Grassroots

What does this project involve?

Grassroots is an anti-conflict programme that aims to reduce bullying and conflict in schools by empowering pupils in years 7-9 to positively impact their fellow pupils’ behaviours. The best connected children (who spend time with the most children) are identified using a survey. These children are then invited to fortnightly sessions, facilitated by a Research Assistant, that focus on creating inclusive school environments and spreading anti-conflict messages.

Why did YEF fund this project?

This project is part of a joint funding round with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). The YEF and the EEF are partnering to find, fund, and evaluate programmes and practices in England and Wales that could keep children safe from involvement in violence and/or improve academic attainment, by increasing school presence.

This project relates closely to two outcomes of particular interest to YEF: bullying and attendance. As explained by the YEF Toolkit, children who perpetrate bullying are more likely to later become involved in crime and violence. We also know that there is strong evidence that anti-bullying programmes can reduce bullying in schools. Previous programmes that have shown a positive impact on pupil outcomes, such as the Inclusive Learning Together Trial, also included extensive pupil consultation and engagement. However, we require more examples of evidence-based, cost-effective, anti-bullying programmes that can be delivered in English and Welsh schools. The Grassroots programme, inspired by a US intervention (Roots) that showed an improvement in children’s behaviour in a large scale randomised controlled trial, could support us in filling this gap.

Grassroots may also have an impact on attendance. As explained in YEF’s Education, Children, and Violence, being absent from school makes it more likely that a child will become involved in serious violence. Establishing the causes of persistent and severe absence is challenging; however, we know that some children miss school due to the fear of violence, and the fear of bullying and conflict may also play a role. Addressing this fear could get children back into school, and better protect them from involvement in violence.

YEF and EEF co-funded, therefore, a development phase and pilot evaluation of Grassroots in three English secondary schools. In the development phase, using consultation with young people, the US Roots team and the evaluators, the Behavioural Insights Team adapted the successful Roots anti-conflict intervention from the US for use in UK schools, renaming it Grassroots. The pilot phase then aimed to assess the feasibility of the intervention for use in England and Wales and the feasibility of the evaluation. It also aimed to explore how ready Grassroots is for an efficacy randomised controlled trial study, establish the race equity or diversity challenges that might be faced in delivering the project, and ascertain how to address these challenges. Participants included 1656 pupils, 92 of whom took part as members of the session groups. 19% of children were from Asian or Asian British backgrounds, 6.5% from Black, Black British, Caribbean or African backgrounds, 5% were from mixed or multiple ethnic groups, 67% from White backgrounds, and 2% from other ethnic groups. 38% of children were eligible for free school meals.

The evaluators conducted observations of Grassroots activities, interviews with one teacher from each school, a focus group with 4-6 children from each school, and an interview with a school leader from a Welsh school. All year 7-9 children across two of the pilot schools (approximately 600 children) also received a survey, while the evaluator analysed administrative delivery data and disciplinary data across all three pilot schools. A Teacher Tapp survey of 6,002 teachers in England was conducted to establish what business as usual practice looks like. The development and piloting phase were conducted from January 2023 to July 2023.

YEF and EEF have independently followed their internal review process for the projects they manage in this joint funding partnership.

Key conclusions

What will YEF do next?

The evaluator judges that intervention is ready to be evaluated in an efficacy trial. Grassroots is well-defined and specified, being adapted from a complete programme previously trialled in the US. Scalability is dependent on the developers being able to recruit regional facilitators, but there is no reason established through the pilot evaluation that this is unlikely. YEF and EEF are, therefore, funding an efficacy randomised controlled trial, which began in September 2023.

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