How students feel, what motivates them, and whether they experience themselves as agents in their own learning — belonging, autonomy, emotional literacy, self-efficacy, restorative practice, trauma-informed teaching. All interventions cross-referenced to peer-reviewed meta-analyses where one exists. We have curated the Manning catalogue here for relevance and evidence quality, leaving out skills where the research base was too thin to grade fairly.
Avg. effect (d): 0.51 across the 5 cards with a d-valueStrongest: Belonging & Classroom Culture Designer (g=0.64, Davies et al. 2025)Last reviewed: May 2026
How to read these numbers
"Months of progress" is a teacher-friendly shorthand from the EEF Toolkit. It is not directly comparable across studies — different meta-analyses use different baselines, age groups, and outcome measures. Treat it as a magnitude indicator, not a precise prediction.
Cohen's d is the standardised effect size used in the original meta-analyses. d ≈ 0.40 is Hattie's "hinge point" — the average effect of a year of schooling. Higher = larger relative effect, but context matters more than the number.
Effect sizes are averages. A skill that shows large average effects can still produce small or negative effects in a specific classroom. Use these as a starting point for professional judgment, not a substitute for it.
Sources are dated. Where multiple meta-analyses exist, we lead with the most recent quality study and cross-reference EEF where available.
Implementation cost (Low / Medium / High) is a practical signal — not an exact science — of what your school needs to invest in teacher time, training, and structural changes to actually run the intervention well. It is the editorial team's reading of what the intervention typically requires in practice. Use it to gauge whether something is straightforward to introduce or a larger undertaking — not as a budget figure.
Some interventions are also priced in £ (UK) by the EEF Toolkit. For monetary cost data, see the EEF Teaching & Learning Toolkit.
Colour bands signal calibration, not value. An intervention in the "below typical" band is not "bad" — it means the intervention's average effect is below the typical effect of a year of schooling. That can still be appropriate for specific contexts the average does not capture.
Wellbeing, Motivation & Agency
Belonging & Classroom Culture Designer
Design classroom culture so every student — including the ones who feel most on the edge — has reliable signals that they belong here, are seen as capable, and will be supported when things get hard. Relational routines, repair after conflict, identity-safe materials, and explicit anti-marginalisation moves rather than 'be kind' posters.
+4 monthsEEF Toolkit — Social and emotional learning strand2021
d = 0.64Davies, Cordier, Graham, Littlefair & Speyer, Education Sciences2025
MediumImplementation
Wellbeing, Motivation & Agency
Motivation Diagnostic & Task Redesign
Diagnose which of the three Self-Determination Theory needs — autonomy, competence, relatedness — is undermet for a student or a class, then redesign the task to address it: meaningful choices, calibrated challenge, explicit rationale, and connection to peers' work instead of vague 'engagement' tweaks.
no EEF strand
d = 0.58Wang, Wang et al., Learning and Motivation2024
MediumImplementation
Wellbeing, Motivation & Agency
RULER Emotional Literacy Sequence
Run the RULER sequence — Recognise, Understand, Label, Express, Regulate — using the mood meter and classroom charter so students build emotional vocabulary and self-regulation strategies they can actually use, instead of generic 'feelings posters' that never get referenced again.
+4 monthsEEF Toolkit — Social and emotional learning strand2021
d = 0.22Cipriano, Strambler, Naples, Ha, Kirk, Wood et al., Child Development2023
MediumImplementation
Wellbeing, Motivation & Agency
Self-Efficacy Builder Sequence
Build a sequence that grows real self-efficacy through Bandura's four sources — calibrated mastery experiences, modelling, social persuasion, and affective scaffolding — with attribution-style feedback that points students at effort and strategy, not innate ability. Pep-talk alone does not move the needle.
+7 monthsEEF Toolkit — Metacognition and self-regulation strand2021
d = 0.49Lazowski & Hulleman, Review of Educational Research2016
MediumImplementation
Wellbeing, Motivation & Agency
Agency Scaffold Generator
Build scaffolds that move students from teacher-directed to self-directed — meaningful choice structures, voice routines that actually get acted on, and a gradual release sequence (modelling, guided practice, independent work) instead of throwing them into the deep end and calling it autonomy.
+7 monthsEEF Toolkit — Metacognition and self-regulation strand2021
d = 0.63Su & Reeve, Educational Psychology Review2011
MediumImplementation
Wellbeing, Motivation & Agency
Restorative Practice Protocol Designer
Design restorative protocols — community-building circles, restorative conferences, peer mediation, repair conversations — that address harm and rebuild relationships instead of just punishing, while keeping accountability visible. Skip the 'feelings circle' caricature: real RP is structured, named, and time-bounded.
Design classroom and school practice that anticipates trauma without pathologising students — predictable structures, relational safety, emotional regulation supports, and clear pathways to mental health resources. Pair with referral routines instead of expecting classroom teachers to do therapy.
no EEF strand
no independent meta-analysis found
HighImplementation
Interrogate any educational claim
Heard a claim somewhere else? Type it here — we'll build a prompt you can paste into ChatGPT, Claude, or any chatbot. The prompt asks the model to cite real meta-analyses, separate strong from weak evidence, name boundary conditions, flag exaggerations, and discuss cost-effectiveness.
💡 For best results, enable your chatbot's reasoning / thinking mode before pasting — Claude's "Extended thinking", ChatGPT's "Think" mode, or Gemini's "Thinking" / 2.5 Pro reasoning. The prompt is more demanding than a typical Q&A and benefits from slower deliberation.