Eligibility For Free School Meals Research Articles

Setting by ability – or is it? A quantitative study of determinants of set placement in English secondary schools

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.

A cross-sectional survey of children's packed lunches in the UK: food- and nutrient-based results

BackgroundStandards for school meals were recently introduced in the UK; however, no such standards exist for packed lunches. This study measures the provision and consumption of a range of food...

Out‐of‐school learning: variations in provision and participation in secondary schools

There is overwhelming evidence of the benefits of out‐of‐school learning. It is likely to be particularly important for disadvantaged students who have fewer material and cultural resources in the home to supplement their classroom work. However, despite the research evidence and political moves to promote out‐of‐school learning, it would appear that the provision of such activities is increasingly threatened by resource constraints, regulation and risk aversion. The research reported here set out to investigate how schools experience these and other difficulties and how they differentially affect the provision of and participation in out‐of‐school learning activities. Data, collected through a UK‐wide questionnaire survey and case studies in 12 schools, indicate that there is wide variation in the amount and quality of out‐of‐school learning opportunities that schools provide. The inequalities created by these varying levels and types of provision of out‐of‐school learning activities are compounded by uneven participation. Those schools reporting lower levels of participation were most likely to be those with the highest levels of free school meal eligibility. Particular groups of students that were seen to be ‘missing out’ on learning activities included those from poor homes and from minority ethnic communities (especially Muslim girls). In addition to self‐exclusion from out‐of‐school visits, it would appear that school ‘bans’ on pupil participation are commonplace. These variable patterns of provision and participation reveal significant inequalities in students’ experience of out‐of‐classroom learning.

Supporting adolescent emotional health in schools: a mixed methods study of student and staff views in England

BackgroundSchools have been identified as an important place in which to support adolescent emotional health, although evidence as to which interventions are effective remains limited. Relatively little is known about student and staff views regarding current school-based emotional health provision and what they would like to see in the future, and this is what this study explored.MethodsA random sample of 296 English secondary schools were surveyed to quantify current level of emotional health provision. Qualitative student focus groups (27 groups, 154 students aged 12-14) and staff interviews (12 interviews, 15 individuals) were conducted in eight schools, purposively sampled from the survey respondents to ensure a range of emotional health activity, free school meal eligibility and location. Data were analysed thematically, following a constant comparison approach.ResultsEmergent themes were grouped into three areas in which participants felt schools did or could intervene: emotional health in the curriculum, support for those in distress, and the physical and psychosocial environment. Little time was spent teaching about emotional health in the curriculum, and most staff and students wanted more. Opportunities to explore emotions in other curriculum subjects were valued. All schools provided some support for students experiencing emotional distress, but the type and quality varied a great deal. Students wanted an increase in school-based help sources that were confidential, available to all and sympathetic, and were concerned that accessing support should not lead to stigma. Finally, staff and students emphasised the need to consider the whole school environment in order to address sources of distress such as bullying and teacher-student relationships, but also to increase activities that enhanced emotional health.ConclusionStaff and students identified several ways in which schools can improve their support of adolescent emotional health, both within and outside the curriculum. However, such changes should be introduced as part of a wider consideration of how the whole school environment can be more supportive of students' emotional health. Clearer guidance at policy level, more rigorous evaluation of current interventions, and greater dissemination of good practice is necessary to ensure adolescents' emotional health needs are addressed effectively within schools.

Faith schools and pupils' progress through primary education

The impact of faith schools on the performance and progress of their pupils has been studied using data from the National Pupil Database (NPD). The value‐added analysis was carried out using multilevel modelling, controlling for prior attainment as well as a range of background variables, including ethnicity, sex, eligibility for free school meals (FSM), alternative measures of deprivation based on census information, special educational needs (SEN) and English as an additional language (EAL). The analysis confirmed that all faith schools, in particular, Roman Catholic and Church of England schools, made slightly more progress with their pupils than non‐faith schools. It also showed that pupils with SEN attending faith schools performed better at key stage 2 than pupils with SEN in non‐faith schools.

Validation of the Ford Score as a Measure for Predicting the Level of Emotional and Behavioural Problems in Mainstream Schools

Emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) are common in children, and forecasting their prevalence in schools is of interest to both academic researchers and local authorities. Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is one measure often used for this purpose. The article presents the first independent validation of a simple numerical score, the Ford score, which predicts the level of EBD within schools using routinely collected school variables on eligibility for free school meals, special educational needs, unauthorised absences and permanent exclusions. The research tested the predictive utility of the Ford score in the English sub-sample of the British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey, 2004. This gave a sample of 6,379 children aged 5-16 in 3,117 schools, with mental health being assessed through clinician-assigned psychiatric diagnoses and through brief questionnaires filled in by parents, teachers and young people. The Ford score was found to be highly predictive of the level of EBD by all four of these measures, with a linear effect across the whole range. The estimated prevalence of mental disorder rose from about 5 per cent in schools with low Ford scores to around 14 per cent in high-scoring schools. The Ford score was more highly correlated with all measures of EBD than percent-age of free school meals alone. The Ford score's predictive utility did not seem to be further enhanced, however, by adding in an additional measure of local area deprivation. It was concluded that the Ford score represents a simple and up-to-date school EBD predictor which is more accurate than percentage free school meals alone and which is not notably improved by taking account of a schools' area deprivation.

Fathers’ parenting, adverse life events, and adolescents’ emotional and eating disorder symptoms: the role of emotion regulation

To investigate the role of emotion regulation in the relation between fathers' parenting (specifically warmth, behavioral control and psychological control) and adolescents' emotional and eating disorder symptoms, after adjustment for controls. A total of 203 11-18 year-old students from a school in a socio-economically disadvantaged area in North-East London completed questionnaires assessing emotional symptoms (measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire's (SDQ) Emotional Symptoms Scale), eating disorder symptoms (measured with the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26)), difficulties in emotion regulation (measured with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)), and fathers' overprotection and warmth, measured with the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), as well as behavioral and psychological control. The confounding variables considered were number of proximal (i.e., during the last year) adverse life events experienced, gender, age, and socio-economic status (eligibility for free school meals). Adolescents' difficulties in emotion regulation mediated the link between fathers' psychological control and adolescents' emotional symptoms, but not the link between fathers' parenting and adolescents' eating disorder symptoms, which appeared to be more directly linked to fathers' psychological control and number of proximal adverse life events experienced. Proximal adverse life events experienced were also strongly associated with difficulties in emotion regulation. The study findings have implications for intervention programs which may prove more fruitful in addressing adolescent emotional problems by targeting underlying emotion regulation abilities, and in addressing adolescent eating disorder symptoms by protecting adolescents with a recent experience of multiple adverse life events. Parenting programs also stand to benefit from the evidence presented in this study that paternal psychological control may have uniquely harmful consequences for adolescent development through the hampering or atrophying of emotion regulation abilities and the encouragement of eating disorders.

Moving on from free school meals: national census data can describe the socio-economic background of the intake of each school in England

Background: Data for England from the national census can provide the socio-economic background of individual pupils and therefore the intake of schools. In many respects, this is more useful than the conventional measure of ‘free school meals’, which has historically been used in the UK as a proxy measure for disadvantage. Prior to the advent of the English Pupil-level Annual School Census in 2001, using census data for research concerning schools was problematic as the immediate location of the school is often socio-economically different to areas in which the pupils live. Now and in future, working with the national census is considerably more attractive as data on individual pupils can be matched and information aggregated to school level to provide measures that reflect intake rather than immediate location. Purpose: This paper discusses the details, merits and uses of this approach. It considers whether derived census data for England can replace or augment the traditional proxy measure for disadvantage, eligibility for free school meals. Sources of evidence: Statistical comparisons of derived data from the 2001 England national census and the free school meals measure were used to clarify strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches. A literature review concerning the measurement of socio-economic disadvantage for educational research provided background to the discussion. Educational researchers at the UK's National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) provided details of what variables from the 2001 national census would be useful to derive. Data descriptions provided with the English Pupil-level Annual School Census and the 2001 England national census formed the basis of the data derivation. Main argument: Eligibility for free school meals has a number of problems when used as a proxy measure for disadvantage. The use of derived national census data to illustrate the socio-economic background of pupils and schools' intake is free of these problems. However, it has its own collection of setbacks that should determine how and when it is used. Conclusions: Derived national census data should be used in conjunction with eligibility for free school meals to enhance our knowledge of the important part background has to play in the education of children in England.

Are English local authorities' practices on housing and council tax benefit administration meeting race equality requirements?

This paper investigates the extent to which the national and local state are meeting the requirements of race relations legislation in the area of means-tested housing and council tax benefits. Compliance with the prioritized duties is assessed in the context of both the wider issues driving the race equality agenda and more detailed arguments about managerial regimes and the central role of data. Two specific examples are pursued: the capacity to monitor take-up of benefits through an examination of ethnic monitoring on claims forms at different tiers of local government and an evaluation of progress through an analysis of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate's reports. The evidence indicates that compliance with the Act is patchy and piecemeal and that in many local authorities, even the basic building block for assessing impacts, ethnic monitoring of claimants, is not available. Alternative sources are evaluated, including pooled data from government social surveys and eligibility for free school meals, collected in the annual pupil census. Given the evidence for continuing differentials in the incomes of people from minority ethnic groups, prompt action is needed to ensure that race equality is mainstreamed in benefit administration.

Physical activity and diet relative to socio-economic status and gender in British young people

Objective This study considers the physical activity (PA) and dietary habits of British young people according to socio-economic status (SES). Methods The PA and dietary habits of 98 boys and 101 girls (12.9 0.3 years) from two Welsh secondary schools (school 1 and school 2) were examined. Free school meal eligibility and Census 2001 data were used as indicators of SES. School 1 was designated high SES, while school 2 represented low SES. Participants were classified according to SES. Physical activity was estimated by seven-day recall and questionaire; dietary patterns were assessed using a seven-day food diary and questionnaire. Results Two-thirds of all participants had not taken part in vigorous activity over the last week. Furthermore, 83.8 per cent of participants did not meet the Health Education Authority's5 recommendation of one hour per day moderate activity. Boys were more active than girls, (P ≤ 0.05), but SES did not influence time spent in activity. Ninety-four percent of participants were taken to school via motorized transport. There were no significant differences in fat intake between the sexes or across SES. In addition, 93 per cent of the participants, irrespective of SES, exceeded the 10 per cent saturated fat cut off point recommended by the World Health Organization12 Conclusion Physical activity and dietary patterns are modifiable through suitable lifestyle changes. The present data support the notion that preventative strategies for combating chronic diseases should begin early in life and across socio-economic statuses.

Child Health Assessment at School Entry (CHASE) project: evaluation in 10 London primary schools

To assess the feasibility of implementing the Child Health Assessment at School Entry (CHASE) questionnaire, developed to capture the multiple dimensions of the health of children in their first year at school, and to evaluate data quality, reliability and validity. Parents of 278 year-1 children, from 10 primary schools in two London boroughs, received a parent questionnaire and school nurses completed a separate questionnaire from health and education records for children whose parents consented. Additional data on free school meal eligibility and ethnicity were obtained from the two Local Education Authorities. The parent questionnaire included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and four dimensions of the Child Health Questionnaire Parent Form-28 (CHQ-PF28). Response rate was 61%. The association between school free school meals eligibility and response rate in each school approached significance (r = -0.62, P = 0.05). Data completeness of the parent questionnaire was high (mean 98%). Data completeness of the school nurse questionnaire was more variable (mean 82%). Cronbach's Alpha was greater than 0.6 for four of the five SDQ scales and greater than 0.7 for the two CHQ-PF28 multi-item scales. Relative to parents with qualifications, parents with no qualifications rated their children as having significantly more conduct problems, peer problems, and overall mental health problems (P < 0.01) as assessed by the SDQ, and significantly lower global health (P < 0.01) as assessed by the CHQ-PF28. Children with special educational needs and children with long-standing illness or disability were rated as having significantly lower global health (P < 0.05) than children without these. Sample tables of inter-school and inter-borough comparison of key findings demonstrate considerable differences in physical and mental health status. The questionnaire was acceptable to parents and school nurses, and feasible to implement within existing school resources. Initial tests of internal reliability and validity are satisfactory. These data have the potential to inform interventions and service provision at school and borough level, and public health trends over time.

Modelling Social Segregation

This paper proposes a multilevel modelling approach to the analysis of social segregation in schools. Using data on free school meal eligibility it shows that the underlying variation between schools for the period 1994-1999 has increased. It also shows that the change is greater for selective than non-selective local education authorities (LEAs). It is suggested that the approach of this paper can be applied generally to the modelling of social segregation at institution level.

The Effect of School Size on Exam Performance in Secondary Schools

This paper investigates the relationship between school size and the exam performance of school pupils in their final year of compulsory education. Previous studies of this relationship have been seriously constrained by lack of appropriate data, but the publication of the School Performance Tables for all publicly‐funded schools in England since 1992 permits the construction and testing of a multivariate model which includes school size as one of the explanatory variables. After controlling for factors such as type of school, teaching inputs and eligibility for free school meals, the partial effects of school size on exam performance are estimated. The primary result is that there is a non‐linear relationship (in the form of an inverted‐U) between school size that maximizes the exam performance of schools is estimated to be about 1,200 for 11–16 schools and 1,500 for 11–18 schools. These estimates are considerably higher than the current mean size of schools.

The Relationship between Social Deprivation, as Measured by Individual Free School Meal Eligibility, and Educational Attainment at GCSE in Northern Ireland: a preliminary investigation

AbstractThe paper analyses the impact of socio‐economic status (SES) on academic attainment at the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in Northern Ireland and evaluates the effectiveness of administrative use of free school meal variables at pupil and school level as an indicator of social deprivation. The results of the analysis show that free school meal eligibility at the pupil level is an adequate indicator of deprivation. They also point to a significant school SES contextual effect as measured by the percentage of pupils per school in receipt of free school meals. In the absence of data on prior attainment, the analysis shows that grammar school pupils on average have higher GCSE scores than secondary school pupils and suggests, personal/ family background and type of last school attended being equal, that Catholic pupils perform as well as those of other denominations.