Operationalising evaluation of attainment raising interventions within widening participation: a case study evaluating a literacy intervention

This study investigates a reading support programme, offering key insights into the challenges of evaluating attainment-raising programmes within widening participation contexts in England. The research identifies three primary challenges: resource and infrastructure limitations, stakeholder engagement complexities, and data reliability, which present challenges to implementation and evaluation of such interventions. The findings highlight the limitations of rigid, standardised evaluation frameworks, arguing that these approaches often fail to capture the full impact of interventions targeting disadvantaged student populations. Instead, this study advocates for a phronetic approach that emphasises practitioner-based, context-sensitive knowledge. By integrating experiential insights from practitioners, the research presents an adaptive evaluation strategy that better reflects the realities of educational environments.