The EmpowerEd Novels Pilot
EmpowerEd Novels is seeking partners to help test whether personalised graphic novels can strengthen young people's sense of representation, belonging, motivation and educational engagement.
Early experiences have been encouraging, but they are not evidence that the approach will work consistently or at scale. The purpose of the pilot is therefore not to prove the idea right. It is to discover what works, what does not, for whom it works, and how the approach could be improved.
Smaller contributions will support a tightly scoped exploratory pilot. Greater funding will allow more students and schools to participate, enable stronger evaluation and assemble a small pilot team to support delivery. The project will not wait indefinitely for an all-or-nothing funding target before beginning useful work.
Why Test the Idea?
There is established educational thinking behind the importance of representation, personal relevance and motivation. However, that does not establish that this particular combination of personalised characters, graphic storytelling and curriculum-linked adventures will produce meaningful educational effects.
The pilot will distinguish between several different possibilities. Young people may simply enjoy the novelty of appearing in a book. The experience may produce a measurable change in belonging or motivation. Some effects may be short-lived, while others may persist. The intervention may work particularly well for some students and less well for others.
Those are questions to investigate rather than assumptions to make.
Our Theory of Change
The pilot is informed by John Keller's ARCS-V motivational framework, which identifies five important conditions for sustained learner motivation: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction and Volition.
EmpowerEd Novels is designed particularly around the importance of Relevance. The central hypothesis is that when a young person sees a recognisable version of themselves solving problems, exploring science and shaping the story, learning may feel more personally meaningful.
ARCS-V
The wider design may also support other elements of ARCS-V. Graphic storytelling and personalisation may attract Attention; successfully navigating the story may strengthen Confidence; completing and sharing the book may provide Satisfaction; and continued engagement across the experience may support Volition.
The pilot will investigate whether this proposed pathway is visible in practice and which parts of the experience contribute most strongly. It will not assume that all elements of the framework are activated equally, or that any motivational effect automatically leads to improved attainment.
Research Questions
What Will Be Evaluated?
The final evaluation design will depend on the size of the pilot and the involvement of delivery and academic partners. Wherever possible, the project will use clearly defined measures, collect evidence before and after participation, and separate student enjoyment from broader educational effects.
Primary areas of interest
- Sense of representation and belonging
- Reading or learning motivation
- Confidence discussing ideas and identity
- Science identity and perceived relevance
- Engagement with the book and creation process
- Measures informed by the ARCS-V framework, particularly relevance, confidence and volition
Secondary and exploratory areas
- Reading behaviour and willingness to continue reading
- Classroom participation
- Teacher observations of engagement
- Family or peer responses
- Practical feasibility and ease of delivery
- Longer-term educational outcomes, where appropriate
Evaluation Approach
The pilot will be designed to generate useful evidence without making claims that the scale of the research cannot support. The precise methodology will be agreed with the participating schools and evaluation partners.
Depending on the funding and cohort available, the evaluation may include:
- Clearly defined research questions and outcome measures
- Pre- and post-participation student measures
- Teacher observations and structured interviews
- Student discussion groups or reflective activities
- A comparison with non-personalised material where feasible
- Follow-up measures to explore whether effects persist
- Independent academic or evaluation input
- Publication of positive, mixed or negative findings
A small exploratory pilot would test feasibility and refine the evaluation design. A larger pilot would allow stronger comparison, follow-up and independent analysis.
Pilot Roadmap
Indicative Timeline
The project will begin during the Autumn Term of 2026. The amount of funding and number of confirmed delivery partners secured by the end of October will determine the final scale and timetable.
Funding Shapes the Pilot
Each funding level supports a legitimate piece of work with its own purpose. The figures below are indicative and will be refined with delivery and evaluation partners.
Exploratory Pilot
Up to £5,000A small, carefully scoped pilot focused on feasibility, student experience and improving the intervention before wider testing.
- One school or delivery setting
- A small student cohort
- Personalised digital or printed books
- Structured student and teacher feedback
- Testing of the creation and delivery process
- Refinement of future evaluation measures
Educational Pilot
Approximately £5,000–£12,500A larger pilot designed to investigate whether there are measurable indications of change in belonging, motivation, confidence or engagement.
- A larger cohort or more than one setting
- Pre- and post-participation measures
- Printed books and supporting materials
- Teacher observations and student feedback
- Evaluation support
- Greater production and quality-assurance capacity
Full Pilot
£12,500 and aboveThe fullest initial pilot, with the capacity to assemble a small team and reduce dependence on the founder as the sole person responsible for production and delivery.
- Participation through a school group or small MAT
- A defined pilot team
- School liaison and delivery support
- Book production and quality assurance
- Independent evaluation input
- Stronger comparison and follow-up where feasible
- Publication of findings and recommendations
Future Ripple Study
A later research stageIf the personalised-book pilot produces encouraging findings, a later study could investigate whether the effect extends beyond the participating child.
- Classmate and teacher responses
- Family engagement
- School or library visibility
- Local Champion participation
- Community-level representation
- Testing of the wider Ripple Model
The Ripple Model is presented as a future research question, not as a proven outcome of the initial pilot.
What the £12,500 Supports
A £12,500 Founding Partner contribution would not simply pay for books. It would create the capacity to organise, deliver and evaluate a credible educational pilot.
- Project leadership and coordination
- School or MAT liaison
- Student onboarding, consent and safeguarding processes
- Personalised book creation
- Editorial review and quality assurance
- Printing and educational resources
- Delivery support for teachers and participating settings
- Evaluation design, evidence collection and analysis
- Reporting and publication of findings
John O'Hare would lead the pilot, but the intention is not for the work to depend on one person carrying out every role. At the fuller funding level, a small, time-limited pilot team would be assembled around the needs of the project, drawing on educational, production, delivery and evaluation expertise.
The size and composition of that team would depend on the participating partners and the funding secured.
What Success Looks Like
Success is not defined as proving that every part of the original idea was correct. A valuable pilot is one that produces trustworthy learning and a clear basis for deciding what should happen next.
Feasible Delivery
The books can be produced and used safely, consistently and within a realistic school workflow.
Meaningful Participation
Students and teachers engage sufficiently for the intervention to be evaluated fairly.
Measurable Signals
The evidence identifies whether there are promising changes in belonging, motivation, confidence or engagement.
Honest Limitations
The pilot identifies where the approach does not work, where effects are short-lived, or where redesign is needed.
Clear Economics
The project establishes a realistic cost per student and understands which elements create the greatest delivery burden.
A Credible Next Step
The findings provide a sound basis for stopping, refining, repeating or expanding the work.
From Pilot to Ripple
The personalised book is the core intervention being tested first. The wider Ripple Model asks a separate question: could one child's increased visibility also influence classmates, teachers, families, libraries and local communities?
That possibility is distinctive and worth exploring, but it should not be treated as an established result. A broader Ripple study would follow only if the initial pilot shows that the book experience itself has educational value and can be delivered effectively.
Help Us Test the Idea Properly
We are seeking funding partners, schools, MATs, evaluators and advisers who can help turn a promising classroom idea into a carefully delivered and independently informed pilot.
A conversation is not a commitment. It is an opportunity to explore whether your organisation could contribute funding, delivery expertise, evaluation support or access to participating communities.
Explore Ways to Get Involved
For pilot and partnership enquiries, please contact:
John O'Hare
Founder, EmpowerEd Novels
johno@empowerednovels.com