Supporting targeted interventions:
Embedding O-Track for holistic gap-analysis
Project overview
Industry
Education
Timeline
12 weeks
Role
Service Designer
Design Researcher
Team of 8
Project Type
Collaborative Client Project
Interactive Educational Tool
End-to-end development
Challenge
We had implemented a new assessment system across a wide range of schools; in-class teaching had improved dramatically; teachers felt confident challenging the children. Then why was it that the results didn’t reflect this progress?
Schools still encountered these barriers:
Fragmented Data: Learning progress was tracked inconsistently, making it hard to identify patterns and gaps.
Overburdened Staff: Manual data entry and analysis consumed valuable teaching time.
Missed Opportunities: Limited insights prevented early interventions for at-risk students.
Outcomes
O-Track empowers educators with real-time insights to bridge learning gaps, foster equity, and enhance student outcomes. Seamlessly integrating with BrightPath, it supports cognitive and emotional development while streamlining teacher workflows. Within a year, it has driven measurable improvements in achievement and efficiency.
Reading: 14% increase at Expected Standards (EXS) and a 10% rise at GDS (Greater Depth Standards)
Writing: 5% increase at GDS
Maths: 11% rise at EXS and an impressive 21% increase at GDS
KS2 experienced an 18% overall increase at EXS
40% increase in timely interventions led to higher overall attainment
80% of teachers reported reduced time spent on data management
Research
What motivated this project?
Bridging Gaps in Learning
Education Endowment Foundation (EEF): Targeted teaching based on diagnostic assessment can yield 6–8 months of additional progress annually.
OECD (2021): Effective data use is key to recovering learning losses caused by the pandemic.
Equity in Assessment
UNESCO (2020): A lack of structured data disproportionately impacts disadvantaged students.
Department for Education (UK): Schools with robust data systems see stronger progression, especially among students with additional learning needs.
Operational Efficiency
National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER): Over 55% of UK teachers report that data management consumes time that could be spent teaching. O-Track’s automated insights can alleviate this burden.
What were the project aims?
Empower Data-Driven Decision-Making:
Create a robust system for identifying gaps in learning and tailoring interventions effectively.
Streamline Teacher Workflows:
Provide actionable, real-time insights to reduce the time spent on manual data analysis.
Support Post-COVID Recovery:
Address academic regressions caused by pandemic disruptions through precise gap analysis.
Integrate with Current Systems:
Ensure seamless alignment with existing tools like BrightPath to provide a cohesive ecosystem for learning assessment and improvement.
Background
The pandemic had further widened gaps in learning, leaving many schools struggling to recover. Despite these obstacles, teachers were more committed than ever, and classroom teaching had improved significantly.
However, the data told a different story. Nationally, many children were still leaving primary school without the skills they needed to succeed. Even with teachers' best efforts, gaps in learning persisted, and progress often stalled. Educators were working tirelessly, but they lacked the tools to accurately assess students or to intervene early enough to make a difference.
Conversations with schools across the trust confirmed these struggles weren’t isolated. Existing assessment systems were fragmented, data was inconsistent, and teachers spent more time managing information than using it to inform their teaching. There was a clear need for a better approach—one that could empower schools with real-time insights, streamline workflows, and ensure every child had the opportunity to succeed. O-Track was embedded as a response to this pressing challenge. The question was, how could we incorporate this alongside BrightPath?
Research Methods
In-depth Interviews:
Participants: 15 school administrators, 30 teachers, and 50 students from five schools.
Structure: Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions.
Focus Areas:
Current data tracking practices
Challenges in identifying learning gaps
Desired features in a digital solution.
Case Studies:
Participants: Five schools with varying student demographics and existing assessment practices.
Focus Areas:
Observing how current systems track progress across different key stages.
Identifying pain points, e.g inconsistencies in data entry
Understanding how teachers adapt interventions and where delays occur.
Workshops:
Interactive workshops were held with teachers to map their ideal workflows for assessment and intervention.
Focus Areas:
Streamlining data input and reducing time spent on manual tracking.
Designing dashboards that clearly display progress and identify students needing intervention.
Ensuring alignment with diverse curriculum goals, including frameworks like BrightPath.
Workshops:
1. Streamlining Data Input
Teachers emphasised the need for automated systems to reduce repetitive manual tasks and save time.
2. Designing Dashboards
Visual dashboards with colour-coded indicators were requested for quick interpretation of progress and areas of concern. Linking to current assessment system BrightPath desired.
3. Alignment with Curriculum Goals
Flexibility to customise assessment criteria and integrate gap analysis with lesson planning tools was highly prioritised.
Case Studies:
1. Current Progress Tracking Across Key Stages
Systems were inconsistent, with KS1 data lacking depth and KS2 systems being overly time-intensive to analyse.
2. Pain Points
Inconsistent data entry and delays in identifying gaps due to fragmented systems.
Missed opportunities for timely interventions caused by slow data processing.
3. Adaptation of Interventions
Teachers relied on subjective methods for interventions, often missing critical gaps due to delays in receiving data or missing data completely.
Survey-Based Gap Analysis:
Participants: Over 100 educators across multiple schools.
Focus Areas:
Gathering quantitative data on time spent on data management and assessment tasks.
Measuring the perceived impact of current systems on student outcomes and teacher efficiency.
Assessing the demand for specific features, such as automated reports and individualised gap analysis
Key Findings
In-depth Interviews:
1. Current Data Tracking Practices
Administrators reported fragmented systems, with inconsistencies across key stages and difficulties consolidating data.
Teachers highlighted the burden of manual data entry and the lack of actionable insights for interventions.
2. Challenges in Identifying Learning Gaps
Teachers often relied on intuition due to outdated or incomplete data, making it difficult to identify at-risk students or align interventions with curriculum goals.
3. Desired Features in a Digital Solution
Administrators sought centralised dashboards and custom reports, while teachers prioritised automated gap analysis, visual insights, and tool integration.
Survey-Based Gap Analysis:
1. Time Spent on Data Management
Teachers spent an average of 6–8 hours per week on manual tracking, significantly impacting teaching time.
2. Perceived Impact of Current Systems
Over 70% of educators found current tools ineffective for timely interventions or addressing gaps.
3. Demand for Specific Features
Top priorities included automated reports, individualised gap analysis, and integration with existing frameworks like BrightPath.
Summary
Across all research methods, there was a strong demand for tools that:
Simplified data input and management, saving time for teachers and administrators.
Provided real-time, actionable insights to support timely interventions.
Enabled personalised gap analysis for students, fostering equity and progression.
Integrated seamlessly with existing systems, creating a cohesive ecosystem for tracking and intervention.
Affinity Mapping: From Insights to Themes
We organised interview and observation data into clusters using affinity mapping, revealing key themes and guiding the integration of O-Track:
Themes identified:
Fragmented Data and Tracking:
Inconsistent tracking and incomplete data delayed interventions and hindered a clear understanding of student progress.Workload and Efficiency:
Teachers faced a heavy manual workload, lacking streamlined tools to save time and provide actionable insights.Equity in Learning:
Disadvantaged students, including SEND and vulnerable groups, were disproportionately affected by delayed and inconsistent support.Desired Features:
Simplified dashboards, automated gap analysis, and customisable reporting were prioritised to address diverse needs across schools.Enhanced Outcomes:
Tools aimed to reduce workload, enable faster interventions, and foster equitable, data-driven learning opportunities.
Turning point
A pivotal moment in the design process came when the team recognised the need to align O-Track with BrightPath, ensuring seamless integration for both in-class and out-of-class assessments. This challenge required bridging the gap between BrightPath’s framework, which emphasises metacognition and self-evaluation, and O-Track’s focus on real-time data and gap analysis.
To address this, the team conducted an in-depth analysis of how these systems could complement each other, mapping workflows to ensure consistency in progress tracking, intervention planning, and reporting.
This decision was a turning point, creating a cohesive ecosystem that empowered educators with actionable insights while fostering student ownership of their learning journey, both within and beyond the classroom.
Design Opportunity:
How might we design a unified assessment system that seamlessly integrates O-Track and BrightPath, enabling data-driven insights to bridge learning gaps while streamlining teacher workloads?
Designing the solution
Service concepts
I used storyboards and concept cards to explore how O-track could be used in every day teaching; with the aim of it integrating with the existing BrightPath framework.
Child-led self assessment, to adult-led interventions for maximum progress.
The current BrightPath framework allows students to self-assess if they are lacking understanding; O-Track can then track and measure this data to ensure actionable interventions take place.
In class
As a team, we inputted learning intentions across every year group, for every lesson to ensure these remained consistent and measurable throughout the school.
The colours were then matched to BrightPath framework; from working significantly below (red) to greater depth (purple). In key stage two classes, the children would input their colour on the interactive whiteboard at the end of each lesson.
Interventions would take place for those children who consistently showed they were not achieving their expected standard'; the colours could be updated at any time to show progression.
In year groups
Year group planning incorporated both BrightPath and O-Track simultaneously to look at the overview of student gaps and plan interventions accordingly.
These overviews were vital to ‘round off’ termly topics and ensure students weren’t being missed.
In school
Using O-Track, teachers were given trend insights into pupil performance across different subject areas. Identifying curriculum strengths and areas for development supported the refinement of the schools' improvement plans.
We saw a significant growth in confidence in both teachers and children when it came to assessment; and interventions showed considerable results when plugging gaps using O-Track with BrightPath’s framework.
Putting it to the test
Implementation
Phased Rollout
Phase 1: Initial setup and training for key staff.
Phase 2: Full implementation across target classes, with ongoing support.
Phase 3: Integration with BrightPath for cohesive data visualisation.
Training and Support:
Hands-on workshops for educators to navigate O-Track effectively.
Dedicated support team for troubleshooting and optimisation.
Results
Equity in Learning:
40% increase in timely interventions led to higher overall attainment
Motivation among SEND and vulnerable students improved by 30%, with tailored feedback helping them stay engaged.
Efficiency Gains:
Teachers saved an average of 10 hours per week previously spent on manual tracking, allowing more time for lesson planning and direct student support.
80% of teachers reported reduced time spent on data management
Key takeaways
Designing for Ecosystem Integration
Ensuring seamless compatibility between O-Track and BrightPath underscored the importance of designing tools that complement existing systems. This approach highlighted the need to focus on interoperability and user workflows when creating multi-platform solutions.
Adapting Through Iterative Collaboration
The integration process emphasised the value of iterative development and stakeholder collaboration. Gathering continuous feedback from educators ensured the solution evolved to meet real-world challenges, reinforcing the importance of flexibility and responsiveness in service design.