First steps to independence: Evaluating a behaviourally informed travel training programme

Norfolk County Council have an extensive travel training programme in place across the county, titled Travel Independence Training Across Norfolk (TITAN). This consists of three strands: a primary school programme, a secondary school programme, and one-to-one training.
a. The primary school programme (TITAN Primary) is used as an introduction to the concept of travel training, to both begin working with children with SEND on this topic and also to make their parents aware that travel independence is something NCC aim to make pupils proficient in if possible. Pupils in year six, ages ten to eleven, study a workbook in their class with some practical activities. This programme is delivered by staff in primary schools, with NCC providing guidance if requested.
b. The secondary school programme (Ready to Go) is also a classroom-based programme, delivered by teachers in the school. The programme can be adapted, if necessary, based on the materials NCC provide to schools through a website.
c. One-to-one training (TITAN+) is an intensive course where students are taught how to use public transport to get to a place relevant to them. For example, how to get to school, college, or a workplace from their home. Referrals for pupils to TITAN+ occur through four channels which are explained in a flowchart on the following page.

This project concerns enhancements to stage (b): Ready to Go!

2024-04-01

2025-01-01

Referrals made to TITAN+ by schools, being offered TITAN+ by NCC (onboarded), starting TITAN+.

Child progress through RTG, child confidence and anxiety around independent travelling, , self-report measures of level of travel independence, behaviour, attendance, academic attainment (in school subjects beyond RTG); parent confidence and anxiety around their child independently travelling.

Child progress through RTG: data held by schools, progress as per records of teacher assessment.
Child confidence and anxiety around independent travelling: self-report measures via survey.
Self-report measures of level of travel independence: self-report measures via survey.
Behaviour, attendance, academic attainment (in school subjects beyond RTG): data held by schools, behaviour records as severe incidents reported to NCC, attainment as per records of teacher assessment.
Parent confidence and anxiety around their child independently travelling: self-report measures via survey.

We are collecting evidence of the effectiveness of the RTG programme through data reported by schools to NCC, three online surveys, NCC’s own data, and publicly available information. Schools report statistics such as attendance and attainment to NCC at several points through the year. Also, as a condition of accessing the RTG resources, NCC ask that teachers assess the pupils against the RTG framework across the academic year. We will have access to this data through NCC, our collaborative partner. The three online surveys were developed by the research team and were designed to gather data from teachers, pupils enrolled in RTG, and the parents of these pupils. This data relates to perceptions of the programme and, in the case of the pupil and parent surveys, self-report measures of travel independence.

Not available

To randomise the schools, each was allocated a random number using Excel. Schools were then placed into ascending order based on their number, and the first 10 schools were allocated to the treatment group whilst the bottom 7 were designated as controls.

Randomisation happened at school level. Following the above, covariate analysis through difference in means tests using Stata was carried out to ensure the intervention and control groups were balanced. We stratified the randomisation by certain school characteristics to make sure the groups were fully comparable. We were particularly concerned with ensuring that school size (a proxy for funding and resource availability), Ofsted rating (a UK government agency rating, identifying schools as either ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, or ‘Requiring Improvement’), urban status (a proxy for public transport availability and journey length), and the number of pupils with SEND per school (greater numbers of SEND can imply a more specialised school, and may be a proxy for how much effort the school put into RTG) were proportionate.

Yes

17 schools in wave 1.
Wave 2 to be confirmed.

Estimated 100 pupils.

10 schools were allocated to the treatment group whilst 7 were designated as controls in wave 1.
Wave 2 to be confirmed.