On this episode of Mind The Gap, Tom Sherrington and Emma Turner are joined by Professor Rob Coe. The three of them talk through the history of Rob's work as a teacher and then a researcher. Rob's work on the EEF Toolkit and the Sutton Trust report highlighted existing evidence about cost-effective interventions, and the publications shattered a lot of educators' previously held beliefs. Rob says that subsequent arguments with teachers led to discussions about pedagogy, and he maintains that educators need to be focussed on actual learning, not proxies for learning. At the end of the episode, Tom, Emma, and Rob talk about the latest educational craze - instructional coaching - and what the research actually says about it, as well as where research about coaching is headed.

Professor Rob Coe is Director of Research and Development at Evidence-Based Education and a Senior Associate at the Education Endowment Foundation. He was previously Professor of Education and Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring at Durham University, where he worked for 20 years doing research, evaluation, teaching and policy engagement. Rob was a co-author of the EEF’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit, the Sutton Trust report ‘What makes great teaching?’ and the ‘Developing Great Teaching’ report for the Teacher Development Trust. Follow him on Twitter at @ProfCoe

Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specialising in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. He regularly contributes to conferences and CPD sessions locally and nationally and is busy working in schools and colleges across the UK and around the world. Follow Tom on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠@teacherhead⁠⁠⁠⁠

Emma Turner joined Discovery Schools Academy Trust as the Research and CPD lead after 20 years in primary teaching. She founded ‘NewEd – Joyful CPD for early-career teachers,’ a not-for-profit approach to CPD to encourage positivity amongst the profession and help retain teachers in post. Follow Emma on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠@emma_turner75⁠⁠⁠⁠.