Improving Fidelity to Treatment During Randomised Controlled Trials in Schools by Engaging Teachers in the Design Process during a Developmental Study

There is strong evidence that peer tutoring has a positive impact on both tutor and tutee outcomes and is a low cost intervention (Higgins et al., 2013) which can be effective at scale across a wide geographic area (Tymms et al., 2011). Despite the proven potential of this intervention there remains variability in teacher implementation (Topping, Miller, Thurston, McGavock, & Conlin, 2011) and it is often difficult to change student instruction during school reform without systematic subscription to the proposed reform (Ravitz, 2010). To enhance fidelity to treatment, Cockerill and Thurston have created a model that includes teacher engagement in the intervention design process, using a development study phase in the identified geographic area where the pragmatic randomised controlled trial will follow as an integral part of a study. The model was developed in a development study involving 295, 11 to 13-year-old students, taught by 12 teachers across three secondary schools in the United Kingdom. Using this model they explore the potential of teacher involvement in research design to promote more effective interventions. This model aims to build capacity for improved practice in the school setting, in a sustainable way that enables reform.