Sam Sims
@drsamsims.bsky.social
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Associate Prof of Education, UCL Research Lead, Ambition Institute Site:
https://samsims.education/
Many students - and indeed adults - underrate themselves when it comes to maths. So what do we know about teaching for confidence in mathematics?
www.ambition.org.uk/blog/five-in...
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Five insights on teaching for confidence in mathematics
What can teachers of maths do to help more pupils feel confident? Research lead Dr Sam Sims and maths expert Emma Lark share five useful things the research says about confidence in mathematics, and s...
https://www.ambition.org.uk/blog/five-insights-on-teaching-for-confidence-in-mathematics/
12 days ago
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Sam Sims
UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities
26 days ago
CEPEO colleague
@drsamsims.bsky.social
has co-authored a new book chapter on effective teacher training. Access it for free here:
livehandbook.org/k-12-educati...
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Teacher Professional Development: Costs, Benefits and Policy
Explore teacher evaluation methods, incentives, and their impact on student outcomes. Learn how performance measures drive teacher behavior and skills.
https://livehandbook.org/k-12-education/workforce-teachers/teacher-development/
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New research with
@clareroutledge.bsky.social
Funded by the Gatsby Foundation We asked 2000 UK/US undergrads to choose between pairs of hypothetical jobs to understand how more of them could be tempted into teaching
about 1 month ago
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New research with
@clareroutledge.bsky.social
Funded by the Gatsby Foundation We asked 2000 UK/US undergrads to choose between pairs of hypothetical jobs to understand how more of them could be tempted into teaching
about 1 month ago
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edworkingpapers.com/sites/defaul...
about 1 month ago
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Do you like the kind of research that we do at
@cepeo-ucl.bsky.social
? š Do you want to learn more about education policy and analysis? š« Then why not come and do our new MSc this September? š§āš Be warned - the module on teachers and teaching will be taught by me!
www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-...
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Social Policy (Quantitative Education Analysis) MSc
The Social Policy (Quantitative Education Analysis) MSc is designed to help students understand and conduct rigorous research addressing challenges relating to education policy and educational inequalities in a wide variety of professional contexts. The relationship between robust research and evidence-based policy is a key course theme.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/taught-degrees/social-policy-quantitative-education-analysis-msc
about 1 month ago
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Sam Sims
UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities
about 2 months ago
We broadly welcome the recommendations of the Curriculum and Assessment Review, in particular citing CEPEOās briefing note on the value of GCSEs (
econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucl:ce...
) and...
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EconPapers: Should we abolish GCSEs?
By Gill Wyness; Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting disruption to schooling led to the Government cancelling GCSE and A level exams in
https://econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucl:cepeob:14
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More large-scale survey evidence that many students are becoming disengaged from education when they enter secondary school. This time from collaborators of mine at
@liftschools.org
www.liftschools.org/ks3-engagement
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KS3 Engagement Report - Lift Schools
Our survey of 21,000 pupils found a stark drop in belonging from Year 6 to Year 9. We explore why student engagement dips in Key Stage 3. Read our full report.
https://www.liftschools.org/ks3-engagement
about 2 months ago
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John Holbein
2 months ago
Elon Musk's involvement in politics really hurt Tesla sales. "Without the Musk partisan effect, Tesla sales between October 2022 and April 2025 would have been 67-83% higher, equivalent to 1-1.26 million more vehicles."
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Sam Sims
BK. Titanji
2 months ago
Finally read the paper and it's worth the buzz. mRNA vaccines saved 20 million lives in a global pandemic and the technology is opening up new avenues for the treatment of deadly cancers. This is really one of the most impactful scientific developments of our time.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint blockade - Nature
mRNA vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 also sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09655-y
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Tarik Abou-Chadi
2 months ago
To be clear: deportations to increase cultural homogeneity is the text book definition of ethnic cleansing. Demands that come even close to this are so far outside any democratic norm and the rule of law. What has happened to a country when this is not condemned in the strongest possible terms?
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Very sensible. Indeed it would be mad if the government didnāt do it the way Daisy proposes.
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3 months ago
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Joel Mokyr won the Nobel prize today Here is what I think he can teach us about improving schools:
samsims.education/2022/06/08/e...
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Evidence, expertise, and the self-improving school system
(9 minute read) Rob Coe used his 2013 inaugural lecture at Durham to survey the evidence on long-run change in the performance of the English school system. He concluded that standards had not imprā¦
https://samsims.education/2022/06/08/evidence-expertise-and-the-self-improving-school-system/
3 months ago
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All teacher training ultimately aims to support transfer of learning to new and varied classroom situations. In this (recently published) paper we provide some of the first experimental evidence on how teacher educators can help achieve this goal:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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Decomposition and recomposition: effects on early-career teachersā enactment and adaptive transfer of behaviour management practices
Breaking down sequences of teaching into constituent practices is thought to make learning to teach more manageable. However, it also divorces teaching practices from context, which risks leaving t...
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02619768.2025.2511867
3 months ago
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Sam Bowman
3 months ago
Works in Progress is now available as a print magazine. I think it's the most beautiful and readable magazine I've ever seen. Subscribe today for $100/Ā£75 to receive six beautiful, 120-page issues a year.
worksinprogress.co/print
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Print - Works in Progress Magazine
https://worksinprogress.co/print
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How can democrats justify continuing to fund an authoritarian takeover of the federal government?
open.spotify.com/episode/5kpn...
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If Democrats Have a Better Plan, Iād Like to Hear It
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5kpnbIGCWlCA1lVULMkZ1E?si=V-93YTtsQwW8WytQXXLrIg
4 months ago
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Sam Sims
Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte
4 months ago
Radical right accommodation really does not work. New paper out with this exceptionally talented team
@katharinalawall.bsky.social
@robjohns75.bsky.social
@drjennings.bsky.social
@sarahobolt.bsky.social
@zachdickson.bsky.social
@danjdevine.bsky.social
&
@jack-bailey.co.uk
doi.org/10.31235/osf...
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Sam Sims
John Gallagher
4 months ago
A huge moment -- Melvyn Bragg steps down from In Our Time after over a quarter of a century. What a programme and what a legacy! Just a model for how to make great, clever, engaging radio, and a twenty-seven-year experiment that proves there's a huge global audience for smart, scholarly programming.
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Melvyn Bragg decides to step down from presenting In Our Time
After 26 years on the programme, the legendary presenter bids farewell to the series
https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/melvyn-bragg-decides-to-step-down-from-presenting-in-our-time/
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Are you interested in teacher coaching, simulation, transfer of training? Join us at 11am (online) for this talk on Thursday. Sign up using the link below:
ucl.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
4 months ago
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Dan Willingham
4 months ago
Across subjects and grades (6th-college) prequestions improve learning--new evidence from real classrooms (open)
psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
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The
@theeef.bsky.social
recommends schools use teaching assistants (TAs) to deliver evidence-based interventions This research, led by my colleague Briony Banks, sets out the options and provides advice for school leaders on how to choose between them
www.ambition.org.uk/teaching-ass...
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A review of evidence-based teaching-assistant-led interventions
Our latest research helps you to improve the impact that teaching assistants have on pupilsā academic outcomes. Download to discover the most effective teaching-assistant-led interventions.
https://www.ambition.org.uk/teaching-assistant-led-interventions/
4 months ago
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Teachers who made more/better use of classroom routines had students with measurably higher (indicators of) attention in their lesson
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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Why do students exhibit different attention-related behavior during instruction? Investigating effects of individual and context-dependent determinants
To determine the success of their instruction, teachers need to rely on observable cues in students' behavior. However, students exhibit different attā¦
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959475222001153
4 months ago
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John Holbein
4 months ago
Climate models since the 1970s nailed itāmost predicted global warming almost exactly as it happened.
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New meta-analysis of expertise reversal effect: lower prior knowledge learn more from higher instructional guidance; higher prior knowledge learn less Differences in effects of guidance for low-high knowledge groups (60 studies) supports theory: Tetzlaff et al
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti..
.
5 months ago
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Sam Sims
Sunder Katwala (sundersays)
5 months ago
I am generally a big fan of the BBC - but this is a truly terrible 'both sides' *push notification* to send out to people in this country about this news event
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Sam Sims
UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities
5 months ago
How should we train new teachers? New research from
@drsamsims.bsky.social
suggests breaking teaching sequences into parts, then recomposing them in new contexts, helps teachers adapt better than learning whole sequences from the start. Read more here: š
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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Decomposition and recomposition: effects on early-career teachersā enactment and adaptive transfer of behaviour management practices
Breaking down sequences of teaching into constituent practices is thought to make learning to teach more manageable. However, it also divorces teaching practices from context, which risks leaving t...
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02619768.2025.2511867
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Hi Bluesky šš» Is there anyone out there who a) knows how to write basic C++ scripts and b) might be interested in joining a research project looking at behaviour/attention in the classroom? Estimated two days of work in total. You would be a coauthor on the paper. Please do get in touch!
5 months ago
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5 months ago
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āFlooding the zoneā is designed to overwhelm the ability of traditional media and citizens to keep track of the intentional slide into authoritarianism. This website uses data to track it all:
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5 months ago
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Sam Sims
Prof Christina Pagel
5 months ago
š§µIntroducing the Trump Action Tracker website! Today Iām launching
www.trumpactiontracker.info
- a live, searchable list of authoritarianāstyle actions from Trumpās second term (over 740 actions so far). 1/14
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Adam Robbins
6 months ago
Last time I will share one of these quotes for Unlocking Teacher Development. I've been blown away by the support and unexpected success of my little self-published book. Here's what a proper smart person who thinks about teacher development as a job thinks: Thanks
@drsamsims.bsky.social
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This paper by Ludewig et al shows that quite a lot of the 2016-2021 PIRLs country score changes can be accounted for by changes in the home learning environment and duration of school closures during the pandemic
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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Reading literacy decline in Europe: Disentangling school closures and out-of-school learning conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic
This study examines the decline in average reading literacy among elementary school students in European countries between 2016 and 2021, as documenteā¦
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095947522500074X
6 months ago
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Sam Sims
Edgar Dubourg
7 months ago
We often have to judge who is knowledgeableāprecisely when we are not. Can humans really do that? Our new paper in Psychological Science shows that, surprisingly, we can.
drive.google.com/file/d/1b15E...
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Roll up, roll up! This will be a fascinating talk. And thereās wine and discussion afterwards
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7 months ago
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Alex von Tunzelmann
8 months ago
Strong FT editorial on much of the worldās shameful silence on Gaza, even as Netanyahu threatens to escalate Israelās offensive.
on.ft.com/433Mp02
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Interesting proposals for (affordable) reforms of teacher professional development in England from
@ippr.bsky.social
and
@ambitioninstitute.bsky.social
š
ippr-org.files.svdcdn.com/production/D...
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https://ippr-org.files.svdcdn.com/production/Downloads/A_system_that_empowers_April25.pdf?dm=1745843950
8 months ago
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Primary educators šš» I am interviewing teachers for a research project aimed at understanding how teachers learn from each other in the workplace. But my sample is currently very secondary heavy Could you (please!) spare me an hour of your time this week or next? It will be interesting, I promise!
8 months ago
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Tens of millions of pounds for a ditch. The UK planning system is a farce.
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8 months ago
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Jacob T. Levy
9 months ago
I had been doubtful that we were going to have a "this is the crisis moment" with Trump, as opposed to "everything about this is a destructive catastrophe." But the Abrego Garcia case is the crisis moment. 1/
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9 months ago
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Tim Bale
9 months ago
You'd never know it from some media and politicians but "The UK is among the countries with the least anti-immigration views in Europe. While in 2002-03 only 27% of the public felt immigration had a positive impact on the economy, this jumped to 66% in 2023-24."
theconversation.com/what-britons...
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Sam Sims
Shashank Joshi
9 months ago
Seriously disturbing. ā"We need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it," Trump told podcaster Vince Coglianese. "I hate to put it that way, but we're going to have to have it."ā
www.france24.com/en/live-news...
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Trump reiterates US need to 'have' Greenland ahead of Vance visit
US President Donald Trump ramped up his claims to Greenland on Wednesday, saying ahead of a visit by Vice President JD Vance that the United States needed to take control of the Danish island for "int...
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250326-trump-says-we-have-to-have-greenland-ahead-of-vance-trip
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Sam Sims
Emma Jacobs
9 months ago
Outstanding
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
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Brexit a key factor in worst UK medicine shortages in four years, report says
Nuffield Trust says supply chains have shifted, with medicines for epilepsy and cystic fibrosis among those now scarce
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/22/brexit-key-factor-worst-uk-drug-shortages-in-four-years
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Sam Sims
Brian Klaas
10 months ago
I wrote about how Trump is destroying American democracy, along with eight crucial lessons about how to counteract it, drawing on my 14 years of studying brave pro-democracy opposition movements in authoritarian regimes across the globe. Weāre in serious trouble, but thereās still hope.
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Is American democracy doomed?
How to understand the concept of "competitive authoritarianism" and why it's crucial to push back now to avoid it.
https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/is-american-democracy-doomed
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Yashar Ali š
10 months ago
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy on Mahmoud Khalil.
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America second
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10 months ago
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Sam Sims
Social Media Lab
10 months ago
"According to the Polity Project, an organization that ranks and categorizes governments worldwide, the U.S. government is classified as a ānon-democracyā as of February 2025, a downgrade from its previous status as a democracy."
ash.harvard.edu/articles/fro...
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From Crisis to Action: Turning the Tide on Democratic Erosion Through Organizing ā Ash Center
https://ash.harvard.edu/articles/from-crisis-to-action-turning-the-tide-on-democratic-erosion-through-organizing/
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Kit Yates
10 months ago
šØI promised I'd say more on the Royal Society and Elon Musk, so here it is. šØ I've resigned my position as Associate Editor at Royal Society's journal Open Science in protest at their lack of action over Elon Musk. My op-ed in
@theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Elon Musk is a proven danger to good science, but the Royal Society wonāt say so. Thatās why I resigned | Kit Yates
It is vital to act, and I urge colleagues to do so. How can we stand by and laud this man while he undermines scientific integrity? asks academic and author Kit Yates
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/04/elon-musk-science-royal-society-scientific-integrity
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Sam Sims
Bart Bonikowski
10 months ago
Garry Kasparov is right, Iām afraid: they are breaking everything so quickly even though itās unpopular, because they never expect to face real elections again.
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
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