The potential of school partnerships to ameliorate educational inequity: a case study of two partnerships in Scotland

The disparity between the educational achievement of children from disadvantaged backgrounds compared to children from more advantaged backgrounds in Scotland has led to a number of proposed changes to education. Many of the initiatives to address the disparity have involved multi-agency collaborations such as The Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland and GIRFEC. The only approach in Scotland to specifically involve educational professionals participating in collaborative inquiry across school and local authority boundaries, the School Improvement Partnership Programme (SIPP), is the focus of this study. Drawing on the capability approach and social network theory this study examines the use of school collaboration to ameliorate educational inequity. Educational professionals and pupils from a school partnership programme were invited to participate in this case study. 114 social network analysis questionnaire responses were received over two time points. 25 pupils participated in focus groups and 18 educational professionals participated in either focus groups or interviews. Many of the participating educational professionals took risks by introducing innovative strategies in classrooms, schools and local authorities. Support was provided in the form of resources such as supply teachers to allow classroom teachers to participate in collaborative inquiry. This thesis extends our understanding of the opportunities for capabilities to be fostered in pupils and educational professionals when educational professionals are united in purpose, but have the freedom and support to move between a variety of networks. Knowledge about the degree to which such networks were able to interrupt existing social norms, rules, power structures and pedagogy has implications for planning the appropriate conditions to support long term, dynamic partnerships for the amelioration of educational inequity

The School Improvement Partnership Programme: Sustaining Collaboration and Enquiry to Tackle Educational Inequity

No abstract available

Research on the impact of the School Improvement Partnership Programme: Interim Report

In November 2013 Education Scotland commissioned the Robert Owen Centre for Education Change at The University of Glasgow to evaluate and support the School Improvement Partnership Programme (SIPP) for the first year of its implementation. The overall objectives for the evaluation support for SIPP were as follows: • To provide tailored support to up to 10 individual partnership projects which are part of the SIPP; • To assess how well the overall SIPP, and each individual partnership project within it, have been initiated; • To assess the extent to which the SIPP has contributed to its intended intermediate outcome; and • To make recommendations for the future development and potential scale-up of the SIP

Set up and assessment of progression criteria for internal pilots:the Brushing RemInder 4 Good oral HealTh (BRIGHT) trial example

Background Dental caries is common in young people and has wide-ranging ramifications for health and quality of life. Text messaging interventions show promise as a means to promote oral health behaviour change among young people. This paper reports the internal pilot of the Brushing RemInder 4 Good oral HealTh (BRIGHT) trial, which is evaluating an intervention comprising an oral health classroom lesson and text messages about toothbrushing, on caries in young people. Pilot trial objectives were to evaluate the feasibility and appropriateness of recruitment and data collection methods, the randomisation strategy, and intervention delivery against progression criteria for the main trial. Methods This is an internal pilot trial embedded within an assessor-blinded, two-arm, cluster randomised controlled trial. Participants were pupils aged 11–13 years (in year 7/S1 or year 8/S2) in secondary schools in England, Scotland, and Wales with above average pupil eligibility for free school meals. Following completion of pupil baseline questionnaires and dental assessments, year groups within schools were randomised to the intervention or control arm. Approximately 12 weeks later, participants completed a follow-up questionnaire, which included questions about sources of oral health advice to assess intervention contamination between year groups. At the end of the pilot phase, trial conduct was reviewed against pre-specified progression criteria. Results Ten schools were recruited for the pilot, with 20 year groups and 1073 pupils randomised (average of 54 pupils per year group). Data collection methods and intervention delivery were considered feasible, the response rate to the follow-up questionnaire was over 80%, there was an indication of a positive effect on self-reported toothbrushing, and interest was obtained from 80% of the schools required for the main trial. Despite partial intervention contamination between year groups, within-school randomisation at the level of the year-group was considered appropriate for the main trial, and the sample size was revised to account for partial contamination. Facilitators and barriers to recruitment and data collection were identified and strategies refined for the main trial. Conclusions Progression to the main trial of BRIGHT, with some design refinements, was concluded. The internal pilot was an efficient way to determine trial feasibility and optimise trial processes

Behaviour change intervention for toothbrushing (lesson and text messages) to prevent dental caries in secondary school pupils: The BRIGHT randomized control trial

Objectives: This multicentre, assessor‐blinded, two‐arm cluster randomized trial evaluated the clinical and cost‐effectiveness of a behaviour change intervention promoting toothbrushing for preventing dental caries in UK secondary schools. Methods: Pupils aged 11–13 years with their own mobile telephone attending secondary schools with above average free school meals eligibility were randomized (at year‐group level) to receive a lesson and twice‐daily text messages or to usual care. Year‐groups (n = 84) from 42 schools including 4680 pupils (intervention, n = 2262; control, n = 2418) were randomized. Results: In 2383 participants with valid data at baseline and 2.5 years, the primary outcome of presence of at least one treated or untreated carious lesion (D4‐6 MFT [Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth] in permanent teeth using International Caries Detection and Assessment System) was 44.6% in the intervention group and 43.0% in control (odds ratio [OR] 1.04, 95% CI 0.85–1.26, p = .72). There were no statistically significant differences in secondary outcomes of presence of at least one treated or untreated carious lesion (D1‐6 MFT), number of D4‐6 MFT and D1‐6 MFT, plaque and bleeding scores or health‐related‐ (Child Health Utility 9D) or oral health‐related‐ quality of life (CARIES‐QC). However, twice‐daily toothbrushing, reported by 77.6% of pupils at baseline, increased at 6 months (intervention, 86.9%; control, 83.0%; OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.03–1.63, p = .03), but returned to no difference at 2.5 years (intervention, 81.0%; control, 79.9%; OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.84–1.30, p = .69). Estimated incremental costs and quality‐adjusted life‐years (QALYs) of the intervention, relative to control, were £1.02 (95% CI −1.29 to 3.23) and −0.003 (95% CI −0.009 to 0.002), respectively, with a 7% chance of being cost‐effective (£20 000/QALY gained threshold). Conclusion: There was no evidence of statistically significant difference for caries prevalence at 2.5‐years. The intervention's positive 6‐month toothbrushing behaviour change did not translate into caries reduction. (ISRCTN 12139369). COVID‐19 pandemic adversly affected follow‐up

Maps and metrics of insecticide-treated net access, use, and nets-per-capita in Africa from 2000-2020.

Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are one of the most widespread and impactful malaria interventions in Africa, yet a spatially-resolved time series of ITN coverage has never been published. Using data from multiple sources, we generate high-resolution maps of ITN access, use, and nets-per-capita annually from 2000 to 2020 across the 40 highest-burden African countries. Our findings support several existing hypotheses: that use is high among those with access, that nets are discarded more quickly than official policy presumes, and that effectively distributing nets grows more difficult as coverage increases. The primary driving factors behind these findings are most likely strong cultural and social messaging around the importance of net use, low physical net durability, and a mixture of inherent commodity distribution challenges and less-than-optimal net allocation policies, respectively. These results can inform both policy decisions and downstream malaria analyses

Taking the lead: teachers leading educational reform through collaborative enquiry in Scotland

No abstract available

Numerical treatment of state and control constraints in the computation of feedback laws for nonlinear control problems

To appear in: Proceedings of the international workshop ''Large scale scientific computing'', Oberwolfach, 1985SIGLETIB: RN 4020 (762) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Taking the lead: teachers leading educational reform through collaborative enquiry in Scotland

No abstract available

The oral health of secondary school pupils: baseline data from the Brushing RemInder 4 Good oral HealTh (BRIGHT) trial

Background This paper describes the sociodemographics and oral health of UK secondary school pupils. They were participants of the BRIGHT trial, which was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a toothbrushing intervention to reduce dental caries. Methods Overall, 4,680 pupils aged 11-13 years attending 42 secondary schools in England, Scotland and Wales with above average proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals, were recruited to the trial. Sociodemographic data were collected. Participants had a clinical assessment for caries, plaque and bleeding and completed measures of oral and general health-related quality of life and oral health behaviours (frequency of toothbrushing, dental attendance and cariogenic food/drinks consumed). Regression analyses were performed. Results Over one-third (34.7%) of participants had caries experience, with 44.5% reporting their oral health had an impact on their daily lives. Factors associated with a statistically significant increased likelihood of caries experience were older age, being female, eligibility for free school meals, worse oral health-related quality of life, higher cariogenic diet, less than twice-daily toothbrushing, living in a more deprived area and lower school attendance. Conclusions The prevalence and impact of dental caries on the lives of pupils remains high, with further oral health promotion activities needed in targeted secondary schools