End Of Compulsory Schooling Research Articles

Teacher pay and school productivity: Exploiting wage regulation

The impact of teacher pay on school productivity is a central concern for governments worldwide, yet evidence is mixed. In this paper we exploit a feature of teacher labour markets to determine the impact of teacher wages. Teacher wages are commonly set in a manner that results in flat wages across heterogeneous labour markets. This creates an exogenous gap between the outside labour market and inside (regulated) wage for teachers. We use the centralised wage regulation of teachers in England to examine the effect of pay on school performance. We use data on over 3000 schools containing around 200,000 teachers who educate around half a million children per year. We find that teachers respond to pay. A ten percent shock to the wage gap between local labour market and teacher wages results in an average loss of around 2% in average school performance in the key exams taken at the end of compulsory schooling in England.

Maternal perinatal mental health and offspring academic achievement at age 16: the mediating role of childhood executive function.

BackgroundElucidating risk pathways for under‐achieving at school can inform strategies to reduce the number of adolescents leaving school without passing grades in core subjects. Maternal depression can compromise the quality of parental care and is associated with multiple negative child outcomes. However, only a few small studies have investigated the association between perinatal maternal depression and poor academic achievement in adolescence. The pathways to explain the risks are also unclear.MethodProspective observational data from 5,801 parents and adolescents taking part in a large UK population cohort (Avon‐Longitudinal‐Study‐of‐Parents‐and‐Children) were used to test associations between maternal and paternal depression and anxiety in the perinatal period, executive function (EF) at age 8, and academic achievement at the end of compulsory school at age 16.ResultsAdolescents of postnatally depressed mothers were 1.5 times (1.19, 1.94, p = .001) as likely as adolescents of nondepressed mothers to fail to achieve a ‘pass’ grade in math; antenatal anxiety was also an independent predictor of poor math. Disruption in different components of EF explained small but significant proportions of these associations: attentional control explained 16% (4%, 27%, p < .001) of the association with postnatal depression, and working memory explained 17% (13%, 30%, p = .003) of the association with antenatal anxiety. A similar pattern was seen for language grades, but associations were confounded by maternal education. There was no evidence that paternal factors were independently associated with impaired child EF or adolescent exams.ConclusionMaternal postnatal depression and antenatal anxiety are risk factors for adolescents underachieving in math. Preventing, identifying, and treating maternal mental health in the perinatal period could, therefore, potentially increase adolescents’ academic achievement. Different aspects of EF partially mediated these associations. Further work is needed, but if these pathways are causal, improving EF could reduce underachievement in math.

“‘Sink or swim’: buoyancy and coping in the cognitive test anxiety – academic performance relationship”

This study explores the relationship between students’ self-report levels of cognitive test anxiety (worry), academic buoyancy (withstanding and successfully responding to routine school challenges and setbacks), coping processes and their achieved grades in high-stakes national examinations at the end of compulsory schooling. The sample comprised 325 English students in their final year of secondary school preparing for high-stakes examinations. While controlling for prior attainment and gender, higher worry predicted lower examinations scores. This was partially mediated by less use of effective pre-exam coping strategies. Academic buoyancy moderated the indirect relationship such that the indirect negative relationship from worry to examination performance was stronger when academic buoyancy was lower. The paper concludes that providing in-school training in task-focus and orientation and how to withstand academic pressures may help to ameliorate the influence of performance-interfering worries, and potentially enhance performance among students inclined to worry about examinations.

Dimensions of test performance in English as a foreign language in different European settings: a two-level confirmatory factor analytical approach

The present study explored data from a survey of students’ performance in English at the end of compulsory school in 6 European countries. The aim was to gain deeper knowledge of the internal structure of the test and to discuss similarities and differences between the different settings regarding patterns in language proficiency. The analyses, conducted by a factor analytic approach and 2-level structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques, indicated an overall English achievement factor at both student and school levels. Furthermore, an effect of format differences at the student level, constituted by a factor related to tasks demanding constructed response, was found. Three correlated modality factors related to listening, linguistic, and reading skills were identified but not further elaborated on as they improved the model only modestly. Considerable differences in between-school variation were found in the different settings. The results are discussed in relation to the instrument, student achievements, and the state of English in the participating countries.

Social Influences - a Psychological Phenomenon in the Choice of Further Course of Education and Career

The aim of this overview study is to synthesize Czech, Slovak and foreign empirical findings on the choice of further course of education and career. Attention is focused specifically on social influences as a psychological phenomenon affecting this decision-making process in lower secondary school students at the end of compulsory schooling. The main attention is paid to the roles of parents and family, particularly the influence of family background and family processes. Another issue is the influence of peers, teachers and career counsellors on the choice of further course of education and career. The synthesis of research findings is based primarily on an analysis of research papers published in journals.

Examining the impact of entry level qualifications on educational aspirations

Background: This article considers the impact of pupils studying for entry-level qualifications on their intentions of remaining in education. Such qualifications are intended to re-engage young people who are performing below expected levels and give them the opportunity to learn at a pace that suits them.Purpose: This article specifically attempts to estimate the impact of entry-level qualifications on a group of 14–16-year-olds approaching the end of compulsory schooling in England. The central research questions addressed in this article were; how do the aspirations and post-16 destinations of young people who have taken such qualifications compare with other similar young people who have taken more traditional qualifications, and is there any evidence of such qualifications being beneficial to those young people with lower levels of prior attainment?Sample: Roughly 10,000 students surveyed longitudinally within the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE).Design and methods: Initial data regarding the aspirations of young people was collected from the young people at age 13 or 14 in 2004. Details of the qualifications studied and achieved over the next two years were then collected from the National Pupil Database (NPD). At the end of two years, information regarding their aspirations was collected again. Data collections in subsequent years detailed whether young people had actually continued in education after the end of compulsory schooling at age 16. Multilevel modelling was used to examine the relationship between the qualifications studied by young people and their subsequent aspirations and destinations.Results: Overall, there were no differences between the outcomes of young people taking entry-level qualifications and similar young people who did not. However, the models revealed a statistically significant interaction between taking entry-level qualifications and prior attainment, suggesting a positive association between such qualifications and outcomes for those with low levels of prior attainment.Conclusions: There is some evidence that entry-level qualifications may be useful in re-engaging low-achieving young people in education.

MIGRANT ACHIEVEMENT PENALTIES IN WESTERN EUROPE. WHAT ROLE FOR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS

This paper presents a comparative examination of educational underachievement of second-generation immigrants in Western Europe near the end of compulsory schooling, based on the 2006-2009 waves of the PISA survey. We propose a measure for migrant educational penalty revealing the relative position of migrant children within the achievement distribution of natives with the same socio-economic background. We find that migrant specific disadvantage is severe in most Western European countries. We then analyze how this measure varies across countries and find it negatively related to the effect of socio-economic background on natives’ achievement. Hence, migrant penalties and socio-economic penalties come forth as two distinct dimensions of educational inequalities. By means of recursive partitioning methods, we explore whether features of educational systems account for cross-country differences in migrant-specific penalties. We find that institutional dimensions theoretically related to educational careers of children of immigrants – entry age into (pre)school and degree of marginalization in low-performing schools –matter, in spite of the more or less comprehensive character of the secondary school systems.

The Short- and Long-Term Effects of School Choice on Student Outcomes: Evidence from a School Choice Reform in Sweden

This paper evaluates the effects of a major Swedish school choice reform. The reform in 1992 increased school choice and competition among public schools as well as through a large-scale introduction of private schools. We estimate the effects of school choice and competition, using precise geographical information on the locations of school buildings and children’s homes for the entire Swedish population for several cohorts affected at different stages in their educational career. We can measure the long-term effects up to age 25. We find that increased school choice had very small, but positive, effects on marks at the end of compulsory schooling, but virtually zero effects on longer term outcomes such as university education, employment, criminal activity and health.

The Short- and Long-Term Effects of School Choice on Student Outcomes Evidence from a School Choice Reform in Sweden

This paper evaluates the effects of a major Swedish school choice reform. The reform in 1992 increased school choice and competition among public schools as well as through a large-scale introduction of private schools. We estimate the effects of school choice and competition, using precise geographical information on the locations of school buildings and children’s homes for the entire Swedish population for several cohorts affected at different stages in their educational career. We can measure the long-term effects up to age 25. We find that increased school choice had very small, but positive, effects on marks at the end of compulsory schooling, but virtually zero effects on longer term outcomes such as university education, employment, criminal activity and health.

School burnout in adolescents: differences in background variables and exploration of school-related stress at the end of compulsory schooling

The aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the risk factors associated with school burnout, which has recently been described as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion due to school demands, cynical and detached attitude towards school and feelings of inadequacy as a student (Salmela-Aro, Kiuru, Pietikainen &amp; Jokela, 2008a). The research focuses on students in the last years of compulsory schooling, period in which burnout has not received much attention yet. A total of 342 adolescents (Mean age = 14.84) were asked to complete questionnaires about school burnout, school-related stress and background variables. The results showed differences in school burnout by gender, grade level and school track, with girls, last grade of compulsory school and high-track classes, showing the highest scores. No difference was observed with respect to grade retention. Several types of school stress were identified, with stress type Success related to pressures to succeed and concerns about the academic future being the highest. Finally, stress and burnout were strongly and positively correlated, and the type of stress Success was the best predictor of overall Burnout, Exhaustion and Inadequacy dimension scores. The results are discussed in relation to their theoretical relevance and implications for the prevention of school burnout in adolescents.

Education under New Labour, 1997-2010

This article reviews the evidence on New Labour’s educational achievements. It focuses on those aspects of policy that Labour itself highlighted in its manifestos, such as the raising of educational standards. A major issue, particularly on the issue of standards, is the methodological weaknesses of the statistics used. No firm conclusion can be drawn on whether standards rose or not: they probably merely kept pace with those in other countries. However Labour clearly put more resources into education than the previous Conservative administrations had done. There is also evidence of increased participation in post-compulsory (16-18) education, and Labour policies probably contributed towards this. There is also evidence of narrowing inequalities in achievement at the end of compulsory schooling. Conversely the introduction of fees for HE do not appear to have made inequalities worse. On balance then education represents a modest success for New Labour although the biggest story is really the over-claiming from both sides about their respective successes and failures and the poor quality and lack of commensurability over time of the statistical data.

The Short- and Long-term Effects of School Choice on Student Outcomes — Evidence from a School Choice Reform in Sweden

This paper evaluates the effects of a major Swedish school choice reform. The reform in 1992 increased school choice and competition among public schools as well as through a large-scale introduction of private schools. We estimate the effects of school choice and competition, using precise geographical information on the locations of school buildings and children’s homes for the entire Swedish population for several cohorts affected at different stages in their educational career. We can measure the long-term effects up to age 25. We find that increased school choice had very small, but positive, effects on marks at the end of compulsory schooling, but virtually zero effects on longer term outcomes such as university education, employment, criminal activity and health.

Inequality in Pupils' Test Scores: How Much do Family, Sibling Type and Neighbourhood Matter?

We explore the relative influence of family and neighbourhood on pupils' test scores and how this varies by sibling type. Using English register data we find that the neighbourhood explains at most 10–15% of the variance in pupils' test scores, whereas the variance explained by family is between 44% and 54% at the end of primary school and between 47% and 61% at the end of compulsory schooling. The family influence is significantly higher for identical twins. It is also higher for dizygotic twins than for non‐twin siblings brought up at different times and therefore experiencing varying family circumstances.

Assessing ‘functionality’ in school mathematics examinations: what does being human have to do with it?

This article analyses aspects of the process of developing ‘functional’ assessments of mathematics at the end of compulsory schooling in England. A protocol that was developed for scrutinising assessment items is presented. This protocol includes an indicator of the ‘authenticity’ of each assessment item. The data are drawn from scrutiny of 589 assessment items from thirty-nine formal unseen examinations taken by students aged sixteen, and the article illustrates ways that mathematics is presented in different contexts in examinations. We suggest that currently the ‘human face’ of the questions may serve to disguise routine calculations, and we argue that, in formal examinations, connections between mathematics assessments situated in context and functional mathematics have yet to be established.

Robust and specific personality traits as predictors of adolescents’ final grades and GPA at the end of compulsory schooling

The study investigated the predictive value of robust and specific personality traits in adolescents (Mage = 14.7 years), in explaining their academic achievement at the end of basic compulsory schooling. Personality data were obtained through self, maternal, and peer reports using the Inventory of Child/Adolescent Individual Differences. Adolescent gender and maternal education predicted 36, 26, 19, and 26 % of the variance in the final grades in Slovene, English, and mathematics and the overall GPA, respectively. Personality ratings by each of the three groups of informants substantially improved the prediction of students’ academic achievements, over and beyond gender and maternal education. The robust trait scores contributed to significant increments in the variance explained, across the academic achievement indicators, ranging from 8 to 17 % (self-report), 15 to 24 % (maternal report), and 20 to 32 % (peer report). Conscientiousness was consistently the most powerful predictor of students’ academic success and extraversion was negatively associated with all achievement indicators. The study provided support for a relatively stronger predictive utility of specific, rather than robust personality traits. Likewise, peer ratings of the students’ personality provided relatively larger increments in variance explained in academic achievements than maternal and self-ratings; in general, the personality trait ratings added more to the prediction of mathematics grades and the GPA relative to the prediction of success in languages. Among specific traits, subjectively perceived student intelligence was the most powerful and consistent predictor of final grades and GPA.

Language and Mathematical Performance: a Comparison of Lower Secondary School Students with Different Level of Mathematical Skills

This study investigated the connection between language (i.e., word comprehension, reading comprehension and spelling skills) and mathematical performance. The sample consisted of grade nine students (N = 810) in 14 lower secondary schools in the Swedish speaking areas of Finland. Standardized tests for reading and writing skills, and mathematical performance were used. Based on the mathematics test the students were categorized into eight performance groups. Many students had problems in both mathematics and language performance. On the whole data level reading skills were a powerful predictor for math performance, the reading factor explained 52% of the variance in the model. Hence, the reading skills focusing on understanding of the text are important in solving mathematical tasks at the end of compulsory school.

The Role of Parental Income Over the Life Cycle: A Comparison of Sweden and the UK

Research on intergenerational income mobility has shown stronger persistence between parental and offspring's income in the UK than in Sweden. We use similar data sets for the two countries to explore whether these cross-national differences show up already early in offspring's life in outcomes such as birth weight, grades at the end of compulsory school at age 16, height during adolescence, and final educational attainment. We do indeed find significant country differences in the association between parental income and these outcomes, and the associations are stronger in the UK than in Sweden. Therefore, we continue to investigate whether these differentials are large enough to account for a substantial part of the difference in intergenerational persistence estimates. We then conclude that the country differences in the intergenerational associations in birth weight and height are too weak to account for hardly any fraction of the UK-Sweden difference in intergenerational income mobility. For the more traditional human-capital variables grades and final education, however, our results suggest that the country differences can account for a substantial part of the difference in income persistence.

Independent Schools and Long-Run Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Sweden's Large Scale Voucher Reform

This paper evaluates average educational performance effects of an expanding independent-school sector at the compulsory level by assessing a radical voucher reform that was implemented in Sweden in 1992. Starting from a situation where all public schools were essentially local monopolists, the degree of independent schools has developed very differently across municipalities over time as a result of this reform. We regress the change in educational performance outcomes on the increase in the share of independent-school students between Swedish municipalities. We find that an increase in the share of independent-school students improves average performance at the end of compulsory school as well as long-run educational outcomes. We show that these effects are very robust with respect to a number of potential issues, such as grade inflation and pre-reform trends. However, for most outcomes, we do not detect positive and statistically significant effects until approximately a decade after the reform. This is notable, but not surprising given that it took time for independent schools to become more than a marginal phenomenon in Sweden. We do not find positive effects on school expenditures. Hence, the educational performance effects are interpretable as positive effects on school productivity. We further find that the average effects primarily are due to external effects (e.g., school competition), and not that independent-school students gain significantly more than public-school students.

Can a standardised aptitude test predict the training success of apprentices? Evidence from a case study in Switzerland

Empirical research in vocational education and training 3 (2011) 2, S. 105-128 Padagogische Teildisziplin: Empirische Bildungsforschung; Berufs- und Wirtschaftspadagogik; als elektronischer Volltext verfugbar

Enrolment, achievement and retention on ‘traditional’ and ‘Use of Mathematics’ pre-university courses

This paper investigates enrolment, attainment and drop-out rates for two different English pre-university advanced mathematics, AS-level, courses, a ‘traditional’ and an innovative ‘Use of Mathematics’ pre-university course. Very different student profiles were found for those enrolled on each course, and a model of attainment at the pre-university level showed a relatively complex relationship with prior achievement at the end of compulsory schooling. Although those pupils who had relatively high prior achievement tended also to achieve relatively highly on the pre-university courses, this relationship was not evident for lower scores. Those pupils with ‘mid-range’ prior attainment tended to make the smallest gains. Taking prior attainment into account, the difference in attainment outcomes between the two courses is small. However, these courses do differ with respect to the number of students retained, with the ‘Use of Mathematics’ course retaining a significantly higher proportion of the students. Contextual factors are discussed, suggesting implications for policy and practice in mathematics education.