The effect of school resources on pupil attainment: a multilevel simultaneous equation modelling approach

Improving educational achievement in UK schools is a priority, and of particular concern is the low achievement of specific groups, such as those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. An obvious question is whether we should be improving the outcomes of these students by spending more on their education. The literature on the effect of educational spending on pupil achievement has a number of methodological difficulties, in particular the endogeneity of school resource levels, and the intra-school correlations in student responses. In this paper, we adopt a multilevel simultaneous equation modelling approach to assess the impact of school resources on student attainment at age 14. This paper is the first to apply a simultaneous equation model to estimate the impact of school resources on pupil achievement, using the newly available National Pupil Database (NPDB)

Patients from lower socio-economic backgrounds who do not access cardiac rehabilitation programmes: a phenomenological journey

It has long been documented that patients from lower socio-economic backgrounds do not access health services. There have been Government led initiatives to ask service users what they want from services to provide initiatives that will improve the health and well-being of the population. There has been little or no involvement of patients who do not access services to ask them why they do not attend or involve themselves in decision making. Previous studies into access to cardiac rehabilitation have been predominantly quantitative, with very little qualitative data to explore the reasons why people from lower socio-economic backgrounds do not access the programmes provided. In this study beliefs of people who have not accessed cardiac rehabilitation are explored with a group of participants who have a diagnosis of coronary heart disease using a Heideggerian phenomenological approach. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Themes were identified using line by line analysis. Three case examples were described bringing the data back together into a whole transcript for further exploration. The key findings from the research showed that the participants, all from the five poorest electoral wards of Darlington highlighted what to them were the significant factors in their health journey. The most common themes were (1) support, (2) choices and risks, (3) cardiac rehabilitation inhibitors and (4) perceptions of what had happened to them. In conclusion the findings from this study can be used to stimulate a review of current thinking and practices among health professionals, educators and other agencies involved in supporting this group of individuals to meet their long-term adjustment needs. Long term cardiac rehabilitation provision could be further enhanced if future policy initiatives reflected the needs of this group of individuals, and further research into this area could be implemented

Increasing inequalities: Recent School Failure Trends in Spain

School failure is substantive in Spain. The percentage of students that do not achieve the compulsory education diploma is around 20%. Students who “fail” cannot continue to post-compulsory education and, sooner or later, have to leave formal education. School failure is usually higher for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. This article explores the evolution of Inequality of Educational Opportunities (IEO) in compulsory education from the seventies in Spain. Using logit models of estimation to control for socio-demographic factors that may interfere with IEO dynamic, it shows that IEO at this level of education ran parallel with school failure: specifically, it decreased until the late nineties and increased afterwards. In order to explain this (unexpected) increase, we have tested the impact of a Law, known as LOGSE, which was implemented in Spain at the end of the nineties. We provide evidence that this Law, although egalitarian in spirit, in practice could have worked against students from lower socio-economic backgrounds continuing in education; thereby increasing IEO at this transition point.Research funded by the Spanish National Plan for R&D CIEDES [CSO2011-30179-C02-01]. Part of this re-search has taken place at Princeton University (Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs), between August and December 2012, where María Fdez. Mellizo-Soto was Visiting Research Scholar (funds from the Spanish National Ministry of Education for the mobility of University Professors)

Academic writing and the art of the possible

Over the last thirty years the demographic profile of Australian universities has changed significantly to include increasing numbers not only of international students, but also of local students whose first language is other than English, mature age 'second chance' students, VET articulants, and students from migrant, indigenous, rural, or lower socio-economic backgrounds. Such a change has coincided with an institutional shift towards a corporatised and vocationalised higher education environment. This paper addresses the challenge of supporting the learning needs, particularly the literacy learning needs, of the new demographic within a changed environment. It addresses three concerns: firstly, that traditional approaches to literacy support are inadequate and inappropriate to the needs of non-traditional students; secondly, that a vocationalised curriculum does not address basic literacy; and, thirdly, that corporatisated higher education privileges economy, efficiency, and standardisation over contingent learning support needs. The paper considers how these concerns might be negotiated by offering the case of a literacy support program that engages with a vocational/corporate discourse to create new possibilities for meeting students' literacy support needs

Inequalities in Secondary School Attendance in Germany

In Germany, children are sorted into differently prestigious school types according to their ability at the end of primary schooling, normally at age 10. This early decision about children’s future schooling cannot be easily corrected. However, secondary school attendance has a huge impact on future career options, so that equality in pupils’ distribution to differential school types is important. This paper examines the impact of social and economic background on children’s school type if ability is held constant. The analysis is based on national data taken from two surveys of learning achievement, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA). These data reveal that a large share of pupils in less prestigious school types would fit perfectly well in better school types given their measured ability. Children from rural areas, pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds and boys in general have a significantly lower probability of being selected to the most academic school track even when their ability is similar to that of their urban and better socially placed counterparts. <br/

Homework and pupil achievement in Norway : evidence from TIMSS

By using data on Norwegian 4th and 8th graders who participated in TIMSS 2007, this report starts out by investigating whether time spent on homework varies across pupils from different socio-economic backgrounds. The findings show that pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds, in both 4th and 8th grade, are more likely to spend no time on homework than pupils from higher socio-economic backgrounds (although homework is given). At the same time it is also found that if pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds spend time on homework, they actually spend more time on it than pupils from higher socio-economic backgrounds. One reason why pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to spend zero time on homework could be lack of interest or necessary skills. Another explanation may be poor out-of-school learning environments. I.e., these pupils may have parents who do not or cannot help with homework or make sure that they complete their homework. There are also many possible explanations why pupils from lower socio-economic background spend more time on homework than pupils from higher socio-economic backgrounds. First of all, they may need more time in to complete their homework if they find the homework more difficult than pupils from higher socio-economic backgrounds. Also more time spend on homework can reflect problems related to motivation, frustration and concentration. On the other hand, more time spent on homework may also reflect high educational ambitions, regardless of socioeconomic background. The second aim of the report is to analyze the effect of homework on pupil achievement. There seem to be a positive effect of homework (in mathematics) on average. However, not all pupils seem to benefit from homework. In fact, pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds (measured as no or very few books at home) actually perform better if less homework is assigned. One explanation why homework has a negative effect for some pupils, may be that homework leads to declining motivation (also during school hours), and hence indirectly affect the achievement negatively. Another explanation may be poor out of school learning environments in combination with that homework serves as a substitute for learning in school.This report is financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Education

Beyond academics : dropout prevention summer school programs in the transition to secondary education

Educational transitions, for example from primary to secondary school, have been associated with school drop-outs, particularly for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. As a response, some educational systems have implemented summer programs, although with mixed results. Yet, these evaluations mostly assess programs' quantitative impact on academic outcomes. This article therefore aims at an in-depth exploration of the benefits and challenges of a Uruguayan summer school program for preventing dropout in the transition to secondary school. Results underpin summer peer interactions, teacher-student relations and extra-curricular activities shape positive pre-entry expectations of at-risk students, which secondary schools cannot always fulfill