Pupil Attainment Research Articles

Impacts of the Mindset Teams Programme on Teacher Outcomes and Pupil Educational Attainment: Secondary Data Analysis

We evaluated the impact of a growth mindset intervention on pre-specified teacher outcomes and pupil academic attainment and attendance. Delivered over 12 months, the Mindset Teams intervention provides teachers with formal and self-directed online learning, and an opportunity to implement evidence-based growth mindset practice in the classroom setting. The intervention aims to influence teacher practices to improve pupil resilience for learning and bring about positive impacts on pupil attainment and health outcomes. Impacts on teachers were explored through pre- and post-intervention survey data (570 and 301 respectively). Pupil attainment and attendance data from 1220 schools, 72 of which received the intervention, across years 2017–2021 (minus 2020), were analyzed using weighted mixed effects models, using a Difference-in-differences framework. Bayes factors were calculated as a measure of strength of evidence. Results suggest positive impacts of the intervention on teacher outcomes and indicate a moderate effect (+3% (95%CI +1%, +6%)) of programme delivery on writing attainment, but no evidence of effect for other outcomes. Findings highlight important issues for further research, specifically the need to explore programme impacts using pupil or classroom level data.

A pilot randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of different spaced learning models used during school examination revision: the SMART Spaces 24/10 model

IntroductionThe main aim of this pilot study was to compare the efficacy of using different spaced learning models during school examination revision on pupil attainment. Spaced learning is using intervals between periods of learning rather than learning content all at one time.MethodsThree spaced learning models with different inter-study intervals (ISI’s) were co-designed by teachers and researchers using research evidence and practice knowledge. A pilot randomized controlled trial compared the three ISI models against control groups in 12 UK secondary schools’ science classes (pupil n = 408). The effects on attainment of each model were assessed using pre and post-tests of science attainment.ResultsThe results showed that all three models were feasible for use in a classroom. The spacing model using ISI of 24-h spaces between and 10-min spaces within revision sessions was the only significant one for improving attainment against a control group (effect size d = 0.19, p = <0.05). The study also found that student engagement with the spaced learning program was a statistically significant predictor of increased pupil attainment.DiscussionThe study demonstrates the potential benefits of applying spaced learning to exam revision, with the most optimal ISI model found to be the SMART Spaces 24/10 model.

The Health and Attainment of Pupils in Primary Education

ObjectivesHAPPEN (The Health and Attainment of Pupils in Primary EducatioN) aims to empower schools to make meaningful changes by gaining a better understanding of pupil’s physical, psychological, emotional and social health. HAPPEN has had 30,000+ children across Wales take part to develop an e-cohort that is supported by public engagement and involvement.
 MethodsPupils (aged 7-11 or years 4/5/6) complete a self-report survey within school about aspects of their health and wellbeing. HAPPEN is directly aligned to the new Curriculum for Wales and has a strong utilisation of consultation, engagement and collaboration with school staff and local authorities. Schools receive an individual report presenting group-level data on pupils’ health and wellbeing while creating a dataset of health and wellbeing across Wales. This data has been linked to routine data and has the potential to make signficant impact in Wales.
 ResultsHAPPEN data has most recently been used to explore children’s health and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic. This included a retrospective cohort study using an online cohort survey (January 2018 to February 2020) linked to routine PCR SARS-CoV-2 test results to explore health-related behaviours in children (2018-2020) and association with being tested and testing positive (2020-2021). This found associations relating to parental health literacy and monitoring behaviours. As well as this, free school meal status was used as a proxy for deprivation in an exploratory study on the impact of school closures on the health and well-being. The physical health (eg, physical activity and diet) of children eligible for FSM may be affected by prolonged school closures. HAPPEN research is driven by the wants and needs of its user-group.
 ConclusionHAPPEN exists to empower schools and practitioners to improve the health and wellbeing of children across Wales by feeding into policy and practice. This infrastructure has facilitated the creation of a dataset that can be linked to answer past and future questions including an evaluation of current free school meal roll-out.

An exploration of the factors affecting the likelihood of young people in England progressing into higher education

ObjectivesThis research sought to identify the extent to which the likelihood of young people in England progressing into Higher Education (HE) is affected by their gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, area of residence, school attainment and the intersection of these characteristics.
 MethodsData from the Department for Education’s National Pupil Database concerning the entire cohort of young people in English state schools who turned 16 between September 2014 and August 2015 was accessed. Data concerned pupils’ attainment, personal characteristics and postcode of residence. This data was matched with records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency to identify whether pupils had progressed to HE by the age of 19. Raw differences in progression rates by pupil characteristic were established and binary logistic regression was used to explore how individual factors influenced the likelihood of progression once attainment and other characteristics were controlled for.
 ResultsFemales were more likely than males to progress to HE, however this could be explained predominantly by their higher average attainment in school examinations. Pupils in receipt of free school meals were substantially less likely to progress to HE, though this trend reversed once attainment was controlled for.
 Pupils residing in London were considerably more likely to progress to HE than pupils in all other regions of England, though this can be explained almost entirely by the higher average attainment of pupils in London as well as average demographic differences between London and other English regions.
 There are large disparities in progression to HE by pupil ethnicity and these disparities persist even once prior attainment and other characteristics are controlled for.
 ConclusionThe results overall suggest that some disparities in access to HE (such as by gender and FSM status) might be eliminated if corresponding disparities in school attainment were eliminated. The relationship between attainment disparities and HE progression disparities is less straightforward with respect to other characteristics such as pupil ethnicity.

The Ethnic Proportionality of Teachers and Students and the Link to School-Level Outcomes

In England, there are proportionately more White British teachers than White British pupils, and so there is a mismatch between the proportion of teachers and pupils of each ethnic minority group. This mismatch may reduce the number of appropriate role models for some pupils and has been linked to differences in school processes and the behaviour and treatment of ethnic minority pupils. The evidence is weaker regarding any link between ethnic disproportionality and attainment. This paper uses school-level school workforce and pupil attainment data to assess this link. The results are presented as correlations between teacher/pupil characteristics and attainment scores at ages 11 and 16 and as regression models predicting attainment scores using teacher/pupil characteristics. There is no evidence here that ethnic (dis)proportionality is linked to discernible differences in pupil attainment once relative poverty is taken into account. However, as the data are linked at the school level rather than the individual level, we cannot separate the attainment of pupils of different ethnic origins, and the ethnic classification for teachers is simply binary. We are working to overcome these data limitations and hope to present future analyses based on individual data with more detailed ethnic groupings to provide a more definitive result.

Eating habits and nutrition status of Nigerian school children in rural and urban areas (NigeriaLINX pilot project)

BackgroundHealthy eating habits during childhood have been identified as a foundational support for the growth, development, and intellectual well-being of schoolchildren and as a protection against diseases that affect learning and functional capacity. This study examined the eating habits of the previous day, weekly, and daily between Nigerian children in rural and urban elementary schools. MethodsData were collected between March and May 2021 with an instrument extracted from the Health and Attainment of Pupils in a Primary Education Network Survey (HAPPEN survey). Participants for the study were school children (aged 7–13 years). The multistage sampling technique was used to draw samples from the target population. Two schools were randomly selected for the study (one in the urban area of Lagos and the other in the rural area of Ekiti state). A total of 214 healthy children (urban school = 118; rural school = 96). The survey was conducted online and on-site during the school hours. The data were analysed using frequency count, percent, mean, standard deviation, and independent t-test at p < 0.05 level of significant. ResultsThe result of the t-test showed that there are significant differences in the weekly consumption of soft drinks (p = 0.02), fizzy drinks (p = 0.00), sugary snacks (p = 0.00) and the consumption of fish (p = 0.00) by the rural and urban schoolchildren. Conclusions and recommendationsBased on the results, it was concluded that most of the children were relatively well fed with moderately healthy dietary choices. Urban children are making healthy dietary choices and few unhealthy choices. However, rural schoolchildren are making healthy dietary choices relative to affordable options. The government to urgently bridge the nutritional gap between urban and rural schoolchildren through food market intervention and school nutrition campaign.

Early Years Multi‐grade Classes and Pupil Attainment*

AbstractWe study the effect of exposure to older, more experienced, classroom peers resulting from the widespread use of multi‐grade classes in Scottish primary schools. For identification, we exploit that a class‐planning algorithm quasi‐randomly assigns groups of pupils to multi‐grade classes. We find that school‐starters benefit from exposure to second‐graders in measures of numeracy and literacy. We do not find any evidence that these gains are driven by smaller class sizes or more parental input. While short‐lived, these benefits accrue independent of socioeconomic background, to boys and girls alike, and our results provide no evidence that they come at the expense of older peers from the preceding cohort.

Can teaching assistants improve attainment and attitudes of low performing pupils in numeracy? Evidence from a large-scale randomised controlled trial

ABSTRACT The use of teaching assistants (TAs) is widespread in many education systems, but the ways that TAs can support learning effectively are poorly understood. Much evidence indicates that most TA support has no, or negative, effects on pupil attainment. A small but growing body of evidence shows that structured TA intervention programmes can be effective. This paper reports the results of a large-scale randomised controlled trial of Catch Up® Numeracy, an intervention delivered one-to-one by TAs, compared to a control in which TAs provided matched-time numeracy support. The trial involved 1794 low-attaining pupils (aged 7–10) and 300 TAs from 150 English primary schools. Pupils in the intervention group showed no gains in attainment compared to the matched-time control, but there was some evidence to suggest a positive impact in pupils’ attitudes. The implications for future TA interventions to address low attainment in numeracy are discussed.

Disproportionality in the attainment of pupils with special educational needs at the end of primary school in England

This research article aims to examine disproportionality in the attainment of pupils with special educational needs at the end of primary education. The sample consisted of 3,025 pupils who completed Key Stage 2 in one LA in London. Two methodological approaches were used in the data collection. The background data related to special educational needs were collected as part of the January school census and this was then matched at the pupil level to their Key Stage 2 results collected by the Department for Education for all state‐educated pupils in England at end of the summer term. The data were then analyzed further using descriptive statistics. The findings of the analysis of Key Stage 2 results show that pupils with special educational needs in England are much less likely to meet the expected standard, raising key concerns for policymakers and teachers. A number of factors were identified, including pupils' type of need, gender, socio‐economic status, ethnic background and exclusions rate. The data show that some ethnic minorities are more likely to be identified with some types of special educational need compared to White British pupils. Policy implications for tackling disproportionality in special educational needs and further research are discussed in the concluding section.

Teacher allocation and school performance in Italy

AbstractItaly's secondary school system faced budget cuts, which limit availability of new permanent job slots for teachers. The allocation of these slots favours teachers with more seniority such that the age distribution of teachers across schools reflects older teachers' preferences for being close to urban centres. Using schools' distance from main urban centres and population size in the school's vicinity to instrument for non‐random exposure of schools to older teachers, we show older teachers are detrimental to pupil attainment. The effect is large: a 6‐year increase in the age of teachers leads to a one standard deviation reduction in the graduation mark.

The achievement gap: The impact of between‐class attainment grouping on pupil attainment and educational equity over time

AbstractDespite extensive research on attainment grouping, the impact of attainment grouping on pupil attainment remains poorly understood and contested. This paper presents evidence from a study conducted with 2944 12–13 year olds, from 76 schools in England, who were allocated to between‐class attainment groups (‘setting’) in English and mathematics over the first 2 years of secondary schooling. After controlling for prior attainment, pupils in the top set performed significantly better than pupils in the middle and bottom sets in both English and mathematics. The findings indicate a widening gap in attainment, especially in the case of English. Findings, especially in the case of mathematics, provide more evidence of a relative benefit for pupils placed in top sets than a relative detriment for those in bottom sets.

Pre-COVID-19 pandemic health-related behaviours in children (2018–2020) and association with being tested for SARS-CoV-2 and testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 (2020–2021): a retrospective cohort study using survey data linked with routine health data in Wales, UK

ObjectivesExamine if pre-COVID-19 pandemic (prior March 2020) health-related behaviours during primary school are associated with (1) being tested for SARS-CoV-2 and (2) testing positive between 1 March 2020 and 31...

Comparing socio-economic measures as predictors of educational attainment.

Objectives and ApproachFree School Meals (FSM) has commonly been used as a proxy for economic disadvantage or low socio-economic background within educational research in the UK, as eligibility is based upon receipt of government welfare benefits. It is also used by government in funding decisions for schools. However, in December 2021 the Welsh Government announced that the offer of FSM will be expanded to all pupils in primary schools, meaning that this measure will no longer be available as a proxy. Our objective is therefore to considers the potential of other administrative sources of socio-economic information to fill this gap. Linking administrative education data and Census 2011 data for Wales, we undertook descriptive and regression analyses to consider how Census measures of deprivation act compared to the FSM measure in predicting attainment. ResultsOur descriptive results show that not all pupils who are eligible for FSM are captured by the Census measures. However, our regression results indicate that socio-economic indicators from the Census – namely highest household qualification, approximated social grade and economic inactivity – all behave in a similar fashion to that of the proxy measure, FSM in association with pupil attainment. ConclusionWe consider results in comparison to studies using survey data, and discuss implications for the future measurement of economic disadvantage in Wales among primary school pupils.

Is pupil attainment higher in well-managed schools?

ABSTRACT Linking the Workplace Employment Relations Surveys 2004 and 2011 to administrative data on pupil attainment in England we examine whether secondary and primary schools who deploy more intensive human resource management (HRM) practices have higher pupil attainment. We find intensive use of HRM practices is positively and significantly correlated with higher labour productivity and quality of provision, and with better financial performance, most notably in primary schools, but it is not associated with higher pupil attainment as indicated by assessment scores at Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and value-added measures based on assessments at these points.

The Effect of Embedding Formative Assessment on Pupil Attainment

Evidence suggests that adapting teaching responsively to pupil assessment can be effective in improving students’ learning. However, existing studies tend to be small-scale, leaving unanswered the question of how such formative assessment can operate when embedded as standard practice. In this study, we present the results of a randomized trial conducted in 140 English secondary schools. The intervention uses light-touch training and support, with most of the work done by teacher-led teaching and learning communities within schools. It is, therefore, well-suited to widespread adoption. In our pre-registered primary analysis, we estimate an effect size of 0.09 on general academic attainment in national, externally assessed examinations. Sensitivity analysis, excluding schools participating in a similar program at baseline, and complier analysis both suggest a larger effect size of 0.11. These results are encouraging for this approach to improving the implementation of formative assessment and, hence, academic attainment. Our findings also suggest that the intervention may help to narrow the gap between high and low prior attainment pupils, although not the gap between those from disadvantaged backgrounds and the rest of the cohort.

ASSESSING CO-EDUCATION AND CHEMISTRY ATTAINMENT IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF SIERRA LEONE

This study covered nineteen senior secondary schools in the Northern region of Sierra Leone. The study is aimed at assessing the comparative attainment of pupils in single-sex and co-educational schools. A desk study of secondary data wherein documents and records relating to appropriate data sources were studied to obtain background information on co-education and chemistry attainment. A sample size of eight hundred and fifty seven (857) pupils from nineteen (19) senior secondary schools in the Northern regions of Sierra Leone who sat to the chemistry papers in the WASSCE of 2019. The study revealed that the proportions of credit and above in chemistry for boys and girls in single-sex schools are significantly higher than those of their counterparts in co-educational schools, and that the proportion of bare pass for boys is higher than that of girls, irrespective of whether the pupils are in single-sex or co-educational schools. Girls should do better as well as boys in chemistry if given the opportunity to do it and if provided with adequate motivation.

Exploring the relationship between the characteristics of English schools and the progression rates of their pupils to degree-level study

ABSTRACT This article explores the extent to which three different school or college characteristics are related to school or college-level progression rates to higher education. Using data from publicly available datasets concerning state schools and colleges in England, linear regression analyses were performed to investigate the extent to which progression rates to higher education are related to the proportion of socioeconomically disadvantaged pupils within schools, the proportion of pupils in schools who reside in “low participation neighbourhoods” and the effectiveness of schools as determined through Ofsted inspections. Schools with a higher proportion of socioeconomically disadvantaged pupils tend to send fewer pupils to university though once school-level attainment is controlled for this trend reverses. However, schools with higher proportions of pupils in low participation neighbourhoods and those with lower Ofsted ratings tend to send fewer pupils to university both before and after school-level attainment is controlled for. The findings are interpreted within the context of a widening participation agenda and suggestions are made for how providers of widening participation outreach activities may most effectively target school-level interventions designed to increase higher education participation, especially those which do not have the effect of raising pupil attainment.

Impact of school closures on the health and well-being of primary school children in Wales UK: a routine data linkage study using the HAPPEN Survey (2018–2020)

ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore the relationship between initial school closures and children’s health by comparing health and well-being outcomes collected during school closures (April–June 2020) via HAPPEN (the Health...

Does ability grouping affect UK primary school pupils’ enjoyment of Maths and English?

Advocates of grouping pupils by measured ability for instructional purposes claim that ability-homogeneous classrooms increase the attainment of high-ability pupils without detriment to the attainment of pupils judged to be of lower ability. Opponents of ability grouping, in contrast, argue that high-ability pupils do at best only marginally better in ability-homogeneous classrooms than they would have done in mixed-ability settings, whereas low-ability pupils do significantly worse. One mechanism posited by the critics of ability grouping is that this practice causes psychological harm to those labelled low-ability, resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy of low attainment. Most previous studies have measured this posited psychological impact of ability grouping in terms of pupils’ “academic self-concept”, a term which refers to pupils’ perceptions of how good they are in relation to particular subjects or to academic study generally. This paper explores the related but distinct concept of “academic enjoyment”, which refers to the extent to which pupils like the particular subjects they study, and like school generally, which has been shown to be positively correlated with academic engagement and achievement. While academic self-concept may change over time as pupils become aware of their level of academic performance, as indicated by test scores and/or their placement in particular ability groups, this need not be the case for change over time in pupils’ enjoyment of their studies which could, in theory at least, remain stable or change in a uniform direction regardless of the ability group in which pupils are taught. In this paper we explore whether pupils’ enjoyment of Maths, English, and school generally, changes in a differential manner between the ages of 7 and 11 depending on the ability group in which pupils were placed at age 7. We do so by drawing on data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) which has followed a nationally representative sample of children in the UK born between 2000 and 2002. Compared to pupils in the high ability group, those in the low ability group were less likely to come to enjoy, continue to enjoy, or increase their enjoyment of Maths between the ages of 7 and 11, both before and after controlling for pupils’ measured ability in Maths at age 7 and the key demographic variables of gender and social class background. Similar divergences with respect to enjoyment of English and school generally were evident before controlling for these additional factors, but were largely statistically insignificant after the inclusion of these controls. Overall our findings suggest that ability grouping in primary schools does more harm than good, at least in relation to pupils’ enjoyment of Maths.

Assessing the impact of Pupil Premium funding on primary school segregation and attainment

ABSTRACT Pupil Premium funding has been provided to schools in England since 2011, to reduce socio-economic segregation, and the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. There is little evidence it works. Some stakeholders are now considering whether funding should cease, or have a new objective. Evaluating the impact of such a funding policy is not easy because the relevant outcomes are sensitive to demographic, economic and other concurrent policy changes. These issues are addressed using the National Pupil Database, comparing the poverty gap in primary schools from 2006 to 2019, focusing on pupils who would have attracted Pupil Premium funding, if it existed, in any year and under any economic conditions. After 2010, the segregation of long-term disadvantaged pupils and their peers reduced in Years 1 and 6, and their attainment improved relative to their peers at a ges 7 and 11. However, assessments changed after 2014 and this complicates the pattern. A regression model suggests that relative attainment for poor pupils improved markedly in the Pupil Premium era, even in regions like the North of England which have faced criticism for apparently “failing“ their poor pupils. We argue for retaining the Pupil Premium policy.