When a null result is recorded in research, it doesn’t mean there were no results at all.
Rather, when conducting trials or experiments, researchers first give a hypothesis of what they expect to find. When the outcome does not support that hypothesis, it is called a null result.
Null results can include results in which there is a secure estimate that is close to zero impact, or results whose statistical uncertainty means that, while there may be a positive or negative impact recorded, on average, there is not enough security to confirm this.
What are some examples of practices with null results?
One example is setting and streaming. In its Teaching and Learning Toolkit, the EEF concluded that this practice had an impact of zero months’ progress, on average, with worse outcomes for low-attaining pupils. In addition, the security of the evidence around setting and streaming was rated as very limited, with just 58 studies meeting the inclusion criteria.
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement.
To achieve this, it summarises the best available evidence for teachers; its Teaching and Learning Toolkit, for example, is used by 70 per cent of secondary schools.
The charity also generates new evidence of “what works” to improve teaching and learning, by funding independent evaluations of high-potential projects, and supports teachers and senior leaders to use the evidence to achieve the maximum possible benefit for young people.
