23 results
Search Results
2. Educational attainment in the short and long term: was there an advantage to attending faith, private, and selective schools for pupils in the 1980s?
- Author
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Sullivan, Alice, Parsons, Samantha, Green, Francis, Wiggins, Richard D., Ploubidis, George, and Huynh, Timmy
- Subjects
- *
ACADEMIC achievement , *BRITISH education system , *RELIGIOUS schools , *CATHOLIC schools , *ELEMENTARY education , *CHILDREN - Abstract
This paper asks whether private, selective, and faith schools in England and Wales in the 1980s provided an academic advantage to their pupils, both in the short and longer term. Using longitudinal data from the 1970 British Cohort Study, we examine academic outcomes in compulsory schooling and further education, and the highest qualification gained by age 42. School sector differences are substantially attenuated by controlling for prior pupil characteristics. Nevertheless, a residual effect of private, grammar, and secondary modern schooling remains, both in the short and long term, controlling for both pupil and school characteristics. In the case of faith schools, however, the apparent advantage is restricted to the short term once pupil characteristics are controlled. A unique feature of our analysis is that we control for the individual’s faith of upbringing, which is important in reducing what could otherwise be seen as a distinctive Catholic school advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. What happened to the Beacon schools? Policy reform and educational equity.
- Author
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Smith, Emma
- Subjects
- *
EDUCATIONAL change , *EDUCATION policy , *BRITISH education system , *EDUCATIONAL equalization , *ACADEMIC achievement , *SECONDARY education - Abstract
This paper considers the impact of the Beacon schools initiative on the social and academic characteristics of secondary schools in England. The Beacon schools programme ran from 1998 to 2004 and epitomised the (then) Labour government’s focus on school improvement through diversity, collaboration and partnership. This paper looks at variation in the academic and social characteristics of the 322 secondary Beacon schools over a nine-year period. The findings show that Beacon schools were among the most advantaged state schools in England and while they continue to outperform the general school population, the data suggest that the performance gap has decreased and there is little evidence that Beacon status conferred an advantage on schools, in terms of standard measures of academic success. The Beacon school initiative exemplifies some of the key issues with policy based education reform. First, its emphasis on collaboration provokes tensions between schools that are increasingly in competition with each other. Secondly, clearly defined and measurable medium and long term outcomes for the initiative were not prescribed, thus making it difficult to determine the efficacy of the intervention. Finally, that the initiative did not appear to have any appreciable effect on the social and academic characteristics of the Beacon schools raises issues about the usefulness of externally prescribed interventions and the potential that they have to make a real difference to educational equity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. The construction of British Chinese educational success: exploring the shifting discourses in educational debate, and their effects.
- Author
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Francis, Becky, Mau, Ada, and Archer, Louise
- Subjects
- *
BRITISH education system , *CHINESE-speaking students , *EDUCATIONAL attainment , *SOCIOECONOMIC factors , *ACADEMIC achievement , *TEACHERS - Abstract
The high achievement of British Chinese students in the British education system is established in the official literature and has recently been subject to increased attention and comment; albeit it remains the case that few studies have asked students or their families about the factors contributing to their success. This paper revisits findings from an earlier research project that investigated the extent to which British Chinese students and their parents value education (and their rationales), their experiences of British education, and the construction of British Chinese students by their teachers. The study revealed the ‘hidden racisms’ experienced by British Chinese students, the problematisation of their perceived approaches to learning by British teachers in spite of their high attainment, and the benefits, costs, and consequences of their valuing of education. This article contextualises these prior findings within more recent discourses and debates around ‘Chinese success’, precipitated by increased policy attention to the educational attainment of different groups of students, especially from low socio-economic backgrounds. It argues that these discourses on one hand elevate Chinese successes and teaching methods (in contrast to prior narratives), but on the other they continue to exoticise and ‘Other’ the British Chinese, misrecognising educational practices common among White middle-class parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Thriving amid the performative demands of the contemporary audit culture: a matter of school context.
- Author
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Keddie, Amanda
- Subjects
- *
EDUCATIONAL accountability , *SCHOOL environment , *ACADEMIC achievement , *EDUCATION policy , *BRITISH education system , *SCHOOLS , *TEENAGERS , *SECONDARY education - Abstract
The predominant focus in this paper is on issues of school context and, in particular, on the dimensions of context at a large English comprehensive school that enable it to thrive within the current demands of the contemporary audit culture. Featuring interview data gathered from a number of senior educators, the paper draws on Braun et al's. (Braun, A., S. Ball, M. Maguire, and K. Hoskins. 2011. "Taking Context Seriously: Towards Explaining Policy Enactments in the Secondary School." Discourse: Studies in the Politics of Education 32 (4): 585 -596) heuristic device for thinking about the 'situated', 'professional' and 'external' dimensions of context at the school. This device supports an analysis of the school's intake (in particular the high cultural and class related aspirations of parents and students) and its values (namely the school's traditional ethos of academic and behavioural excellence). The central argument of the paper is that these contextual dimensions contribute significantly to the school's capacity to forge a worthy school identity within the current hyperaccountable and competitive environment where academic achievement (along increasingly narrow and conservative lines) and maintaining standards in relation to this achievement are utmost priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
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6. CSN demand the evidence for Blair's White Paper claims.
- Subjects
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BRITISH education system , *ACADEMIC achievement , *LEARNING communities , *LEARNED institutions & societies - Abstract
Reports on the challenge issued by the Children's Services Network (CSN) in connection to the Education White Paper of the British government in 2006. Claims made by the government as stated on its White Paper; Reference to a report from the National Audit Office in 2003; Remarks from Martin Rogers, coordinator of the CSN.
- Published
- 2006
7. The early academic progress of children with special educational needs.
- Author
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Parsons, Samantha and Platt, Lucinda
- Subjects
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EDUCATION of children with disabilities , *EDUCATIONAL outcomes , *ACADEMIC achievement , *BRITISH education system , *EDUCATIONAL attainment , *SCHOOL children - Abstract
Children with special educational needs ( SEN) are known to experience lower average educational attainment than other children during their school years. But we have less insight into how far their poorer educational outcomes stem from their original starting points or from failure to progress during school. The extent to which early identification with SEN delivers support that enables children who are struggling academically to make appropriate progress is subject to debate. This is complicated by the fact that children with SEN are more likely to be growing up in disadvantaged families and face greater levels of behavioural and peer problems, factors which themselves impact attainment and progress through school. In this paper, we evaluate the academic progress of children with SEN in England, drawing on a large-scale nationally representative longitudinal UK study, the Millennium Cohort Study, linked to administrative records of pupil attainment. Controlling for key child, family and environmental factors, and using the SEN categories employed at the time of data collection, we first establish that children identified with SEN in 2008, when they were age 7, had been assessed with lower academic competence when they started school. We evaluate their progress between ages 5-7 and 7-11. We found that children identified with SEN at age 7 tended to be those who had made less progress between ages 5 and 7 than their comparable peers. However, children with SEN continued to make less progress than their similarly able peers between ages 7 and 11. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
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8. The Effects of Language and Culture on the Achievement of Turkish-speaking Students in British Schools: 1990s to 2004.
- Author
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Baykusoglu, Serkan
- Subjects
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TURKS , *LANGUAGE & culture , *IMMIGRANTS , *MINORITIES , *BRITISH education system , *ACADEMIC achievement - Abstract
In this paper, the achievement of Turkish-speaking students in Britain has been evaluated by taking various factors into consideration. The Turkish community resident in the United Kingdom dates back to the 1930s, when the first settlers arrived and the current population of the Turkish community is estimated to be around 150,000. However, Turkish immigrants and settlers have never been counted as “Turkish” in either surveys or in the national census. This made them invisible, and their diverse needs have not been taken into consideration. In addition, as language ability, culture, gender and schooling had a great effect on achievement, Turkish-speaking pupils struggled in the British educational system. Although, the data relating to the existing Turkish community and its educational history in the United Kingdom are limited, a wide range of literature and government papers have been accessed to support relevant findings. The result of this extensive evaluation shows that Turkish-speaking pupils when compared with other ethnic groups under-achieve in British schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
9. Histories and institutional change: understanding academic development practices in the global 'north' and 'south'.
- Author
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Clegg, Sue
- Subjects
- *
CURRICULUM change , *UNIVERSITIES & colleges , *LEARNING strategies , *ACADEMIC achievement , *TEACHING methods , *CURRICULUM , *CRITICAL pedagogy , *EDUCATORS , *BRITISH education system - Abstract
Academic development has played a significant role in creating university 'learning and teaching' as an object of policy scrutiny and intervention. While academic development is a new field, its practices have been productive of new learning and teaching regimes in both the global 'north' and 'south'. This paper explores the emergence of academic development as a practice and the agentic understandings of its actors in creating the academic development project in the face of global unevenness. The paper offers a critical account of the emergence of academic development practice in both the global 'north', drawing on the intertwined histories of the UK and Australia, and in the global 'south', drawing on the example of South Africa. In looking at the ongoing debates about academic development the paper argues that in constituting teaching and learning as its object, other more radical, feminist and critical pedagogies, which are capable of dealing with the power and curricula, were marginalised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
10. Alice in UK An Alice Based Implementation of UK National Computing Curriculum.
- Author
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Razak, Saquib, Gedawy, Huda, Tabet, Nour, Dann, Wanda, and Slater, Don
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BRITISH education system , *ELEMENTARY school curriculum , *ALICE (Computer program language) , *ACADEMIC achievement , *SCHOOL boards - Abstract
Education boards and ministries across the world are realizing the importance of computing education in K-12 as evidenced by changes to grade school curriculum in several countries. Department of Education in UK, recently introduced a new computing programme of study for the National Curriculum in England. In this paper, we present an Alice-based implementation of this curriculum. We present how Alice programming environment can be used to teach the subject content enumerated by the new curriculum. We also present a course plan for year 7 and 8 students with topic lists and schedule. We are currently using this computing course plan in a local schools and also present some initial results of student performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
11. Academic standards and regulatory frameworks: necessary compromises?
- Author
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Stowell, Marie, Falahee, Marie, and Woolf, Harvey
- Subjects
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EDUCATIONAL standards , *UNIVERSITIES & colleges , *BRITISH education system , *CURRICULUM planning , *ACADEMIC achievement , *LEARNING , *HIGHER education - Abstract
Assessment regulations in higher education, which are important for assuring threshold academic standards, reflect institutional cultures and histories, and are shaped by pragmatic concerns about quality indicators such as retention and progression rates, as well as principles of equity. This paper articulates some of the tensions that confront higher education institutions in the development and revision of regulatory frameworks, and describes a survey of assessment regulations from a sample of UK higher education institutions for the first year of undergraduate study. The survey identifies key variations in regulatory policy and practice that challenge assumptions about comparability of academic standards between higher education institutions. These findings imply that student success and progression may not be a simple reflection of academic attainment, and raise questions about notions of equity. It is intended that this research will contribute to informed discussion in the sector about academic standards and the regulatory frameworks underpinning first-year assessment policy and practice, and thus potentially lead to more transparent and consistent practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
12. Counter-narratives of educational excellence: free schools, success, and community-based schooling.
- Author
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Gerrard, Jessica
- Subjects
- *
BRITISH education system , *HISTORY of education policy , *FREE schools , *PLACE-based education , *ACADEMIC achievement , *SOCIAL classes , *EDUCATIONAL objectives , *SOCIALISTS , *SCHOOL children , *TEENAGERS , *ELEMENTARY education , *SECONDARY education , *EDUCATION ,BLACK British - Abstract
The notion of ‘competitive excellence’ is an enduring cornerstone of UK educational policy. Most recently, expanding and adapting New Labour’s Academy project with the introduction of free schools, the Coalition’s approach advances and embeds competitive market-based forms of community engagement in education. Responding to this policy paradigm, this paper draws upon history in order to open up the notion of excellence. Through examining alternative practices of achievement and success in histories of community education, I aim to disturb the unquestioned attachment of educational excellence to the ideals of competitive meritocracy. Comparing across two community educational movements – Socialist Sunday Schools (established 1892) and Black Saturday Schools (established 1968) – I explore how achievement and excellence have been mobilised to very different educational aims. In distinct times and circumstances, both of these community initiatives practiced versions of educational achievement that challenged dominant knowledge hierarchies and underlying assumptions of incapability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
13. How British-Chinese parents support their children: a view from the regions.
- Author
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Gates, Peter and Guo, Xumei
- Subjects
- *
ACADEMIC achievement , *CHINESE-speaking students , *BRITISH education system , *CULTURAL capital , *SCHOOL choice research , *PARENT-student relationships , *BASIC education , *SCHOOL children - Abstract
Although the high level of achievement experienced by British-Chinese pupils in schools is well documented, the Chinese community in the UK is a relatively under-researched ethnic group. There is only patchy information on ways in which British-Chinese parents and children engage with education. It is often presumed the success of Chinese pupils is due to conformist cultural practices leading to the enactment of effective cultural capital. In this paper we examine support strategies adopted by professional and non-professional British-Chinese parents of young people in secondary schools in the East Midlands of England. Through demographic and qualitative interview data we look at how British-Chinese parents support their children’s educational achievement. Our study suggests that the parents adopt similar strategies to those seen in British and North American parents, yet with some significant class nuances related to cultural divergence. This suggests that class influence is less rigorous than other analyses, being supplanted by cultural dispositions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
14. The impact of mothers' adult learning on their children's academic performance at Key Stage 3: evidence from ALSPAC.
- Author
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Sabates, Ricardo, Duckworth, Kathryn, and Feinstein, Leon
- Subjects
- *
ADULT learning , *EDUCATION of mothers , *ACADEMIC achievement , *KEY Stage Three National Tests , *LONGITUDINAL method , *BRITISH education system - Abstract
This paper investigates whether the inter-generational benefits of parental adult education exist over and above the achievement of parental educational qualifications during schooling and whether returns to parental adult learning are greatest for children of parents with low levels of education. Using data from the UK Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, ALSPAC, results show that mothers' participation in adult education is not associated with improvements in their children's academic attainment in English and mathematics at age 14 once the previous parental academic qualifications are included. This lack of relationship was found for the overall sample, and for subgroups defined by the type of adult education (accredited, unaccredited or informal learning), the intensity of learning (duration and engagement) and by mothers' prior educational qualifications. Although our results suggest that maternal adult learning is not a key factor for improvement in children's test scores at age 14, further research is needed to investigate the role of parental adult learning at other stages of children's cognitive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
15. The Role of School Exclusion Processes in the Re-Production of Social and Educational Disadvantage.
- Author
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Gazeley, Louise
- Subjects
- *
SCHOOL discipline , *EDUCATIONAL outcomes , *BRITISH education system , *EDUCATION policy , *ACADEMIC achievement , *SECONDARY education , *LOW-income students , *SOCIAL marginality , *EDUCATION research , *ACHIEVEMENT gap - Abstract
English education policy has increasingly focused on the need to intervene in an intergenerational cycle of poverty and low attainment. The accompanying policy discourse has tended to emphasise the impact of family background on educational outcomes. However, as the capacity of parents to secure positive educational outcomes for their children is closely linked to the quality of their own education, low attainment is rather more closely connected to what happens in schools than this focus suggests. Pupils from groups known to be at increased risk of low attainment are also known to be at increased risk of involvement in the disciplinary processes of schools. This paper draws on the findings of a small-scale qualitative study to highlight some of the limitations in the educational provision accessed by Secondary age pupils involved in school exclusion processes. The assumptions and tensions at practice level that underpinned this provision are also discussed. In the conclusion it is argued that a much stronger focus on the learning of these pupils could improve their attainment and contribute to a reduction in social and educational inequalities in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
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16. Competition, cream-skimming and department performance within secondary schools.
- Author
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Davies, Peter, Telhaj, Shqiponje, Hutton, David, Adnett, Nick, and Coe, Robert
- Subjects
- *
HIGH school curriculum , *EDUCATION research , *ACADEMIC achievement , *SECONDARY education , *ECONOMIC competition , *EDUCATION policy , *BRITISH education system - Abstract
The performance of departments has been largely neglected in previous studies of subject choice in secondary schools. This is a significant omission because analysis at departmental level enables a fuller assessment of the effects of competition and specialisation on pupil performance. This paper examines relationships between both absolute and value-added measures of departmental performance and the likelihood of students being entered for examination in a subject. It examines these relationships with reference to four option subjects: French, German, Geography and History. It utilises data from an Economic and Social Research Council-funded study which examined trends and patterns in departmental effectiveness using a sample of 664 schools which participated in the Yellis monitoring system for a minimum of five years during the period 1995-2002. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
- Full Text
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17. (Mis)Understanding underachievement: a response to Connolly.
- Author
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Gorard, Stephen and Smith, Emma
- Subjects
- *
EDUCATIONAL sociology , *ACHIEVEMENT gap , *ACADEMIC achievement , *BRITISH education system , *UNDERACHIEVEMENT ,SEX differences (Biology) - Abstract
In British Journal of Sociology of Education Volume 29 number 3, 2008, Connolly presented what he termed a 'critical review' of some of our previous work on the relative attainment of male and female students in UK schools. He proposed three general areas for criticism - our use of attainment gaps, our consideration of outcomes other than at specific thresholds, and our querying of the idea of student 'underachievement'. These problems, he claimed, have 'given rise to a number of misleading conclusions that have questionable implications for practice'. However, those of his 'criticisms' with any merit are actually the same as our own conclusions, transmuted by Connolly from our papers that he cites, while his remaining 'criticisms' are based on faulty elementary logic. In case readers have not read our work and were somehow misled by Connolly, we give here a brief reply to each criticism in turn. This matters, because a greater understanding of patterns of attainment and of the nature of underachievement is a precursor to the design of successful initiatives to overcome inequalities in educational opportunity and reward. This is both a practical and an ethical issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
18. An assessment of the extent to which subject variation between the Arts and Sciences in relation to the award of a First Class degree can explain the ‘gender gap’ in UK universities.
- Author
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Woodfield, Ruth and Earl‐Novell, Sarah
- Subjects
- *
ACADEMIC achievement , *EDUCABILITY , *GENDER differences (Psychology) , *COMPULSORY education , *EDUCATION of men , *WOMEN'S education , *BRITISH education system , *EDUCATION research ,SEX differences (Biology) - Abstract
There is a widely recognised national trend for girls to outperform boys at all levels of compulsory schooling. With few exceptions, however, most recent research has reported that, in relation to academic performance at university, men are proportionately over‐represented at the First Class level. A number of general hypotheses have been put forward to explain this phenomenon, including those that assume gender‐linked differences in cognitive and/or personality traits. A smaller proportion of research has given explanatory primacy to the broad subject area studied. More specifically, it has been alleged that the over‐representation of men within the First bracket is largely a function of a ‘compositional effect’ whereby men achieve proportionately more Firsts as there are more of them within the First‐rich Sciences. Based upon analysis of 1,707,408 students graduating between 1995 and 2002, this paper seeks to provide the most comprehensive exploration, to date, of this effect. It confirms that a substantial proportion of the ‘gender gap’ can be explained with reference to the male propensity to take degrees in first‐rich disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
19. A transition Odyssey: pupils' experiences of transfer to secondary school across five decades.
- Author
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Galton, Maurice and McLellan, Ros
- Subjects
- *
STUDENT adjustment , *ACADEMIC achievement , *PRIMARY education , *BRITISH education system , *SCHOOL children , *SECONDARY education - Abstract
This article reviews transition from primary to secondary school over the period from the 1970s to the present day. It first considers the evidence from the earlier period and then at the time of the millennium before reporting on a recent investigation undertaken in four secondary schools. Using the 'five bridges model' of transfer, it compares the changes that have occurred over the five decades and concludes that current transfer practice has regressed so that it now more closely resembles that which took place in the 1970s. Explanations for this shift are offered particularly, the emphasis on 'performativity' and the loss of influence by Local Authorities due to the policy of 'academisation', and some suggestions made for improving transfer practice in the present contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. External examiners: roles and issues.
- Author
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Sheehan J
- Subjects
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BRITISH education system , *DECISION making , *ACADEMIC achievement - Abstract
This paper is based on an analysis of the role of external examiners and a discussion of the various aspects of the role. Fifteen facets of the role have been identified and each facet is discussed with reference to the relevant literature. Among the issues discussed are the powers of external examiners in the decision making process; their role as the custodians of standards; and the significance of their reports. The discussion spans four levels of academic awards including diploma, bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctoral degree and deals with matters of principle as well as the mass of written and other material which external examiners are faced with. Some strengths and weaknesses of the external examining system have been identified and finally a question is raised about its future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1994
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
21. Conceptions of effort among students, teachers and parents within an English secondary school.
- Author
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Stables, Andrew, Murakami, Kyoko, McIntosh, Shona, and Martin, Susan
- Subjects
- *
STRUGGLE , *ABILITY research , *ACADEMIC achievement , *BRITISH education system , *STUDENTS , *TEACHERS , *PARENT attitudes , *ATTITUDE (Psychology) - Abstract
‘Effort’ and ‘ability’ (understood as potential, intelligence or achievement) are concepts widely used in the everyday language of schooling in Britain but each term lacks clear definition of its use in the school context. Meanwhile, the assessment of effort, alongside that of achievement, remains widespread. This article reports on an exploratory case study of conceptions of effort among three major actors in an English secondary school. Qualitative and quantitative data from questionnaires and interviews with teachers, students and parents at an English comprehensive school were collected. Analysis reveals that understandings of ‘effort’ are not uniform. Rather, ‘effort’ is a shorthand term, which can be used variably, therefore can be construed as a tool of negotiation, or a form of investment in a set of aims distinctive to each group or individual case. There is a strong case for more sustained research into the operationalizing of such key concepts in schools and other professional and workplace settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. Why is 'selection' still such a dirty word?
- Author
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Lucas, Geoff
- Subjects
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BRITISH education system , *SELECTIVE admission (School) , *ACADEMIC achievement , *EDUCATIONAL standards - Abstract
In this article the author discusses the controversy over selection within schools in Great Britain. He is critical of the selection process which occurs between students and into different schools and believes that all students would benefit if schools chose them solely on academic achievement at the age of 14. Also investigated are the Black Papers which were issued in the year 1969.
- Published
- 2009
23. Week in perspective.
- Author
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Slater, Jon
- Subjects
- *
BRITISH education system , *ACADEMIC achievement , *SCHOOL closings , *TEACHERS , *PUBLIC opinion - Abstract
Discusses issues and developments in education in Great Britain as of September 22, 2000. Test results of 11-year old students; Closure of hundreds of schools in the aftermath of the blockade of oil refineries by farmers and truckers; Problems in the launch of the Green Paper on Council Funding; Poll results showing that people believe that teachers deserve more respect than they get.
- Published
- 2000
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