The study featured in this TLA research summary set out to identify and describe the characteristics of effective teachers of numeracy. It took place before and during the introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy.The researchers were asked to feed back their findings into the development work for the strategy. They explored teachers' beliefs, knowledge and understanding as well as their teaching practice.

This research summary features a study which looked at the evidence for effective strategies in humanities, and most importantly why they worked:Aitken, G. and Sinnema, C. (2008) Effective pedagogy in social sciences: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration (BES) , New Zealand Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand The researchers looked for evidence of teaching and learning approaches that made a difference to student  learning.

Not all researchers agree about the level and extent of the 'problem' of boys' underachievement or even (see Gorard, 2001) whether the 'problem' exists at all; nevertheless teachers have expressed considerable concern about this issue. The research featured in this summary shows how some schools are tackling perceived differences in achievement between boys and girls by drawing on the experiences of teachers in 19 case study schools. The researchers explore three approaches in a way in which we hope teachers will find interesting and potentially useful for their own practice.

For this TLA research summary we selected, appraised and summarised a research and development study which has given teachers real insights into raising standards through teaching thinking skills. The study summarised here is widely known as 'CASE' (Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education).The questions have been devised to bring out those aspects of the study we think are most useful to teachers. We have also included examples from other studies to illustrate the key characteristics of this work.

Continuing the theme of an earlier TLA research summary on parental involvement in children's learning, in this summary we look at a project* which explored exactly how children might benefit if teachers learned more about children's lives outside school and parents learned more about life in school.The 'Home-school knowledge exchange' (HSKE) project set out to answer a number of important questions thrown up by previous research: how can schools communicate better with parents? what kinds of knowledge exist in children's lives outside of school which could be used to help their learning? wha

There is a great deal of research about what makes a difference in the classroom, but of greatest importance to teachers is knowing which teaching and learning experiences make the most difference. One study set out to find out just that:Hattie, J. (2009) Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses related to achievement, Routledge, LondonHattie looked at more than 800 meta-analyses about influences on learning. Each meta-analysis had reviewed studies that gave evidence about the impact on student achievement of a particular intervention.

Selection and ability grouping are issues that can cause heated debate amongst teachers, leaders and parents, as they can hold very different opinions about which of the alternative approaches to grouping they prefer.Those who favour streaming and setting make claims for its effectiveness in terms of pupil or student achievement; those against point to the 'unfairness' of the system and its potentially negative effects on pupils' and students' self esteem.

For this TLA research summary we looked at two reports from a study that investigated what happened when the literacy hour was implemented in small rural schools with mixed age classes. Teachers in single age classes will also find that there is much to interest them.

Interactive whole class teaching has been identified by the British Government's National Strategies as a key way to help to raise standards in literacy and numeracy. At the same time, interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have been made widely available and are generally viewed as teaching tools which can promote interactive whole class teaching. They are often seen as a means of increasing pupil motivation to learn and of improving interactivity in teaching.