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This paper challenges the notion that quantitative data – as a numeric truth – exist independent of a nation's political and racial landscape. Utilising large-scale national attainment data, the analysis challenges the belief that 'White working class' children in England, especially boys, are 'the new oppressed' – as a former equality adviser has publicly claimed. The analysis applies Quantitative Critical Race Theory, or 'QuantCrit', an emerging quantitative sub-field of Critical Race Theory in education. The paper argues that far from being 'oppressed', White boys continue to enjoy achievement advantages over numerous minoritised groups; especially their peers of Black Caribbean ethnic origin. Additionally, the analysis uniquely exposes racialised trends of 'equivalency' in core subject qualifications, whereby minority ethnic children are over-represented in certain lower-status qualifications that are counted as equivalent in education statistics but not in the real world labour market. The analysis concludes that knowing misrepresentations of quantitative data are at the heart of an institutional process through which race and racism are produced, legitimised and perpetuated in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary meritocratic education discourse in England positions schools as 'engines of social mobility', responsible for enabling students' educational 'success' regardless of their circumstances. Building on critiques that characterise meritocracy as a neoliberal cultural motif that legitimates inequalities, and the capabilities approach, this paper investigates the challenges of navigating meritocratic expectations in practice by drawing on qualitative and photovoice interviews conducted with teachers and students at a highly rated London school serving a disadvantaged community. While many participants endorsed meritocratic narratives, all expressed doubts that the school could 'make up for' the significant structural disadvantages faced by many students. This led our participants to describe challenges associated with meritocratic discourse, including: the stresses of meeting these expectations; uncertainty about attributing responsibility for 'failure'; and questions about what could and should be done in practice to enable disadvantaged students to 'succeed'. We argue that meritocratic rhetoric imposes significant burdens on students, teachers and schools by holding them responsible while obscuring the role that social inequalities play in shaping students' educational opportunities. Greater critical discussion in schools could help students and staff to challenge meritocratic education discourse and to negotiate its expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much outreach work now focuses on the most educationally disadvantaged localities in England, identified by the government-funded National Collaborative Outreach Programme as target wards. This study explores the underlying reasons why these districts return rates of young higher education participation that are not only comparatively low but lower than expected once prior attainment is taken into account. It does so by gathering the perspectives of careers practitioners, teaching professionals and learners from a sample of target wards in the county of Essex in southeast England. Underpinning the insights of these individuals, the study draws on quantitative evidence that highlights some key differences between these districts and other localities across Essex. Attention then turns to identifying current school-based practices and outreach activities considered by those surveyed to have had a positive impact on the progression outcomes of the young people from these neighbourhoods who do go on to university, as well as new initiatives that have the potential to do the same for others. Whilst adopting a case-study approach, the paper concludes by suggesting that the findings should be of wider interest, including for those seeking to address geographical differentials in higher education participation in other parts of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a time when the contemporary landscape of teaching is populated with successive and persisting government policy reforms that have increased teachers’ external accountabilities, work complexity, and emotional workload, understanding why and how many teachers are able to sustain their capacity to be resilient and continue to work for improvement is an important quality retention issue. The purpose of this paper is to build upon but take further current understanding of resilience in teachers by exploring in greater depth the nature of resilience in teachers as a relational concept and the ways in which it may be related to the learning and achievement of their pupils. The empirical basis of the paper draws upon analyses of twice yearly semi-structured face-to-face interview data from 300 teachers in different phases of their careers in 100 primary and secondary schools in England over a consecutive three-year period. Through these analyses, the paper contributes additional empirical evidence to the emerging but still limited literature on the factors which influence teachers’ capacity to be resilient. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implication of the findings for the quality retention of teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A much larger proportion of English 14-year-olds expect to apply to university than ultimately make an application by age 21, but the proportion expecting to apply falls from age 14 onwards. In order to assess the role of socioeconomic status in explaining changes in expectations, this paper applies duration modelling techniques to the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, analysing transitions in young people’s expectations both from being ‘likely to apply’ to being ‘unlikely to apply’ and vice versa. Young people’s socioeconomic background has a significant association with changes in expectations, even after controlling for prior academic attainment and other potentially confounding factors; in addition, young people’s backgrounds affect their responsiveness to new evidence on academic attainment at age 16. This suggests more could usefully be done to maintain the educational expectations of academically able young people from less advantaged families, especially providing guidance on how to view new academic results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The impact of widening participation policy and how it is enacted institutionally is a central concern to Higher Education. It is not simply about the admission of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, but also ensuring that these students complete their courses successfully. This work therefore goes far beyond those departments tasked with access and outreach and has implications for staff across all academic and support service areas. The way in which national policy is interpreted and translated into local policy can therefore affect the whole institution. To bring a spotlight on these issues, this paper will focus on a case study of a single elite institution in England. Focusing primarily on selection of students, it will examine how selection measures can in fact reproduce inequalities. It will therefore demonstrate how this programme may not improve access to Higher Education but instead focuses on ensuring that students already on a path to Higher Education choose this institution in preference to others. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper suggests that, in contrast to the great reports such as Crowther, Newsom Robbins and Plowden, recent government papers relating to educational in England pay little attention to values that should shape the standards to be achieved, the knowledge to be transmitted and the virtues to be nourished. Whilst legislation over the past 60 years has promoted a vision of 'education for all', what has predominated has been a concept of learning restricted to that which privileges the small number who can perform well within a narrowly defined understanding of academic studies. It is argued that the need to measure and standardise performance has resulted in a marginalisation of the broader vision of learning, which should be pursued in order to enable us to live fully human lives. Such an approach will require a transformation of educational ideals and refusal to accept the reductionist practices inherent in the language of performance management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects upon the nature of a target-setting and mentoring scheme in an 11-16 school in England, through a series of retrospective interviews with students who continued into further education. It considers the extent to which the initiative impacted both upon students' formal academic achievement at 16+ and upon the subsequent longer-term aspirations of these students. Interviews with students who achieved considerable 'value-added' in their GCSE examinations suggested that the impact of mentoring was strongest amongst those students who came from homes where there was less expectation of them participating in further and higher education, and that this effect was not differentiated according to gender. The paper suggests that longer-term transformation of students' aspirations, and the challenging of gendered course and career stereotypes, will only be achieved if schools adopt a more holistic and proactive approach to careers education and to widening participation for their students, and that the absence of such proactivity will limit the longer-term gains initiated by successful mentoring activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between stream placement and the academic progress made by children in England in Year 2 of primary school, drawing on data from the longitudinal Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). The MCS is a sample of 19,000 children born across the UK around the turn of the century and their families. Academic progress was compared between children in England in the ‘top’, ‘middle’ or ‘bottom’ streams, and among the majority of non-streamed children. Multiple regressions took into account child, family and school characteristics and showed that stream placement significantly impacted on the academic progress made by children. Children in the ‘top’ stream achieved more and made significantly more academic progress than children attending schools that did not stream, while children in the ‘middle’ or ‘bottom’ streams achieved less and made significantly less academic progress. The reasons for this and the educational implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in Mathematics and Science Study are two highly respected studies of school pupils' academic achievement. English policy-makers have been disappointed with school children's performance on these tests, particularly in comparison to the strong results of young people from East Asia. In this paper, we provide new insight into the England-East Asia gap in school children's mathematics skills. We do so by considering how cross-national differences in math test scores change between ages 10 and 16. Our results suggest that, although average math test scores are higher in East Asian countries, this achievement gap does not increase between ages 10 and 16. We thus conclude that reforming the secondary school system may not be the most effective way for England to 'catch up' with the East Asian nations in the PISA math rankings. Rather, earlier intervention, during pre-school and primary school, may be needed instead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are long-standing achievement gaps in England associated with socio-economic status (SES), ethnicity and gender, but relatively little research has evaluated interactions between these variables or explored school effects on such gaps. This paper analyses the national test results at age 7 and age 11 of 2,836 pupils attending 68 mainstream primary schools in an ethnically diverse inner London borough. The groups with the lowest educational achievement and poorest progress were both Black Caribbean and White British low SES pupils. White British middle and high SES pupils made substantially more progress than White British low SES pupils, significantly increasing the SES gap over time. However low and high SES Black pupils made equally poor progress age 7–11. School effects on pupil progress were large, but there was no evidence of differential school effectiveness in relation to SES, ethnicity or gender. Low SES pupils in the more effective schools performed significantly better than high SES pupils in the less effective schools, but all pupils (both low and high SES) benefit from attending the more effective schools and so these schools do not eliminate the SES gap. The limits to change that may be achieved by schools alone are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Grouping students into classes by ability on a subject-by-subject basis, also known as setting, is a common practice in many educational systems. An important issue is therefore the way in which setting decisions are made. While educators and policy-makers favouring setting claim that ability or achievement is the sole criterion used, critics counter that there is a tendency for factors such as pupils' socio-economic status background, gender and ethnicity to influence teachers' setting decisions. Purpose: This paper aims to examine the extent to which factors other than prior achievement influence setting decisions in England. In particular, we wish to study both schools' declared policies on setting and what data may reveal as to predictors of which set pupils will be placed in at year 7, the first year of secondary school. Research questions are therefore: (1) what factors do teachers say influence setting decisions in their schools; and (2) what variables are significant predictors of set membership of students? Sample: To test these hypotheses, we conducted a survey of schools and analysed national datasets. Twelve Local Authorities (LAs) in England were selected on a purposive basis to represent areas of ethnic diversity and social disadvantage. Within these LAs, 100 secondary schools were randomly sampled and contacted with a request to complete a survey consisting of questions on whether the schools set, how setting decisions were made, how often sets were reviewed and which pupils were in which sets (using Unique Pupil Numbers). In total, 44 surveys were returned completed. Methods: Data from the questionnaires was linked to data from the National Pupil Database. Pupil level analyses were conducted using statistical tests and multinomial logistic regression models in which set membership was regressed on prior attainment (National Curriculum Test Scores at the end of primary school), social background, special educational needs (SEN) status, ethnicity and gender. Results: In the survey, schools indicated that setting decisions were based on prior attainment and ability. Results showed that prior attainment was indeed the main predictor of the probability of being assigned to a particular set for both English and mathematics. However, although mentioned by respondents as being the main factor in their decisions regarding setting along with ability, it was a relatively poor predictor. Social background (as measured through ACORN categories and free school meals eligibility) and SEN were also significant predictors of probability of set assignment. Conclusion: These findings suggest that over and above the effect of attainment, pupils with no SEN and pupils from higher socio-economic status backgrounds are more likely to be assigned to higher sets and less likely to be assigned to lower sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines and reflects upon initial findings from a longitudinal study evaluating the experiences and views of students on professional social work programmes across four higher education institutes in the North West of England, on the BA and the MA routes. The paper focuses on one aspect of this study; the students' experience of assessment. In particular it examines how students experienced the process of learning, assessment, support and feedback, which was found to be in part shaped by previous educational experiences. The range of assessment methods previously experienced by students was diverse, some of which were more helpful than others in preparing them for their professional training. Lack of foundation subject knowledge presented a challenge to students on both courses, in particular for MA students who were being assessed at 'M' level. Unmet expectations of both the amount and type of support created anxiety, frustration and even anger for some. The 'search for certainty' led to anxiety amongst many first year students who believed that academics could facilitate the assessment process by providing 'the answer'. This exploration of assessment reveals, we believe, a growing divide in the expectations of social work students and their educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is to identify those school-level and locality-level factors that significantly affect each of the three stages in a young adult's educational trajectory in North West England: GCSE results, track taken at age 16 and 'A'-level scores. By applying three-level models to data collected as part of the EFFNATIS project, we find no evidence of any locality-level effects. Overall, none of the explanatory variables conventionally considered to affect educational attainment had a consistent effect across all three stages. Rather, each explanatory variable had a contingent effect at specific points within the overall trajectory of educational outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports research into the effect on 11-year-old pupils of introducing more cognitively challenging, practical, and interactive science lessons. Our hypothesis was that such lessons would increase the children's enthusiasm for science and their engagement with the scientific process, thereby improving educational performance. Schools in England are under pressure to raise achievement, as measured by the results of national tests. This has an impact on teaching, where revision of subject knowledge often dominates and can be particularly detrimental to more able pupils. The research was a controlled trial which took place in thirty-two English primary schools as part of a project "Conceptual Challenge in Primary Science". Teachers from 16 intervention schools participated in continuing professional development (CPD) and developed science lessons that had more practical work, more discussion, more thinking and less (but more focused) writing. The proportion of pupils achieving the highest level (level 5) in the national science tests at age 11 was compared in the matched-school pairs before and after the intervention. Focus group interviews were also held with a group of pupils in each intervention school. There was a 10% (95% Confidence Interval 2-17%) increase in the proportion of children achieving the top score in the intervention schools. The pupils and teachers reported greater engagement and motivation. These findings suggest that moving from rote revision to cognitively challenging, interactive science could help improve science education. They merit replication in other international settings to test their generalisability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the significant characteristics of many poor neighbourhoods is that the schools which serve them are characterised by poor performance in terms of attainment and other measures. This feature is seen as critical in the reinforcement of disadvantage, its transmission between generations, and as a barrier to social integration. Government policies in the UK have increasingly targeted improved school standards and performance, while other policies on urban regeneration and housing may interact with this issue. This paper examines the particular role of homeownership tenure alongside the other factors (notably poverty) which affect school attainment. After reviewing existing literature it presents new analyses of attainment based on linked pupil, school and small area-level datasets for selected areas in both England and Scotland. This provides some evidence to support the contention that homeownership has an additional effect on school attainment, beyond that explained by poverty and other associated variables, although there is some uncertainty about how separable these effects are at school or neighbourhood levels. It also points out the significant role of changing tenure mix in housing regeneration in transforming the overall profile of neighbourhoods and schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the key findings of a DfES-funded study that explored the relationship between achievement and inclusion in mainstream schools in England. The methodology involved a statistical analysis of nationally held data on all pupils at the end of key stages 1-4, together with a series of site visits to 'inclusive' mainstream schools. These were carried out in order to explore school processes that might explain how some schools can manage to be both highly achieving and inclusive. Findings indicate that there is a small, but for all practical purposes, insubstantial relationship between inclusion and academic achievement at the school level although there is also a large degree of variation suggesting strongly there are other factors within a school's make up, rather than its degree of inclusivity, that impact on the average academic achievements of its pupils. This was confirmed from the analysis of the school site visits. The overall conclusion, therefore, is that mainstream schools need not be concerned about the potentially negative impact on the overall academic achievements of their pupils of including pupils with SEN in their schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government inspection of initial teacher training (ITT) courses in England is frequent, relentless and high-stakes. How confident should providers be about the consistency of judgements made through inspection? This paper researches outcomes of the 1999–2002 round of inspections of secondary Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses. It focuses, through critical document analysis, on aspects of consistency and inconsistency in three secondary humanities subjects. The courses concerned were awarded the maximum possible grades following inspection. The reports from the providers are analyzed for different aspects of consistency: length, descriptors used, matching against specific criteria and reference to Standards. They are also analyzed, for one of the inspected cells, against the detailed, published criteria for the inspection of that cell. Several important consistencies and inconsistencies are highlighted and discussed, along with recommendations to enhance consistency in subsequent inspections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]