The research team could not reach conclusive evidence on whether teaching assistants improved children's educational attainment, because in some classes the assistants were used effectively and in others they were not. There were also particular problems when support was not well planned and did not link clearly to teachers' aims and lesson plans.
The three-year study, 'Pupil Adult Ratio Differences and Educational Progress over Reception and Key Stage 1', followed a large group of pupils who entered reception classes in 1996.
An observer in one reception class reported that the two assistants'
interactions with children showed 'a central uncertainty at the heart of their role'. They tended to give children answers or tell them what to do rather than encouraging them to think, and saw their role primarily as preparing resources, tidying up and managing the children so the teacher could concentrate on teaching.
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