Leadership

The Effects Of Age, Gender And School Type On Primary Maths And Reading Attainment

The attainment gap between summer-born babies and their older peers gradually narrows during their early education but remains significant even at the end of primary school, according to this research by education data analytics company, SchoolDash.

The disadvantage of being the youngest in an academic year at primary school has been well documented and remains a serious cause for concern for parents, many of whom choose to delay their child’s school start date.

Create an account to read this article

£7.00+ VAT

One-off purchase

Purchase and Download today

Register for free

No Credit Card required

Register for free
Access to 3 free articles
Free TeachingTimes Report every month

array(8) {
  ["distinct_key"]=>
  string(10) "post#39780"
  ["title"]=>
  string(15) "ECJ 3.1 Reports"
  ["categories"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(13) "Special Needs"
  }
  ["url"]=>
  string(43) "https://www.teachingtimes.com/ecj31reports/"
  ["post_date_timestamp"]=>
  int(1338560162)
  ["objectID"]=>
  string(12) "post-39780-1"
  ["_snippetResult"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(210) "Managing behaviour and sleep problems in disabled children, Effective Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education, Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2010/11"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(356) "... the pre-school, the greater the benefits for children.Attending a secondary school judged by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’ compared to ‘inadequate’ also made a difference.  Theeffects are equivalent to between one or two years of schooling for English, maths and science at the end of Key Stage 3.Students from ..."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
    }
  }
  ["_highlightResult"]=>
  array(4) {
    ["title"]=>
    array(3) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(15) "ECJ 3.1 Reports"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(0) {
      }
    }
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(210) "Managing behaviour and sleep problems in disabled children, Effective Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education, Pupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2010/11"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(2) {
        [0]=>
        string(6) "school"
        [1]=>
        string(7) "primary"
      }
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(5872) "benefits even after 10 years, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.The academic effectiveness of the primary school still mattered at age 14.Mothers’ qualifications continue to have a strong association with teenagers’ academic success.Pre-school quality matters for all children, but was especially important for those from disadvantaged backgrounds or forchildren who had fewer opportunities for learning at home, because it reduced the risk of poorer outcomes for these groups.The higher the quality of the pre-school, the greater the benefits for children.Attending a secondary school judged by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’ compared to ‘inadequate’ also made a difference.  Theeffects are equivalent to between one or two years of schooling for English, maths and science at the end of Key Stage 3.Students from ‘inadequate’ schools also displayed significantly poorer social behaviours.Other school-related findings include:KS3 students had better attainment when they said they ‘enjoyed school’.Students who said their schools placed a higher ’emphasis on learning’ had higher attainment – they gained half a nationalcurriculum level in English and science and three-quarters of a level in maths.Attainment was also higher where students reported a more ‘positive behavior’ climate.  This made the difference ofapproximately a half of a national curriculum level or equivalent to about 1-2 years of schooling.Spending two to three hours a night on homework meant students were much more likely to do well in English, mathsand science and to show better behaviour.  These effects were very strong and made a difference of between 1-2 nationalcurriculum levels.Meanwhile, individual, family and social background continue to influence 14-year-olds’ outcomes:The gender gap widened during KS3, with girls making more progress in all three core subjects.Children who had multiple disadvantages in the early years had a higher risk of poorer social-behavioural development andlower attainment.Autumn-born students made more progress and did better in school.There is an increasing, though not strong, neighbourhood effect. Higher levels of deprivation in an area predicted poorernnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn�Vol 3.1 n www.teachingtimes.comDevelopments/reportsEvery Child JournalPupil Absence in Schools in England, Including Pupil Characteristics: 2010/11This DfE report reveals that almost 400,000 persistently absent children missed at least a month of school in the 2010/11 school year.The statistics also show that children on free school meals, or those with special educational needs, were around three times morelikely to be persistently absent.This Statistical First Release reports on absence in primary, secondary and special schools, city technology colleges andacademies during the 2010/11 school year. It updates and supplements information published in the October release – ‘PupilAbsence in Schools in England, Autumn Term 2010 and Spring Term 2011’. It is based on pupil level absence data collected via theSchool Census. The release provides information on the levels of absence (authorised, unauthorised and overall) by type of school;absence rates by pupil characteristics (such as gender, free school meal eligibility, ethnic group and special educational needs); thepercentage of pupils by number of days absence; as well as summary statistics on persistent absentees (the percentage of absencethese pupils account for; their characteristics; the number of schools where the percentage of persistent absentees falls within certainranges; and information on the reasons for absence).Main findings:Of pupils who miss more than 50 per cent of school, only three per cent manage to achieve five A* to Cs, including English andmaths.Of pupils who miss between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of school, only 35 per cent manage to achieve five A* to C GCSEs,including English and maths.Of pupils who miss less than five per cent of school, 73 per cent achieve five A* to Cs, including English and maths.Overall pupil absence in schools in England continued to fall. The overall absence rate decreased from six per cent in 2009/10 to5.8 per cent in 2010/11.More than a million pupils (15.8 per cent) missed half a day or more of school per week, equating to 10 per cent of school timemissed.Authorised absence has fallen to 4.7 per cent in 2010/11 from five per cent in 2009/10.Unauthorised absence has increased to 1.1 per cent – a rise of 0.1 of a percentage point on 2009/10. The rate of unauthorisedabsence has changed very little over the last five years.Term-time holidays remain a major reason for absence and in 2010/11 increased to 9.5 per cent of overall absence, from 9.3 percent the previous year. Illness continues to be the most common reason for absence in schools, accounting for 59 per cent.Overall absence:The overall absence rate across state-funded primary and secondary schools decreased, from 6.0 per cent to 5.8 per cent,continuing the recent trend.The overall absence rate in state-funded primary schools decreased, from 5.2 per cent to five per cent, continuing the recenttrend.The overall absence rate in state-funded secondary schools decreased, from 6.9 per cent to 6.5 per cent, continuing the trend.Persistent absence:In all schools, the percentage of children persistently absent fell from 6.8 per cent to 6.1 per cent – 392,305 children.In state-funded primary schools, the percentage of children persistently absent fell from 4.4 per cent to"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(8) {
        [0]=>
        string(7) "effects"
        [1]=>
        string(3) "age"
        [2]=>
        string(6) "gender"
        [3]=>
        string(6) "school"
        [4]=>
        string(4) "type"
        [5]=>
        string(7) "primary"
        [6]=>
        string(5) "maths"
        [7]=>
        string(10) "attainment"
      }
    }
    ["categories"]=>
    array(1) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(13) "Special Needs"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Special Needs

ECJ 3.1 Reports

1 Jun 2012

array(8) {
  ["distinct_key"]=>
  string(10) "post#40647"
  ["title"]=>
  string(59) "The impact of family worklessness on children’s education"
  ["categories"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(13) "Special Needs"
  }
  ["url"]=>
  string(80) "https://www.teachingtimes.com/theimpactoffamilyworklessnessonchildrenseducation/"
  ["post_date_timestamp"]=>
  int(1371559923)
  ["objectID"]=>
  string(12) "post-40647-0"
  ["_snippetResult"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(206) "The UK has a higher proportion of children living in workless households than almost any other country in the European Union. So what impact does this have on children’s education? Ingrid Schoon explains."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(390) "... the association between parentalworklessness and education outcomes during the early years. Thecontribution of this paper is that it assesses the impact of parentalworklessness in the primary school years, as well as in adolescence togain a better understanding of the effects of parental worklessnesson children of different age groups. What the ..."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
    }
  }
  ["_highlightResult"]=>
  array(4) {
    ["title"]=>
    array(3) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(59) "The impact of family worklessness on children’s education"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(0) {
      }
    }
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(3) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(206) "The UK has a higher proportion of children living in workless households than almost any other country in the European Union. So what impact does this have on children’s education? Ingrid Schoon explains."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(4) "none"
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(0) {
      }
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(5713) "Vol 3.5 n www.teachingtimes.comResearch/policyEvery Child Journal52The UK has a higher proportion of children living inworkless households than almost any other countryin the European Union. So what impact does thishave on children’s education? Ingrid Schoonexplains.The UK has a slightly higher proportion of its children living inworkless households than almost any other European Unioncountry, second only to Ireland and almost twice that inFrance and Germany. Figures from Eurostat show that 11.9%of adults age 18-59 were living in workless households in the UK in2010 compared to an average of 10.4% of adults in all 27 EU countries.This situation is not likely to improve in the near future, given thecurrent economic depression and increasing pressures on familieswith dependent children. Considering the relatively high prevalence ofchildren living in workless households in the UK, its potential impact onchildren’s outcomes is obviously of high policy importance.The existing literature suggests that growing up in a worklesshousehold can have adverse long-term effects.2 Living in a worklesshousehold has been found to be negatively associated with laterThe impact of familyworklessness onchildren’s educationwww.teachingtimes.com n Vol 3.5Research/policy Every Child Journal53educational and occupational outcomes and persistent dependenceon social security benefits. Children growing up in poor or worklesshouseholds are more likely to be workless or poor themselves asadults, as compared to children who grow up in households wheresomeone is in work. With rising unemployment rates there is nowincreasing concern about generations of families who have neverworked2,3 and about the potential scarring effects of householdworklessness on the future labour market experiences of the childrenof today.4The risks for children’s development from living in a worklesshousehold tend to be higher when they are younger2, although thereare relatively few studies examining the association between parentalworklessness and education outcomes during the early years. Thecontribution of this paper is that it assesses the impact of parentalworklessness in the primary school years, as well as in adolescence togain a better understanding of the effects of parental worklessnesson children of different age groups. What the study adds to previousresearch is that it provides evidence from current cohorts of parentsand their children. Furthermore we took into account the role ofmultiple, interlinked risk factors (such as socio-economic factors,family structure, and health) and the duration and timing of parentalworklessness. We also examined the different channels through whichworklessness might operate to assess potential protective factorsthat exist within the family and in the wider social context that cancounterbalance the negative influences of parental worklessness ontheir children.The DataWe drew on data collected for the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS)and the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). TheMillennium Cohort Study (MCS) is an ongoing survey of 18,818babies born between September 2000 and January 2002 into 18552families living in the UK. For comparison reasons we have concentrated on MCS familiesliving in England. Data collections took place at ages 9 months, 3, 5, and 7 years. Dataare currently being collected for 11 years olds and a future wave is planned to take placeat age 14, in 2014. Data have been collected from parents, children, teachers and healthvisitors, comprising personal interviews and self-completion questionnaires. The datainclude information on socio-demographic family characteristics, children’s cognitive,social, emotional and behavioural development, health and well-being. The LongitudinalStudy of Young People in England (LSYPE) is a panel study of about 15,000 youngpeople born in 1989/90. Data collection for LSYPE started in 2004, at age 13/14 withannual follow up interviews collecting data from different sources, including informationfrom the young people and their parents. LSYPE data have been linked to administrativeeducation databases, such as the National Pupil Database and Individual Learner Record,to provide a record of the young person’s education achievement.In both data sets a household was identified as workless when all parents living inthe household were out of work – i.e. in a two-parent family both parents were not inwork; or in a single parent family the single parent was not in work. In MCS the period ofobservation was between 2001 and 2008 (assessments during 2001/2, 2003/4, 2005/6and 2007/8) and in LSYPE annual assessments were made between 2004 and 2006. Bothdatasets are longitudinal which allowed us to distinguish between families who werepersistently workless over the period, those who moved in or out of worklessness andthose who were continuously in work. Regarding educational outcomes we focus here onKey-stage 1 attainment (maths, reading, writing and science assessment) at age 7 for theAbout the researchThis article is based on a project funded bythe Department of Education to examine howparental worklessness impacts on educationalachievement of dependent children in thehousehold. The research carried out by IngrisSchool (institute of Education) Matt Barnes(National Centre for Social Research), SamParsons (University of Cambridge), Anna Vignoles(Institute of Education, University of London),and was conducted by the Centre for the Analysisof Youth Transitions (CAYT) and a final report ispublished on the DfE website.1 The study showedthat parental"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(7) {
        [0]=>
        string(7) "effects"
        [1]=>
        string(3) "age"
        [2]=>
        string(6) "school"
        [3]=>
        string(7) "primary"
        [4]=>
        string(5) "maths"
        [5]=>
        string(7) "reading"
        [6]=>
        string(10) "attainment"
      }
    }
    ["categories"]=>
    array(1) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(13) "Special Needs"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Special Needs

The impact of family worklessness on children’s education

18 Jun 2013

array(8) {
  ["distinct_key"]=>
  string(10) "post#39671"
  ["title"]=>
  string(54) "Influences On Students' Development From Age 11 – 14"
  ["categories"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "Leadership"
  }
  ["url"]=>
  string(65) "https://www.teachingtimes.com/influences-student-homework_100412/"
  ["post_date_timestamp"]=>
  int(1333550325)
  ["objectID"]=>
  string(12) "post-39671-0"
  ["_snippetResult"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(302) "... English, maths and science. The study tracked the progress of 3,000 children over the past 15 years and showed that spending any time doing homework is beneficial, but the effects were greater for students who put in two to three hours a night.
Leadership Briefing issue 6.09 (70)"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(412) "... aspirations and setting high standards for them.· For many children, the effects of disadvantage start early and continue throughout their school years.· High-quality pre-school has lasting benefits even after 10 years, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.· The academic effectiveness of the primary school still mattered at age ..."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
    }
  }
  ["_highlightResult"]=>
  array(4) {
    ["title"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(63) "Influences On Students' Development From Age 11 – 14"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(1) {
        [0]=>
        string(3) "age"
      }
    }
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(455) "This new study published by Department for Education shows that spending more than two hours a night doing homework is linked to achieving better results in English, maths and science. The study tracked the progress of 3,000 children over the past 15 years and showed that spending any time doing homework is beneficial, but the effects were greater for students who put in two to three hours a night.
Leadership Briefing issue 6.09 (70)"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(2) {
        [0]=>
        string(7) "effects"
        [1]=>
        string(5) "maths"
      }
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(5391) "ResourceEFFECTIVE PRE-SCHOOL, PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATIONOriginal DocumentEffective Pre-School, Primary And Secondary Education – Report From The Key Stage 3: Influences On Students’ Development From Age 11 – 14. This new study published by Department for Education shows that spending more than two hours a night doing homework is linked to achieving better results in English, maths and science. The study tracked the progress of 3,000 children over the past 15 years and showed that spending any time doing homework is beneficial, but the effects were greater for students who put in two to three hours a night.KeywordsHomework, English, maths, science, school, aspirations, students, parents, backgroundsSummaryThis new study published by Department for Education shows that spending more than two hours a night doing homework is linked to achieving better results in English, maths and science. The study tracked the progress of 3,000 children over the past 15 years and showed that spending any time doing homework is beneficial, but the effects were greater for students who put in two to three hours a night.The study found that students who reported that they enjoyed school achieved better results, and it showed that working-class parents can help their children succeed despite social disadvantages by having high aspirations for them.Children who did well from disadvantaged backgrounds were backed by parents who valued learning and encouraged extra-curricular activities. The reseach showed that parents’ own resilience in the face of hardship provided a role model for their children’s efforts.The study underlines the importance of a good primary school. Children who attended an academically effective primary school did better at maths and science in later life.The research was conducted by academics from the Institute of Education, Oxford and Birkbeck College, part of the university of London.Main Findings:· Secondary schools with a strong emphasis on learning and a good behavior climate promoted better academic attainment and more positive social behaviours amongst teenagers.· At age 14 students’ academic attainment and progress are still strongly influenced by the education level of their parents, especially their mothers.· Working class parents can help their children ‘succeed against the odds’ by having high aspirations and setting high standards for them.· For many children, the effects of disadvantage start early and continue throughout their school years.· High-quality pre-school has lasting benefits even after 10 years, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.· The academic effectiveness of the primary school still mattered at age 14.· Mothers’ qualifications continue to have a strong association with teenagers’ academic success.· Pre-school quality matters for all children, but was especially important for those from disadvantaged backgrounds or for children who had fewer opportunities for learning at home, because it reduced the risk of poorer outcomes for these groups.  The higher the quality of the pre-school, the greater the benefits for children.· Attending a secondary school judged by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’ compared to ‘inadequate’ also made a difference.  The effects are equivalent to between one or two years of schooling for English, maths and science at the end of Key Stage 3.  Students from ‘inadequate’ schools also displayed significantly poorer social behaviours.Other school-related findings include:· KS3 students had better attainment when they said they ‘enjoyed school’.· Students who said their schools placed a higher ’emphasis on learning’ had higher attainment — they gained half a national curriculum level in English and science and three-quarters of a level in maths.· Attainment was also higher where students reported a more ‘positive behavior’ climate.  This made the difference of approximately a half of a national curriculum level or equivalent to about 1-2 years of schooling.· Spending two to three hours a night on homework meant students were much more likely to do well in English, maths and science and to show better behaviour.  These effects were very strong and made a difference of between 1-2 national curriculum levels.Meanwhile, individual, family and social background continue to influence 14-year-olds’ outcomes:· The gender gap widened during KS3, with girls making more progress in all three core subjects.· Children who had multiple disadvantages in the early years had a higher risk of poorer social-behavioural development and lower attainment.· Autumn-born students made more progress and did better in school.· There is an increasing, though not strong, neighbourhood effect. Higher levels of deprivation in an area predicted poorer behaviour and attainment.ActionNotesAuthorR ChimaDate CreatedApril 2012Enquiries to:raspal.chima@yahoo.co.uk(Authoring Unit)Month / YearPage 1 of 1©Birmingham City Council"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(7) {
        [0]=>
        string(7) "effects"
        [1]=>
        string(3) "age"
        [2]=>
        string(6) "gender"
        [3]=>
        string(6) "school"
        [4]=>
        string(7) "primary"
        [5]=>
        string(5) "maths"
        [6]=>
        string(10) "attainment"
      }
    }
    ["categories"]=>
    array(1) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(10) "Leadership"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Leadership

Influences On Students' Development From Age 11 – 14

4 Apr 2012

array(8) {
  ["distinct_key"]=>
  string(10) "post#39485"
  ["title"]=>
  string(57) "Academic Outcomes In English, Maths And Science In Year 9"
  ["categories"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "Leadership"
  }
  ["url"]=>
  string(77) "https://www.teachingtimes.com/academic-outcomes-english-maths-science_130212/"
  ["post_date_timestamp"]=>
  int(1328727056)
  ["objectID"]=>
  string(12) "post-39485-0"
  ["_snippetResult"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(381) "This DfE research brief summarises the findings of a study that looked how the relationships between students and their home, pre-school, primary school and secondary school experiences impact their academic attainment in English, maths and science of Year 9 students at secondary school.
Leadership Briefing 6.08 (68)"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(2) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(478) "... Year 9 students at secondary school.KeywordsStudents, home, pre-school, primary school, secondary school, experiences, academic attainment, English, maths, science, Year 9, studentsSummaryThe Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education Project (EPPSE) has investigated the academic and social-behavioural development of approximately 3,000 children from the age of three ..."
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
    }
  }
  ["_highlightResult"]=>
  array(4) {
    ["title"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(66) "Academic Outcomes In English, Maths And Science In Year 9"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(1) {
        [0]=>
        string(5) "maths"
      }
    }
    ["excerpt"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(381) "This DfE research brief summarises the findings of a study that looked how the relationships between students and their home, pre-school, primary school and secondary school experiences impact their academic attainment in English, maths and science of Year 9 students at secondary school.
Leadership Briefing 6.08 (68)"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(4) {
        [0]=>
        string(6) "school"
        [1]=>
        string(7) "primary"
        [2]=>
        string(5) "maths"
        [3]=>
        string(10) "attainment"
      }
    }
    ["content"]=>
    array(4) {
      ["value"]=>
      string(6324) "ResourceACADEMIC OUTCOMES IN ENGLISH, MATHS AND SCIENCE IN YEAR 9Original DocumentEffective Pre-School, Primary And Secondary Education Project (EPPSE 3-14) – Influences On Students’ Attainment And Progress In Key Stage 3: Academic Outcomes In English, Maths And Science In Year 9. This DfE research brief summarises the findings of a study that looked how the relationships between students and their home, pre-school, primary school and secondary school experiences impact their academic attainment in English, maths and science of Year 9 students at secondary school.KeywordsStudents, home, pre-school, primary school, secondary school, experiences, academic attainment, English, maths, science, Year 9, studentsSummaryThe Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education Project (EPPSE) has investigated the academic and social-behavioural development of approximately 3,000 children from the age of three since 1997.This DfE research brief summarises the findings of a study that looked how the relationships between students and their home, pre-school, primary school and secondary school experiences impact their academic attainment in English, maths and science of Year 9 students at secondary school.This brief also highlights the influences of secondary school on students’ attainment in the core curriculum areas and studies their academic progress across Key Stage 3 between the ages of 11 and 14. Key Findings:· Differences in attainment related to background influences which emerged early (at age 3) have remained fairly stable through to the end of Key Stage 3 (KS3; age 14). Both mothers’ and fathers’ (to a lesser extent) educational level strongly predicted attainment as measured by Teacher Assessment levels (TA) in Year 9 and also progress across KS3.· Girls had significantly better attainment in English than boys and also made more progress in English, maths and science over KS3.· Older students (autumn-born compared with summer-born) in a year group showed higher attainment and appeared to increase their advantage by making more progress over KS3.· Other moderately strong predictors of attainment in all core subjects included the early years home learning environment (HLE), birth weight, family income and free school meal (FSM) status. For English only, a lower family income and FSM status also predicted poorer progress across KS3.· Students who lived in disadvantaged neighbourhoods had poorer attainment, over and above child and family characteristics, although these neighbourhood effects are relatively small compared to those of the individual student and family measures.· Both pre-school quality and pre-school effectiveness continued to predict students’ later academic attainment in Year 9, even after controlling for background characteristics.· The early experience of high quality pre-school predicted better outcomes for maths and science at age 14, but not for English. Pre-school effectiveness1 had a continuing effect on English (for pre-schools effective in promoting pre-reading skills), maths and science (for pre-schools effective in promoting early number concepts). However, these effects were weaker than at younger ages.· The continued benefits of pre-school were most evident for students who went on to attend secondary schools of medium or low academic effectiveness. This is in line with earlier results which showed that pre-school had a similar ‘protective’ effect on attainment at the end of Key Stage 2.· Having attended a more academically effective3 primary school continued to predict significantly better academic attainment for EPPSE students in maths and science, but not English at the end of KS3.· Students who had experienced a positive transition from primary school (in terms of gaining familiarity with new routines and continuity in the curriculum) were more likely to have higher attainment in all core subjects and also to make better progress in maths and science at age 14.· Two Ofsted measures of the secondary school’s quality (inspectors’ judgments of ‘quality of pupils’ learning’ and ‘learners’ attendance’) predicted better attainment and progress for the EPPSE sample. Students who attended an ‘outstanding’ secondary school had better attainment in English, maths and science and made better progress in English and maths (taking account of students’ individual and family background influences) than those who attended a school judged as ‘inadequate’. For science, only those who attended a secondary school judged as ‘good’ rather than ‘inadequate’ made significantly more progress.· Students’ views of their secondary school’s ‘emphasis on learning’ predicted significantly higher attainment and greater progress in all three core subjects.· Students’ views of a number of secondary school processes predicted attainment and progress. Students who rated their secondary school more favourably in terms of ‘behavioural climate’ and the ‘emphasis on learning’ had significantly better attainment in all three subjects, taking account of other influences.· Time spent on homework, as reported by students, was a relatively strong predictor of better attainment and progress in all three core areas. Spending any amount of time was beneficial, but the strongest effects were for spending 2-3 hours per day after school.· There were strong and positive links between students’ ‘academic self-concept’ (whether they felt they were good at a subject) for English and maths and their attainment in these"
      ["matchLevel"]=>
      string(7) "partial"
      ["fullyHighlighted"]=>
      bool(false)
      ["matchedWords"]=>
      array(7) {
        [0]=>
        string(7) "effects"
        [1]=>
        string(3) "age"
        [2]=>
        string(6) "school"
        [3]=>
        string(7) "primary"
        [4]=>
        string(5) "maths"
        [5]=>
        string(7) "reading"
        [6]=>
        string(10) "attainment"
      }
    }
    ["categories"]=>
    array(1) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(10) "Leadership"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Leadership

Academic Outcomes In English, Maths And Science In Year 9

8 Feb 2012