tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/educational-outcomes-9751/articleseducational outcomes – The Conversation2022-03-09T19:09:11Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1784262022-03-09T19:09:11Z2022-03-09T19:09:11Z‘I just go to school with no food’ – why Australia must tackle child poverty to improve educational outcomes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450596/original/file-20220308-44826-114p4ii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5760%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>About <a href="https://povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Poverty-in-Australia-2020_Part-1_Overview.pdf">one in six children</a> in Australia live in poverty. These children generally have poorer educational outcomes than more advantaged children. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy/article/who-excludes-young-peoples-experience-of-social-exclusion/F817D2FE8C0742EED5C38669853D680A">Our recently published research</a> shows students who live in poverty also experience more social exclusion at school than their more advantaged peers. </p>
<p>These findings suggests disadvantage at home carries over into disadvantage at school. </p>
<p>Interventions such as anti-bullying programs and increased funding for schools in disadvantaged communities can help. However, our analysis suggests there’s a bigger structural problem. To reduce educational disadvantage, action is needed to reduce child poverty, which has remained stubbornly high since the early 2000s.</p>
<p>In 1987, Prime Minister Bob Hawke famously <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx0IeQQ7WjI">pledged</a> to end child poverty by 1990. As a result of his government’s actions, child poverty initially <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1475-4932.2000.tb00020.x">declined</a> before increasing again. Child poverty rates now are only <a href="https://povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Poverty-in-Australia-2020_Part-1_Overview.pdf">slightly lower</a> than in 1999.</p>
<p>In that time, child poverty has been largely absent from policy agendas. Failure to act on poverty will cripple the <a href="https://theconversation.com/life-chances-policy-must-respond-to-the-real-lives-of-young-people-27425">life chances</a> and productivity of future generations. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">As prime minister, Bob Hawke put child poverty on the agenda with his pledge that no child would live in poverty by 1990.</span></figcaption>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/by-2030-no-australian-child-will-be-living-in-poverty-why-cant-we-promise-that-64166">By 2030, 'no Australian child will be living in poverty' – why can't we promise that?</a>
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<h2>The high costs of social exclusion at school</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy/article/who-excludes-young-peoples-experience-of-social-exclusion/F817D2FE8C0742EED5C38669853D680A#article">Our research</a> has looked at the schooling experiences of 3,535 students aged 13 to 14 in in every state and territory. </p>
<p>Children whose families lacked items most Australian households take for granted, such as cars, computers or holidays, were identified as experiencing family poverty. Children who reported lacking items that most children see as essential were identified as experiencing child deprivation. These items included clothes that allowed them to fit in with other children, and their family having money to send them on school camp. </p>
<p>The proportions living in family poverty or child deprivation were highest among children who experienced multiple forms of disadvantage. One in five children with a disability lived in poverty, as did one in three who had a caring responsibility for a family member. Over one in four Indigenous children and children with a language background other than English also lived in poverty. By comparison, this was the case for only one in eight children who were not part of a marginalised group. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-quarter-of-australian-11-12-year-olds-dont-have-the-literacy-and-numeracy-skills-they-need-148912">One quarter of Australian 11-12 year olds don't have the literacy and numeracy skills they need</a>
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<p>Teachers make great <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1359866X.2019.1602863">efforts to support</a> the education of disadvantaged students. Despite these efforts, children living in poverty have <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/3522482/Breaking-Down-Barriers-Report-1-October-2020.pdf">lower school completion rates</a> and lower scores on national tests such as <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/11_2017/sprp47_low_income_web.pdf">NAPLAN</a>. And our study shows the effects of poverty still permeate school classrooms and playgrounds. </p>
<p>In our study, we asked children how much they agreed with the statement: “At my school, there is a teacher or another adult: who really cares about me; who believes that I will be a success; who listens to me when I have something to say.” The children experiencing deprivation reported less support from their teachers. They also reported higher rates of bullying than non-deprived children. </p>
<p>These experiences were in turn associated with students reporting lower levels of life satisfaction. That’s an early indicator of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716203260078">mental health problems</a> in youth and adulthood. </p>
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<img alt="Upset girl being comforted by teacher in school corridor" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450595/original/file-20220308-126102-1ctut5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Children living in poverty report higher rates of bullying and lower levels of life satisfaction than their more advantaged peers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-children-think-of-economic-inequality-we-did-an-experiment-to-find-out-163262">What do children think of economic inequality? We did an experiment to find out</a>
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<h2>Children’s potential is being stifled</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/">Programme for International Student Assessment</a> (PISA) conducts comparable academic tests of 15-year-old students in all OECD countries. Gaps in test performance between the most socioeconomically advantaged and the most disadvantaged students in Australia have <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/ozpisa/51/">hardly changed</a> since the surveys were launched in 2000. </p>
<p>The gaps for the most recent tests in 2018 represented around three years of education for reading, maths and science literacy. When students fall that far behind, it seriously blights their life chances.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/04250494.2019.1672502">Teachers recognise</a> that children living in poverty face many challenges that impact their learning and relationships. Children also talk about the challenges of poverty. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gerry-Redmond/publication/308894654_Material_Deprivation_and_Capability_Deprivation_in_the_Midst_of_Affluence_The_Case_of_Young_People_in_Australia/links/5af3a3d14585157136c9218f/Material-Deprivation-and-Capability-Deprivation-in-the-Midst-of-Affluence-The-Case-of-Young-People-in-Australia.pdf">One boy explained</a>: </p>
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<p>“My mum would take me to the op shop because I keep on splitting my pants when I kneel down but she can’t afford to buy me new pants. I don’t get pocket money and have to make my own lunch and sometimes I don’t even do that. I just go to school with no food.”</p>
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<p>That such experiences should be associated with poor educational outcomes is not surprising. What is surprising is how badly Australia’s education system is failing to achieve a key objective: to support all children to <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/download/4816/alice-springs-mparntwe-education-declaration/7180/alice-springs-mparntwe-education-declaration/pdf">reach their full educational potential</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/already-badly-off-single-parents-went-dramatically-backwards-during-covid-they-are-raising-our-future-adults-157767">Already badly off, single parents went dramatically backwards during COVID. They are raising our future adults</a>
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<h2>It’s time to focus again on child poverty</h2>
<p>Child poverty and children’s educational disadvantage require different solutions, but they are closely linked. The more poverty there is in Australia, the harder education systems and individual teachers have to work to compensate for its effect on student outcomes. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/gonski-2-0-there-is-evidence-inclusive-schooling-will-help-those-left-behind-95934">Gonski 2.0</a> package of school funding reforms, launched in 2018, aims to at least partially address educational disadvantage. However, it is unlikely to break the poverty-educational outcomes nexus on its own. </p>
<p>The challenge that Hawke set 35 years ago, to end child poverty in Australia, needs to be taken up again. Both the Hawke government’s actions in the years following his pledge and the current Australian government’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic show how this can be done. </p>
<p>After 1987, family payments were significantly increased and targeted to lower-income families. This increased support helped <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333915308_MAKING_A_DIFFERENCE_THE_IMPACT_OF_GOVERNMENT_POLICY_ON_CHILD_POVERTY_IN_AUSTRALIA_1982_TO_1997-98_Paper_Prepared_for_the_26th_General_Conference_of_the_International_Association_for_Research_in_Income">reduce child poverty</a>. </p>
<p>In 2020, in response to the growing COVID-19 emergency, the Morrison government introduced the JobKeeper payment and added the Coronavirus Supplement to the Jobseeker Allowance. Poverty rates <a href="https://povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Build-back-fairer-report-3_FINAL.pdf">declined</a>, at least temporarily, while these supports were in place. </p>
<p>Money does not solve all the problems of child disadvantage. But it <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12187-020-09782-0">does matter</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/young-australians-prospects-still-come-down-to-where-they-grow-up-102640">Young Australians' prospects still come down to where they grow up</a>
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<p>The next Australian government could follow Hawke’s example and set targets to reduce child poverty. History (in Australia and <a href="https://cpag.org.uk/recent-history-uk-child-poverty">elsewhere</a>) suggests that action will follow and child poverty will fall. </p>
<p>Reducing poverty will have positive flow-on effects for children’s well-being, development and educational outcomes. It will also represent a major step towards Australia achieving the UN <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal1">Sustainable Development Goal</a> of halving poverty rates of all men, women and children by 2030.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178426/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerry Redmond receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Australia has a wide gap in educational outcomes between children in poverty and their better-off peers. A new study indicates why reducing child poverty is the best way to lift our educational game.Gerry Redmond, Professor, College of Business, Government & Law, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/941722018-04-09T04:07:05Z2018-04-09T04:07:05ZWill sorting classrooms by ability improve marks? It depends on the mix<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213323/original/file-20180405-189813-nz5w2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's important to carefully select an appropriate pupil mix, especially to support weaker students.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents and teachers are interested in ensuring children perform their best in school. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/lets-go-back-to-grouping-students-by-ability/274362/">Some</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/07/why-grouping-students-by-ability-makes-sense/">believe</a> putting smart students together can improve educational outcomes. But <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780444537072000037">evidence</a> about <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780444534293000041">the impact of classmate or schoolmate quality</a> (as measured by, say, test scores) on individual performance in an educational setting is only just beginning to accumulate.</p>
<p>Establishing the presence and size of peer effects in education is important. Targeted educational interventions for one group of students may spill over to their classmates. Deliberately sorting students may raise the average attainment of pupils in ways other interventions may not.</p>
<h2>Who are your friends?</h2>
<p>The principal aim of <a href="http://goo.gl/cYbcbm">our study</a> was to estimate the impact the quality a student’s class and schoolmates has on academic performance. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213324/original/file-20180405-189795-pq9cma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">It’s important to carefully select an appropriate pupil mix, especially to support weaker students.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as simply taking the outcomes of a student with good peers and comparing those to the outcomes of a student with bad peers, because students tend to choose their peers. The difference in outcomes may be due to differences in other factors that affect peer quality and the academic outcomes simultaneously, such as parental investment in education. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-some-migrant-school-students-do-better-than-their-local-peers-theyre-not-just-smarter-93741">Why some migrant school students do better than their local peers (they're not 'just smarter')</a>
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<p>Also, any particular student is a peer of other students. Thus, this student <a href="https://academic.oup.com/restud/article-abstract/60/3/531/1570385">can influence the outcomes of their peers just as much as their peers affect their outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>A final complication is that students belonging to the same school are exposed to the same factors or shocks that could drive their outcomes. So, any seemingly correlated peer effect may simply be due to exposure to the same environment.</p>
<p>Ideally, one would take a random sample of students, assign half to classrooms with good peers and the other half with bad peers, then take the difference in average outcomes. Obviously, there are sound ethical objections to such an experiment. Instead, we have to rely on a more complicated strategy to estimate the impact of peer quality. In our case, we use changes in one’s peer quality that we believe are not due to self-selection, reflection, or correlated factors to see how these changes translate to individual academic performance.</p>
<p>Using data on English children, our study shows peer quality has a small effect on an individual’s test scores at age 18. But a large proportion of low-ability students has a detrimental impact on the performance of average children. In addition, academically weaker students are influenced most by their peers. All together, putting a weak student in a class with other weak students would be detrimental for all of them.</p>
<p>The variation in peer effects is a particularly interesting result. To demonstrate this, we ranked students by ability. Weaker students are on the left and better students on the right, as measured by their test scores taken at around age 14. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212950/original/file-20180403-189821-1df6vb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Estimated effects of average peer ability at age 14 on test scores taken at age 17–18 by deciles of own ability. The grey area represents 95% confidence intervals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>A one-standard-deviation increase in peer quality (as measured by average test scores earlier in life) improves one’s performance in exams taken at around age 17–18 by over 50 points in the bottom quintile. This effect diminishes as we take better and better students. As we move from left to right, the impact estimate, represented by the red line, declines.</p>
<p>Two studies present findings similar to ours. In both cases, the researchers examine how changes in peer quality affect school performance as students transition from primary to secondary school in the UK. </p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/obes.12095">One of the studies</a> demonstrated that average peer ability has no significant impact on individual performance. </p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2011.02463.x">The other</a> showed less variation in peer effects than what we uncovered. But their outcome is based on performance in tests at age 14, while we used a broader spectrum of academic outcomes. This includes test scores at age 16 and 17–18, and the likelihood of pursuing tertiary education.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-australian-students-academic-potential-still-outweighs-social-circumstances-82441">For Australian students, academic potential still outweighs social circumstances</a>
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<h2>Sorting students more effectively can help weaker students</h2>
<p>Student achievement in school is determined by a <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/145575">variety</a> of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1468-0297.00097">factors</a>. These include parental socioeconomic background, individual ability, non-cognitive skills, and peer composition. </p>
<p>It’s important to carefully select an appropriate pupil mix, especially to support weaker students. But such an adjustment is unlikely to compensate for deficiencies in other areas, such as early-childhood investments at home and teacher quality at school.</p>
<p>Can we do better than randomly sorting students into classes? Yes. When placed with better-performing classmates, weaker students are likely to gain from the improved learning environment, and smarter students are unlikely to be negatively affected.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94172/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>A coauthor of the research paper, Prof Ian Walker of Lancaster University, received support from the Economic and Social Research Council grant "The Long-Term Legacy of School Choice" and the Nuffield Trust grant "Secondary School Choice and Academic Achievement." Alfredo Paloyo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Silvia Mendolia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Weaker students – when placed together with better classmates – can gain from the improved learning environment, and smarter students are unlikely to be negatively affected.Alfredo R. Paloyo, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of WollongongSilvia Mendolia, Senior lecturer in Economics, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/698332016-12-12T09:54:33Z2016-12-12T09:54:33ZIs there really a link between school performance and the Brexit vote?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149248/original/image-20161208-31385-1vw7ree.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Matching Ofsted reports to voting patterns. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">DGLimages/shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Michael Wilshaw, the outgoing head of schools inspectorate Ofsted, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38155858">claimed in a recent interview</a> that there was a direct link between the failure of schools to improve and the vote in favour of Brexit. </p>
<p>Wilshaw specifically spoke about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-close-the-north-south-divide-between-secondary-schools-51607.com/">under-performance of schools</a> in the north and the East Midlands of England and how it had fuelled the sense of the divided nation reflected in the 52% vote in favour of Brexit. Wilshaw suggested that this division was: </p>
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<p>… feeding into a wider malaise that I sense with the Brexit vote, that actually this wasn’t just about leaving Europe, it’s about ‘our needs being neglected, our children are not getting as good a deal as elsewhere’.</p>
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<p>The government, however, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maintained-schools-and-academies-inspections-and-outcomes-as-at-31-august-2016/maintained-schools-and-academies-inspection-outcomes-as-at-31-august-2016">highlighted</a> that across England, 90% of primary schools and 78% of secondary schools were judged good or outstanding at their most recent inspection. </p>
<h2>Boston and Lambeth</h2>
<p>Wilshaw’s comments triggered my curiosity and, along with my colleague Rob Vickers, I decided to explore whether there was a relationship between how schools and their regions are ranked by Ofsted and Brexit voting patterns. </p>
<p>First off, the “top” Brexit voting areas were overwhelmingly in eastern England and not the north, as the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36616028">BBC’s useful referendum analysis map</a> of the percentages who voted for Brexit illustrates. </p>
<p>Putting geography aside, we decided to look at the top ten areas in England which voted Leave and the top ten that voted Remain, as listed by the BBC.</p>
<p>We then searched for schools within a three-mile radius around these areas by using a <a href="https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/find-a-school-in-england">government website</a> which compares school and college performance tables. </p>
<p>Although the government tables don’t state where the centre of the three-mile radius is, they are still useful as they give an overview of Ofsted rankings which can then be mapped to referendum voting areas.</p>
<p>The top voting Brexit area in England was Boston in Lincolnshire, where 75.6% voted Leave. So, if Wilshaw is correct, there should be signs of education underachievement here.</p>
<p>Taking the government’s figures of 90% of primary and 78% of secondary schools being ranked as good or outstanding as the benchmark, we found that 92% of both Boston’s primary and secondary schools are good or outstanding – above the national figure. </p>
<p>We then looked at the top voting Remain areas for comparison. In the case of Lambeth in London – the top Remain voting area with 79% voting to stay – we found that almost 92% of the primary schools and all 100% of secondary schools serving the area are good or outstanding. </p>
<p>We also examined the areas that were almost 50% Leave and 50% Remain, such as High Peak in Derbyshire, where 50.5% of people voted Leave and 49.5% Remain. For this area, 80% of the primary schools were good or outstanding – below the national figure of 90% – but 100% of secondary schools were good or outstanding, above the national figure of 78%. </p>
<p>It seems therefore, that although there is no difference in primary school performance between Boston and Lambeth, the story is different at secondary level. </p>
<p>Even though the number of good and outstanding secondary schools in these two areas were above the national figure, there was a gap of eight percentage points between them – a difference that could be down to what’s called the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-londons-secondary-schools-have-improved-so-much-28531http://example.com/">London Challenge effect</a>. </p>
<h2>Regional relationships</h2>
<p>There is a problem with this analysis of course. The performances tables provided by the government reveal that there are not the same number of schools in a three-mile radius in rural and urban areas. For example, in Lambeth, there are 204 primary and secondary schools within three miles whereas in Boston there are only 25. </p>
<p>So, we then looked at the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsted-annual-report-201314-regional-reports">most recent Ofsted regional reports</a> for 2013-14. These reports tell us the percentage of pupils who attend schools which are outstanding, good, requiring improvement and inadequate in eight regional areas. We then mapped these percentages to the Brexit areas outlined in the BBC data.</p>
<p>We found that the top four Remain voting areas in England – London, south west, north-west and south-east – are also the top four areas when ranked by Ofsted for good or outstanding schools. The four areas where the most people voted most for Brexit – West Midlands, the east, East Midlands and Yorkshire, the Humber and north-east – are the bottom four areas ranked by Ofsted for good or outstanding schools, as the chart below shows. </p>
<iframe id="datawrapper-chart-owqv1" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/owqv1/2/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Of course, this analysis is just a snapshot. To do a more sophisticated analysis we’d need to map the Brexit vote to the Ofsted ranking of schools over an extended period of time. </p>
<p>Even such a long-term analysis must, however, take into account a raft of factors. For example, it must not exclude the number of an area’s voters who did, and did not, attended the schools serving that area. In some cases, <a href="https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-how-areas-with-low-immigration-voted-mainly-for-brexit-62138">population changes</a> might be high, in others the population is far more static.</p>
<h2>So, was Wilshaw correct?</h2>
<p>While the veracity of Wilshaw’s statement depends on exactly how you look at the data, there appears to be some correlation between those areas of the country where a majority voted for Brexit, and school performance.</p>
<p>Wilshaw’s statement, which draws a direct link between school performance and the sense of being ignored which led to Brexit, is therefore clearly both thought provoking and in need of further investigation. Not to do so, would miss an opportunity to drill down into some of the “whys” and “wherefores” of one of the most important political decisions in a generation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Clapham does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The head of Ofsted has said a sense that educational needs had been neglected fuelled the vote in favour of Brexit. Is he right?Andrew Clapham, Principal Lecturer in Education, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/637892016-08-11T09:56:25Z2016-08-11T09:56:25ZIf videogames do benefit pupils’ education and skills, it’s time we found out how and why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133789/original/image-20160811-28149-kogkj7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sergey Novikov/shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A study published recently examined the effects of video games on maths, reading and science skills and makes some interesting claims about the <a href="http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/5586/1742">positive influence</a> of the teenage participants’ online gaming habits. </p>
<p>The study is remarkable for a number of reasons. It focuses on data drawn from the popular <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa/">PISA tests</a>, which examine school pupils’ learning in real-world situations, rather than traditional educational attainment measured through exams and more abstract tests. Author Alberto Posso, of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia, uses the 2012 PISA data drawn from 12,018 pupils aged 15 from 772 schools – far larger than most studies. The PISA data also records details about the students’ internet use, including the proportion used for study or for social networking and chat, and details such as parents’ wealth, occupation and education.</p>
<p>Posso makes a distinction between the use of online social networks and online gaming habits, and takes into account factors from the family environment. This sets the study apart from most, which tend to conflate different forms of online activity, are based on small, scarcely representative groups, and neglect the role of these contextual factors.</p>
<p>Assessing the probability that the PISA scores were influenced by participation in social networks and playing online games, surprisingly the results showed that spending time on Facebook or chatting online with friends was associated with lower performance in maths, reading, and science, while those playing online games regularly achieved higher scores in the same subject areas. </p>
<p>The study is robust, and adds weight to the idea that video games can be beneficial to learning – although a good amount of caution is needed when drawing implications from the findings. To be fair, the author himself invites caution, concluding that the priority for politicians and teachers should remain to address the socio-economic factors that affect poor educational performance. For example, the educational gap between children from ethnic minorities and their peers, or school truancy in less privileged communities.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, it can’t be ignored that there is mounting evidence to support the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131515300750">positive effects of playing games</a> on a wide range of outcomes, such as learning, developing practical skills, and increased attention and motivation. Perhaps it’s time to move beyond studies that only find associations, for example in this case between game playing and educational performance. Instead, we need to start examining the specifics of the games played in more detail, and explore what features may support or hinder learning.</p>
<h2>Time to get detailed</h2>
<p>Whether studies show that videogames improve or degrade performance, part of the problem is that we still don’t know how or why. Most evidence from studies displays the familiar weaknesses of correlational research: that the presence or absence of a relation cannot be satisfactorily explained because there is no detailed causal model that explains how the games might cause the effects recorded.</p>
<p>This means that claiming that online gaming habits correlate positively with skills in maths, reading and science tells us very little. It provides little insight into how different types of video games, such as strategy games as opposed to shooters or role-playing games, require different types of game-play, and how these different styles of play are supposed to influence the educational, affective or behavioural outcomes claimed for them.</p>
<p>During almost 50 years of continuous innovation, video games include a wide variety of game types, mechanics and game-play styles – even among the more recent class of games that can be played online. With such a variety, there are bound to be games that deliver different, even mutually incompatible or antagonistic influences. </p>
<figure>
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</figure>
<p>For example, a rough list of game-play mechanics in <a href="https://playoverwatch.com/en-gb/game/">Overwatch</a>, a 3D first-person shooter that is played competitively online, includes shooting, melee combat, looting, healing during cooperative play, special ability management, and so on. Each of these is governed within the game by its own set of algorithmic rules. Each requires a learning curve for the player to use it properly, and each is tied to the others in a complex procedural system that balances difficulty and rewards to keep players playing and coming back for more.</p>
<p>Any analysis of whether playing Overwatch has a positive or negative effect on behaviour and skills should take into account the role of these different mechanics and styles of play, evaluating the possibility that the way in which a game is played (more aggressively or more cooperatively, for example) rather than the game in itself may result in different effects on the player.</p>
<p>Similarly, it’s hard to ignore how the mindless repetition of simple tasks, the grind required by many games to build up the “experience points” that upgrade a player character’s strengths or abilities, relies on exploitative compulsion loops. These aim to keep players hooked, and may not encourage any form of meaningful learning – although it may be effective as a rather cynical form of behavioural control.</p>
<p>The same logic applies to most games. Without taking a more close-up, granular look at the game mechanics and their relationships to players’ behaviours and skills, we’re left making largely “black box” assumptions: we see only what goes in and what comes out, but have no understanding of why or how. Inevitably, this means that we may be underestimating the impact of other factors that have nothing to do with games themselves, but are an expression of the social and cultural environments in which a particular game is designed and played.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63789/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carlo Perrotta receives funding from the EU Commission (H2020). </span></em></p>We’ve had enough studies suggesting that games are good for us. We need to start asking why.Carlo Perrotta, University Academic Fellow, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/309442014-11-18T06:11:26Z2014-11-18T06:11:26ZWhere a child lives is not the best way to predict their grades<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64724/original/9ntwmzkw-1416241192.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who does well in a house like this?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-114650809/stock-photo-family-with-two-children-sitting-on-couch-holding-miniature-model-of-house-at-home.html?src=t9XaoQkB5ZPeElWKxNSAMw-1-99">Children with house via Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether a child’s family is well-off or struggling for money has long been linked with their success at school. The gap between parents’ income and their children’s achievement <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19081832">is evident</a> in kindergarten and accelerates over time.</p>
<p>Studies in the US have shown that students from <a href="http://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/3634158">economically disadvantaged</a> families <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10964-005-3214-x#page-1">often achieve lower test scores</a> and are more likely to drop out of school. Cognitive factors such as IQ and working memory – our ability to work with information – are <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1041608010001184">also linked</a> to school success. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002209651300249X">recent study</a>, my colleagues and I wanted to compare whether socio-economic factors such as where a child lives and cognitive factors such as their working memory and awareness of how words are structured could predict their longer-term school success. </p>
<p>I studied 264 British children in kindergarten and tested their learning outcomes two years later when they were in Year 2. My colleagues and I looked specifically at the children’s postcodes, as a mark of their socio-economic status. The children were selected from schools that were demographically representative, with different percentages of children qualifying for free school meals. There was an even distribution of schools with a low, middle and high percentage of children on free school meals in each local educational authority.</p>
<h2>Working memory</h2>
<p>In kindergarten, children completed a range of cognitive tests, including verbal working memory, short-term memory and sentence memory. They were also tested for their non-verbal IQ, by being asked to assemble puzzles. The children’s phonological awareness was also tested, by measuring their sensitivity to how words were constructed, including the ability to recognise and identify sounds and rhymes. Two years later, the same children took the Key Stage 1 national achievement tests in reading, writing and maths.</p>
<p>Working memory scores among the kindergarten children accurately predicted their learning scores two years later. But a child’s socio-economic status did not. So the children who did well on working memory scores also did well on the national tests, but these children weren’t necessarily from low-income households.</p>
<p>Whether a child came from a low-income household did not affect their working memory score. But our study showed that socio-economic status did affect their non-verbal IQ scores and their phonological awareness. One explanation for this is that <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/106/16/6545.abstract">poverty can add to parental stress</a> which could hinder learning at home.</p>
<p>These findings are important because they establish that working memory is one of the most important building blocks for learning. So a child’s ability to work with information is an important predictor of academic success. Even more exciting is that this important cognitive skill is not greatly affected by a child’s socio-economic background, suggesting that such working memory tests measure learning potential, rather than educational opportunity or acquired knowledge.</p>
<h2>Postcodes not as important</h2>
<p>The second key finding was that whether a child came from a high socio-economic background was not an accurate predictor of their test scores in Year 2. Working memory tests and phonological awareness tests were better at predicting how well a child would do in a test two years later than whether the child came from a well-off or low-income family. </p>
<p>This is possibly because other factors, such as the educational opportunities that come from the kind of school a child goes to, have a greater influence as they age. Other research both in the UK and in other countries has found that learning outcomes in younger children are not linked to the level of their parent’s education, but very few studies have also looked at postcode as an index of socio-economic status. </p>
<p>These findings indicate that where a child lives does not have to determine their academic success although it may impact on their non-verbal IQ. Other factors, such as a child’s working memory, play a more important role and should be focused on in early years learning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30944/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tracy Packiam Alloway previously received funding from the ESRC.</span></em></p>Whether a child’s family is well-off or struggling for money has long been linked with their success at school. The gap between parents’ income and their children’s achievement is evident in kindergarten…Tracy Packiam Alloway, Senior research psychologist, Department of Psychology, University of North FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/338582014-11-07T11:33:47Z2014-11-07T11:33:47ZHow to make teaching great<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63868/original/hbb9n6t4-1415276634.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bringing education to life.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/s/teaching+children/search.html?page=2&thumb_size=mosaic&inline=77073661">Students in class via Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>An article we wrote last week for The Conversation on <a href="https://theconversation.com/seven-great-teaching-methods-not-backed-up-by-evidence-33647">Seven “great” teaching methods not backed up by evidence</a> prompted a large amount of comment and discussion. One of the main questions has been, ok so what <em>does</em> make for great teaching? It was this question that <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/">our recent evidence review for the Sutton Trust</a> set out to address, alongside how teachers can improve their teaching and so bring about better learning for their students. </p>
<p>Defining effective teaching is not straightforward. But it must surely be something like: “effective teaching is that which leads to high achievement by students in terms of valued outcomes”. Many current ways of assessing children, particularly those used in high-stakes exams or in existing research studies, do <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09243453.2014.885451#.VFtWNhbvbIo">not fully reflect</a> the range of important outcomes that a child’s education is trying to achieve. </p>
<p>Identifying good teaching is also a challenge because observing children and teachers provides very limited estimates of how much students actually learn from different practices. Whether studies are based on classroom observation, student surveys or scrutinising students’ work, their predictive power is usually not very high. Even in <a href="http://www.metproject.org/downloads/MET_Composite_Estimator_of_Effective_Teaching_Research_Paper.pdf">high-quality research studies</a>, it’s difficult to show clear results. </p>
<p>In practice this means that if we use classroom observation to identify teachers as “above” or “below” average in terms of their impact on student learning, we would get it right about 60% of the time, compared with the 50% chance we would get it right by just tossing a coin. Better than chance, but not much! </p>
<h2>Six good practices</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/">research we reviewed</a> suggests there are six common components that are signatures of good-quality teaching:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>Content knowledge</strong>
This is when teachers have a deep knowledge of the subject that they teach and can communicate content effectively to their students. We found strong evidence for the impact of this on student outcomes. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Quality of instruction</strong>
This includes teachers being skilled in effective questioning and use of assessment. Good teachers also deploy techniques such as reviewing previous learning and giving adequate time for children to practice and so embed skills securely. They also progressively introduce new skills and knowledge, a process known as “scaffolding”. Again, there is strong evidence of the impact of this on learning. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Teaching climate</strong>
The quality of the teaching and learning relationships between teachers and students is important. Good teaching challenges students but develops a sense of competence: attributing success to effort, rather than ability. We found moderate evidence that the teaching climate in the classroom impacts student outcomes. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Classroom management</strong>
Efficient use of lesson time, co-ordinating classroom resources and space, managing students’ behaviour with clear rules that are consistently enforced: we found moderate evidence of the impact of these on how children learn. These factors are perhaps the necessary conditions for good learning, but are not sufficient on their own. A well-ordered classroom with an ineffective lesson will not have a large impact. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Teacher beliefs</strong>
There is also some evidence to show the importance of the reasons why teachers adopt particular practices and the purposes or goals that they have for their students. For example, <a href="http://musicmathsmagic.com/page4/files/EffectiveTeachersofNumeracy.pdf">research indicates</a> that primary school teachers’ beliefs about the nature of mathematics and their theories about how children learn – and their role in that learning – are more important to student outcomes that the level of mathematics qualification the teacher holds.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Professional behaviours</strong>
Developing professional skills and practice, participating in professional development, supporting colleagues and the broader role of liaising and communicating with parents also have a part to play in effective teaching. We found some evidence to show this has an impact on student outcomes. </p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Helping teachers help students</h2>
<p>Getting the results of this evidence to teachers is another matter. A comprehensive review by New Zealand education expert Helen Timperley and her colleagues <a href="http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/2515/15341">detailed the way teachers react</a> when they see that a particular practice leads to students learning more. Their analysis suggests that the way teachers learn about their own teaching can have a direct impact on student outcomes.</p>
<p>Overall, the evidence indicates that teachers who sustain the use of good practice do so by keeping a clear focus on improving student outcomes. Teachers should be given feedback about their teaching in a clear way by a mentor who sets them specific and challenging goals. School leaders also need to promote an environment of professional learning and support for teachers. This is a remarkably similar process to what we know about how <a href="http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/">students’ learn in schools</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Next, read this: <a href="https://theconversation.com/seven-great-teaching-methods-not-backed-up-by-evidence-33647">Seven ‘great’ teaching methods not backed up by evidence</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33858/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Higgins has undertaken research at Durham University funded by the ESRC, Sutton Trust, Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and CfBT.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Coe has received funding from the ESRC, Sutton Trust, Education Endowment Foundation, Pearson, and many individual schools and local authorities.</span></em></p>An article we wrote last week for The Conversation on Seven “great” teaching methods not backed up by evidence prompted a large amount of comment and discussion. One of the main questions has been, ok…Steve Higgins, Professor of Education, Durham UniversityRobert Coe, Professor, School of Education and Director, Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/285312014-07-10T05:11:34Z2014-07-10T05:11:34ZWhy London’s secondary schools have improved so much<p>London’s secondary schools have seen rapid improvement in the last decade. <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/access-and-achievement-background-papers">Inner London moved</a> from being the worst-performing region in England in 2003 to having better school results than any region outside London. Two recently published reports investigated the reasons why – but came to different, contradictory conclusions. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.cfbt.com/en-GB/Research/Research-library/2014/r-london-schools-2014">first report</a>, from CfBT and the Centre for London, argued that four interventions provided the impetus for the dramatic improvement of London schools: the <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/london-challenge">London Challenge</a>, a programme to improve London’s schools introduced by the previous Labour government between 2003-2008; the creation of academies with more autonomy than regular state schools; the Teach First graduate teacher recruitment programme that started in London in 2003; and an improvement in the quality of the support provided by local authorities. </p>
<p>The report’s conclusion is consistent with the findings of a number of previous pieces of research that have focused on the considerable impact of the London Challenge, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/184093/DFE-RR215.pdf">both by me</a>, in <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/access-and-achievement-background-papers">collaboration with colleagues</a>, and from <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/london-challenge">Ofsted</a>. But it could be misleading because it identifies these as four separate initiatives rather than as part of the London Challenge’s overarching strategy to bring about improvement in London’s secondary and primary schools. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/321969/London_Schools_-_FINAL.pdf">second report</a>, from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the Institute of Education (IoE), takes a different view: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Improvements in London seem more likely to have primarily resulted from changes occurring in the late 1990s and early 2000s, such as the National Strategies, than from recent policy changes such as the London Challenge and Academies Programme.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a surprising conclusion, and one that merits further investigation, because, as the authors point out, it has significant implications for policy. </p>
<h2>Who the London Challenge helped</h2>
<p>The findings of the IFS/IoE report appear very broad and dismiss previous claims of the success of the London Challenge, but my main concern is that this is somewhat misleading. Most of the analysis and evidence offered is limited to disadvantaged pupils, so the precise claim is that improvements in the primary school attainment of this group between 1999 and 2003 became visible at GCSE between 2004 and 2008. </p>
<p>It has long been known that before the London Challenge began in 2003, disadvantaged pupils (those receiving free school meals) in London <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/access-and-achievement-background-papers">performed above</a> the national average, as the graph below shows.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53314/original/2pz3q6fb-1404828181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53314/original/2pz3q6fb-1404828181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53314/original/2pz3q6fb-1404828181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53314/original/2pz3q6fb-1404828181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53314/original/2pz3q6fb-1404828181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53314/original/2pz3q6fb-1404828181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53314/original/2pz3q6fb-1404828181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53314/original/2pz3q6fb-1404828181.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Percentage of London secondary pupils achieving the expected achievement level in 2003, by eligibility for free school meals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Pupil Database, Hutchings and Mansaray, 2013</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in 2003, London’s – and particularly inner London’s – overall performance at GCSE was poor for two reasons. Although the attainment of free school meal pupils in London was higher than that of their peers outside London, the sheer numbers of pupils eligible for free school meals lowered overall attainment. Those pupils not eligible for free school meals in Inner London also performed well below the national figure, as the graph shows.</p>
<p>The second graph below shows the changes that had taken place by 2012, just after the end of the London Challenge. The attainment of those pupils eligible for free schools meals continued to rise faster than it did elsewhere in the country. Particularly in Inner London, the attainment of pupils not on free school meals also improved faster than it did nationally. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53316/original/gbfgn689-1404828267.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53316/original/gbfgn689-1404828267.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53316/original/gbfgn689-1404828267.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53316/original/gbfgn689-1404828267.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53316/original/gbfgn689-1404828267.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53316/original/gbfgn689-1404828267.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53316/original/gbfgn689-1404828267.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53316/original/gbfgn689-1404828267.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Percentage of London secondary pupils achieving the expected level in 2012, by eligibility for free school meals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Pupil Database. Note that the level pupils were expected to achieve changed between 2003 and 2012; so the percentages on Graph 1 and Graph 2 are not comparable</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is also worth noting that the London Challenge <a href="http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/10309/1/London%2520Challenge%2520transforming%2520london%2520secondary%2520schools.pdf">aimed</a> for every pupil in London to be able to achieve their potential – not only those who were disadvantaged. But the IFS/IoE report ignores this aspect of the London Challenge’s achievements.</p>
<p>Nor does it look at the continued improvements to London’s secondary school attainment since 2008. That year, the percentage of London primary pupils who reached the expected levels in English (81%) and in maths (79%) <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http://www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics/statistics-by-topic/performance/ks2and3">were identical</a> to the national figures.</p>
<p>Yet five years later, these pupils’ attainment at GCSE <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2012-to-2013-revised">was well above</a> that in other regions. So were the percentages of pupils making the expected progress in English and mathematics between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 (the end of primary school and the end of secondary school). In each case, 6.5% more pupils in London made the expected progress than the national figures. So it is quite clear that for this cohort, it was London’s secondary schools that played the key role in their above-average attainment.</p>
<h2>Cultural shift</h2>
<p>The London Challenge was not simply about pupil attainment. It aimed to transform the culture of London schools and to fundamentally alter the narrative about education and aspiration in London, creating “a truly world class education system”. There is a <a href="http://www.cfbt.com/en-GB/Research/Research-library/2014/r-london-schools-2014">mass</a> of evidence to <a href="http://www.centreforum.org/index.php/mainpublications/635-regional-challenges-a-collaborative-approach-to-improving-education">show</a> that it succeeded in doing just this. </p>
<p>Before the London Challenge started there was a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention in London. Some schools were staffed entirely by supply teachers, and the reputation of London schools was <a href="http://www.trentham-books.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trentham-books.co.uk%2Facatalog%2Findex.html&WD=isbn&PN=Trentham_Books_Crisis_in_Teacher_Supply__research_and_strategies_for_retention__The_428.html%23a9781858562742">deeply off-putting</a>. The London Challenge’s work in improving teacher pay, setting up housing schemes, improving the image of London schools, and supporting the creation of Teach First helped to change this. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/NCY01/NCY01_home.cfm">Qualitative evidence</a>, including <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/184093/DFE-RR215.pdf">my own research</a>, shows that a transformation has taken place in the ethos within London schools, creating effective links between schools and a strong sense of moral purpose and commitment to the success of every London child.</p>
<p>Ofsted inspections show a much higher proportion of good and outstanding schools in London than in any other region, according <a href="http://www.centreforum.org/index.php/mainpublications/635-regional-challenges-a-collaborative-approach-to-improving-education">to a report</a> published by the Liberal-leaning CentreForum think tank. </p>
<p>It is important that the work of the London Challenge is viewed holistically, rather than focusing narrowly on the attainment of one group of pupils. It would be a tragedy if this highly effective area-improvement strategy were ignored in future policy-making. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28531/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Merryn Hutchings has previously received funding for the DCSF for a funded evaluation of City Challenge, and Ofsted funded further research on the impact of City Challenge and the London Challenge. </span></em></p>London’s secondary schools have seen rapid improvement in the last decade. Inner London moved from being the worst-performing region in England in 2003 to having better school results than any region outside…Merryn Hutchings, Emeritus Professor, Institute for Policy Studies in Education, London Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/267902014-05-27T05:14:49Z2014-05-27T05:14:49ZExplainer: what is all the fuss about the Common Core?<p>When it comes to US public education, few topics engender such heated debate as a new set of maths and English standards for school children known as the <a href="http://corestandards.org/">Common Core</a>. </p>
<p>Since the final standards were released in 2010, they have been adopted by <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/standards-in-your-state/">44 states and the District of Columbia</a>. This marks a departure from the long history in the US of leaving most educational standards up to the whims of states and local school districts, resulting in different standards in every state for kindergarten to grade 12.</p>
<p>The Common Core counts supporters and critics in both of the two major US political parties. This makes the conversation about the standards <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/us/politics/republicans-see-political-wedge-in-common-core.html?_r=0">quite messy and interesting</a> – especially given the upcoming congressional elections in November.</p>
<h2>Fighting ‘ObamaCore’</h2>
<p>Although moderate conservatives generally favour the Common Core, those further to the right, like the Tea Party, portray the new standards as inappropriate meddling by the federal government. Some engage in <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/the-vast-network-of-common-core-conspiracy-theories">wild conspiracy theories</a>, and attack the standards as part of a broader <a href="http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/news/splc-report-extremist-propaganda-is-distorting-the-debate-over-the-common-core-sta">anti-public school agenda</a>.</p>
<p>The fight over the US’s recent changes to healthcare policy, Affordable Care Act (sometimes referred to as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-obamacare-18642">ObamaCare</a>”), provides a way for some conservative activists to jump into the Common Core fray by claiming the new standards are the educational equivalent (“ObamaCore”). It’s a poor comparison, but permits easy entry into the debate for those with little substantive knowledge.</p>
<p>Left-leaning critics <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/protest-builds-against-pe_b_1586573.html">cite concerns</a> about the potential for private companies (such as publishing group Pearson) to profit from the Common Core as a reason for rejecting the new standards. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/48921/original/g3dj3v7h-1400517129.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/48921/original/g3dj3v7h-1400517129.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48921/original/g3dj3v7h-1400517129.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48921/original/g3dj3v7h-1400517129.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48921/original/g3dj3v7h-1400517129.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48921/original/g3dj3v7h-1400517129.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48921/original/g3dj3v7h-1400517129.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Criticism of the standards is coming in all shapes and sizes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/CONFLICTED-A-Look-at-MSNB-by-Gustav-Wynn-Accountability_Al-Sharpton_Alec_Charter-Schools-140505-22.html">amerigus/WWYD </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are also concerns as to whether the standards for early elementary students are <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/29/a-tough-critique-of-common-core-on-early-childhood-education/">developmentally inappropriate</a>. Others dismiss the new standards as a solution to a problem that does not exist, or a band-aid for much bigger problems, like the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/05/02/6-reasons-to-reject-common-core-k-3-standards-and-6-axioms-to-guide-policy/">high child poverty rate in the US</a>. </p>
<p>Some critics of the Common Core view it as <a href="http://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/are-common-core-and-testing-debates-two-different-matters/">further cementing</a> the use (and misuse) of standardised testing in American schools.</p>
<h2>State-driven testing</h2>
<p>In addition to the new standards, two consortia of states – <a href="http://www.smarterbalanced.org/about/member-states/">Smarter Balanced</a> and the <a href="http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc">Partnership for Assessment and Readiness for College and Careers</a> – have been working to develop tests tied to the standards. However, some states, <a href="http://cjonline.com/news/2013-12-10/kansas-opts-create-its-own-common-core-tests">such as Kansas</a>, have opted to develop their own assessments. </p>
<p>These new and ostensibly better assessments created by the two consortia may provide some real advantages compared to previous tests. However, <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/new-york-fails-common-core-tests-95304.html">early trials</a> of assessments tied to the Common Core indicate up to 70% of students in New York may not receive a passing mark given the more challenging nature of the standards. While that may well paint a reasonably accurate picture of how many students can truly meet the new standards, it is a politically tenuous position to maintain. </p>
<p>Supporters, on the other hand, <a href="http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/duncan-pushes-back-attacks-common-core-standards">claim the standards</a> are more challenging than previous state standards (and they are, at least for most states). They also say that the standards will better prepare students for college-level work, and create a more level playing field for children across the country. </p>
<p>The shift to the Common Core comes as states pursue <a href="https://theconversation.com/moving-quality-teachers-between-schools-will-not-help-disadvantaged-children-23541">several other policy changes</a>, including teacher evaluations based in part on student progress on standardised tests. These new evaluations attempt to use statistical models to calculate a measure of teacher quality based on how much a teacher’s students improve their performance on standardised tests, usually controlling for a host of other variables.</p>
<h2>What teachers think</h2>
<p>Pursuing both the new Common Core standards and teacher evaluations at the same time is worrying, especially if teachers and schools are not adequately prepared to help students reach the goals of the new standards.</p>
<p>While <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/education_futures/2014/05/do_teachers_really_hate_common_core.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW">teachers generally support</a> the common core, they also express reservations about implementation. A <a href="http://neatoday.org/2013/09/12/nea-poll-majority-of-educators-support-the-common-core-state-standards/">poll</a> conducted in July 2013 by the largest teachers union, the National Education Association (NEA), indicated that teachers wanted more time to collaborate with colleagues about the new standards, updated resources, and enhanced technology for the classroom. </p>
<p>With each state and school district responsible for implementation, the degree to which teachers feel supported (or not) varies greatly. Heads of both the <a href="http://neatoday.org/2014/02/19/nea-president-we-need-a-course-correction-on-common-core/">NEA</a> and the second largest teachers union, the American Federation of Teachers, have <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/all/you-asked-randi-weingarten-answered-common-core-standardized-testing">expressed concerns</a> about Common Core implementation in recent months.</p>
<p>Personally, I do not consider myself a strong supporter of the common core. Nor am I an opponent. Although some critics make wild charges and engage in conspiracy theories, there are certainly legitimate concerns about the changes. </p>
<p>Implementation seems rushed in far too many places, leaving teachers and students inadequately prepared for the shift. If equity across the country were truly a concern, we would talk about how states do an exceedingly poor job of <a href="http://schoolfundingfairness.org/">financing schools equitably</a>, giving fewer resources to districts populated with low-income students and racial minorities. We would also tackle the inequitable distribution of teachers and various out-of-school factors – poverty, <a href="https://theconversation.com/racial-segregation-returns-to-us-schools-60-years-after-the-supreme-court-banned-it-25850">residential segregation</a>, inequality and racism. </p>
<p>With more states shifting to the new standards and assessments in the coming year, the Common Core will likely remain an important issue in US public education and political debate. The standards themselves are rarely discussed – in large part because the biggest concerns are about related (and perhaps intertwined) issues like testing, teacher evaluations, and implementation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26790/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Libby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When it comes to US public education, few topics engender such heated debate as a new set of maths and English standards for school children known as the Common Core. Since the final standards were released…Ken Libby, PhD student studying educational foundations, policy and practice, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/266542014-05-14T13:59:42Z2014-05-14T13:59:42ZPISA education tests under fire, but they could help developing countries boost competitiveness<p>The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/06/oecd-pisa-tests-damaging-education-academics">recent open letter of concern</a> penned by nearly 100 academics from around the world about the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s international education rankings is more than just a protest.</p>
<p>Their criticism of the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), calling on its director Andreas Schleicher to halt the next round of tests in 2015, provides real alternatives and suggests a role for the global education community to monitor the administration of the tests. </p>
<p>These questions are particularly pertinent as the OECD embarks on plans to extend the programme to developing countries. Pilots of <a href="http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/expanding-pisas-circle-of-influence.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+EducationtodayBlog+%28educationtoday+blog%29">PISA for Development</a> are currently underway in Zambia and Ecuador. </p>
<p>The academics’ objections highlight a fundamental set of questions about PISA. Of particular worry to the experts are the dangers of over-testing, the short-term emphasis on measurable results versus longer-term issues like citizenship and caring, and the purely <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-box-ticking-future-of-a-university-education-25178">economic-investment-jobs</a> matrix for education. </p>
<p>On one hand, perhaps the OECD needs to power on. Yet the academics’ warnings are apposite. Another must also be added to them: the tests are not culturally sensitive because they avoid a country’s infrastructure, both physical and human. What is a purely South African, or Malaysian, or Korean, or Crimean solution to the educational problems PISA highlights?</p>
<p>So perhaps the call to halt the juggernaut is the right one. No one has been able to show that the European emphasis on measurable results and league tables will get us anywhere. It has become fashion.</p>
<p>In South Africa, which is not a part of PISA, “in my day” has become an catch-all response to worries about education standards. Whether this is <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-african-education-still-fails-many-20-years-after-apartheid-22069">around the controversy</a> on a 33% pass mark for end-of-school leaving exams, or discipline, or the extent of learning, the past is idealised.</p>
<p>Yet in my day, teachers were only interested in pay-cheques, no one read, school was a joke and 33% was still the pass mark. Needless to say, I did not adopt these scriptures, nor aimed as low as was allowed. Today, my education reaps the benefits for me.</p>
<h2>Poor maths skills</h2>
<p>I think we need to be the best we can be. We have to compete. So PISA helps here, and league tables tell us we have a long way to go to be a winning nation. Yet win we have to. The world is competitive and cut-throat.</p>
<p>In South Africa, our own annual national assessments tell us we are not getting good enough maths or reading results at early foundation phase level. In the most <a href="http://www.education.gov.za/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Aiw7HW8ccic%3D&tabid=36">recent maths tests in 2013</a>, students in grade 4 scored an average of 37%, while those in grade 5 scored 33%. We have a problem. Whether we look at international measures like <a href="http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/">Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study</a> or others, we are <a href="http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71654?oid=346605&sn=Detail&pid=71616">close to bottom</a> of the league table.</p>
<p>South Africa has been chosen as home to a section of the <a href="https://www.skatelescope.org/project/">Square Kilometer Array</a> radio telescope, that will tells us what the southern stars look like and how they were formed. Can we interpret all the data coming in? Can we keep a satellite in space to send video and data where it is needed?</p>
<p>We need to find a cure in Africa for malaria, a disease that floors millions of young children. Yet, with the right science, this disease should be easily curable. Similarly, HIV/AIDS is now primarily a Sub-Saharan disease. We need the best scientists to find a cure.</p>
<p>So we need the best mathematicians and scientists. If we wait for Europe to find a cure for AIDS, or find the antidote for malaria, or even to measure our stars, we will wait forever. We need our scientists, dedicated to our people. But we have never had this discussion and there is no quick fix. </p>
<p>Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, the prime minister who was the architect of apartheid, banned black people from getting maths degrees. Now we have a <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Concerns-over-maths-teacher-shortage-20130417">shortage of maths teachers</a>, and anyone worth their salt, who can do maths, wants to be an engineer or an accountant or economist – not a maths teacher. </p>
<p>It will not happen overnight, no matter how much we may wish or shout for it. This is not to blame history but to be realistic. This discussion includes teachers and the central role that has to be built for them in society. Fervent wishes can never replace a plan. </p>
<p>I do not want to undermine the questions being asked of PISA. There is a need for academics and others to stand together. I cannot say that South Africa should participate. But we do need to compete, we do need a measure to show we are not falling behind. </p>
<p>This may not be through more testing, it may not even be technical. But we need at least an “educational” solution or a national discussion in every country on where we are going and the kind of education that will get us there.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26654/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graeme Bloch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The recent open letter of concern penned by nearly 100 academics from around the world about the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s international education rankings is more than just…Graeme Bloch, Visiting Adjunct Professor, Public and Development Management School, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/255542014-04-14T11:45:51Z2014-04-14T11:45:51ZTeachers need more support to tackle bad behaviour<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46355/original/wxcpnj25-1397469580.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Enough already. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-183832751/stock-photo-stressed-high-school-teacher-trying-to-control-class.html?src=I9P_FrwOVjk6SFQOhgfjwg-1-0">Stressed teacher via shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We are often told that behaviour is not really a problem in the vast majority of English schools. In 2012, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-behaviour-in-schools-in-england">the government reported</a> that classroom behaviour was “at least satisfactory” in 99.7% of schools. More recently the department of education <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287610/Behaviour_and_school_attendance_research_priorities_and_questions.pdf">claimed that behaviour</a> is “good or outstanding” in 92% of schools.</p>
<p>My research suggests these figures seriously underestimate the extent to which behaviour is eating away the time teachers spend teaching. This is important because several studies have found that classroom climate has a <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eorderingdownload/rr216.pdf">significant effect</a> on pupil attainment.</p>
<p>The research <a href="http://www.uea.ac.uk/%7Em242/historypgce/class_management/10pointscale.htm">used a ten-point scale</a> which attempts to estimate the extent to which deficits in classroom climate may interfere with pupils’ learning. Level ten is where the working atmosphere is ideal for learning, and level one is for classrooms where learning is severely limited by pupil disruption. </p>
<p>Teachers were asked about what levels on the scale they had encountered, their views about factors influencing the working atmosphere in the classroom, and why there were variations in classroom climate within schools, as well as between schools.</p>
<p>More than 90% of student teachers reported they had sometimes been in classrooms where poor behaviour had limited pupil learning, and 90% reported that they had encountered level six on the scale or below. Even experienced teachers said that they sometimes found it difficult to sustain a perfect classroom climate. All the head teachers who were interviewed said that behaviour was “an issue” for their school.</p>
<h2>Battling to keep control</h2>
<p>This is not the only research to indicate that deficits in classroom climate are quite common in English schools. A <a href="http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_561">recent survey</a> of 2,000 pupils conducted by the Children’s Commissioner found 80% of pupils reported that other pupils often disrupted their learning. </p>
<p>In 2005, former head of Ofsted David Bell <a href="http://edwatch.blogspot.co.uk/2005/02/british-schools-crisis-as-discipline.html">stated</a>: “All schools to a greater or lesser extent, even if they are otherwise orderly or successful, have to deal with a number of pupils who cause disruption. You can have relatively small numbers of pupils having quite a substantial and disproportionate effect on the others.” My research suggests this is a more accurate and realistic assessment of the scale of the problem in English schools than more recent estimates. </p>
<p>OECD surveys show <a href="https://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/NPDZ01/NPDZ01.pdf">teachers in England are often working</a> in more challenging contexts than their counterparts in many other countries, where cultural and out of school factors, such as parental support for schools and teachers, are much more positive.</p>
<p>Recent TV series such as Tough Young Teachers and Educating Yorkshire show teachers and schools often have to make quite difficult decisions about how to manage difficult pupils without simply excluding them, passing them on to other schools or avoiding admitting difficult pupils. </p>
<p>It is simplistic and unhelpful to insist that “level ten” is a natural or default state of affairs in terms of classroom climate. Or to imply that it is easy to create an environment where all pupils behave and are keen to learn and do well. </p>
<p>The management of pupil behaviour requires the development of complex and sophisticated skills: it is not a matter of applying simple teacher training mantras such as “be consistent”, or “<a href="http://teach4theheart.com/2013/08/12/should-you-really-not-smile-until-christmas/">don’t smile before Christmas</a>”. </p>
<p>Even very accomplished and experienced teachers have to work with considerable resourcefulness to create and sustain a perfect classroom climate without sending out difficult pupils.</p>
<h2>Satisfactory is not good enough</h2>
<p>Perhaps it all depends what is meant by “satisfactory”. I would argue that that behaviour cannot be interpreted as satisfactory if some pupils are impeding the learning of others and if teachers are not able to teach the class in a way that focuses primarily on optimising pupil learning rather than on control. </p>
<p>It would be helpful if there was an acknowledgement from the department of education, Ofsted, and the media, that poor pupil behaviour is a complex and intractable problem. The last thing I want to do is to put even more pressure on heads and teachers who are doing a very good and important job, often in challenging circumstances. What is needed is stronger support for schools and recognition of the difficulties involved in securing a classroom climate which is ideal for learning.</p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of pupils, parents, teachers, governors and policymakers want a calm and positive working atmosphere in classrooms. There is a need to support schools and teachers in making this possible, based around the idea of “the right to learn”. This should help to instill a culture among parents and young people that no pupil has the right to spoil the learning of others. Early intervention, in the form of universal, free and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-should-parents-look-for-when-choosing-a-nursery-24612">high quality nursery education</a> would also be a helpful and cost-effective investment.</p>
<p>Until the scale, nature and complexity of the problem of behaviour is acknowledged, these deficits in classroom climate are likely to continue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25554/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Haydn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We are often told that behaviour is not really a problem in the vast majority of English schools. In 2012, the government reported that classroom behaviour was “at least satisfactory” in 99.7% of schools…Terry Haydn, Professor of Education, School of Education & Lifelong Learning, University of East AngliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.