parts. What often makes an intervention Complicated, rather than Simple, is the more involved need for tracking, monitoring, feedback, communication and training.
What does a complicated intervention look like?
A recent EEF Trial - Glasses for Classes - focused on the effect of regularly wearing glasses on reading progress among students with poor eyesight who were not wearing glasses regularly. Here, the input was clear but involved training, regular monitoring and careful implementation. Hence we could think of it as a Complicated intervention. In this project, initial eye tests led to the purchase of a spare pair of glasses for each child to keep in school, which was all under-pinned by regular checking and monitoring by a funded and trained "vision co-ordinator".
The mechanism for change was clear: if these children wore glasses regularly when reading, they would read more efficiently and for longer periods. Think of the mechanism for change more generally as a kind of 'active ingredient' - it can almost always be reduced to students doing things quicker, for longer, or more accurately / efficiently. Here the wearing of glasses meant reading sessions could run for longer and de-coding could be more accurate and efficient, thus activating a positive upward spiral in reading performance.
Furthermore, the desired outcome was measurable and clear:
"... a two-arm randomised control trial to examine the impact of a one-year intervention of Glasses for Classes on the primary outcome of literacy and secondary outcomes of maths and an eyesight test. The process evaluation will also ask whether the intervention improved attendance at opticians and adherence to glasses wearing." EEF
[This is a simplification of a hugely impressive trial, but it is the over-arching structure that is of interest. You can read more here.]
For a complicated process, we can create a flow diagram, showing a causal route through the intervention. At regular points we can pause, look back through the diagram and interrogate if each stage is working properly. If not, it can fixed with ease as the process is so well understood in its formulation and delivery. Such processes lend themselves well to randomised trials and quantifiable evaluation. Although one level up from Simple, due to the multiple inputs and stages, there is still a straightforward blueprint for teachers in the implementation. We can imagine lifting this and dropping into a different setting with similar results.
It is when an intervention becomes Complex, that we need a paradigm shift in our planning, implementation and evaluation. This will be covered in the next post.
Thank you for reading this far, and I'd love to connect with others grappling with Complexity Theory, Theory of Change and Impact in Educational Activities. Connect with me here
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