Raising Achievement, behaviour, self-esteem and exclusion

This report is the outcome of a research project carried out between December 2004 and June 2005 by the University of Western Sydney. The aim of the report was to examine the motivation and engagement of boys, in particular those from Indigenous, low socioeconomic, rural and isolated backgrounds.

Boys’ motivation, engagement and socio-academic outcomes were recognised as being related to, if not inseparable from, boys’ socioeconomic status (SES), and/or geographical location and/or cultural factors. The report suggests that methodologically, there is no unified sense of ‘boyhood’ in relation to motivation, engagement and social and academic performance. A focus on ‘boys’ as a single, unified category would conceal more than it would reveal.

Strategies which support motivation and engagement are detailed and might work successfully in a UK context.

There is much here that would repay a careful read over a cup of tea or decaff.

Excellence in Cities Pupil Outcomes Two Years On

This January 2005 report, just published (Jan 2006) on the NFER site, looks at the Excellence in Cities (EiC) initiative which was launched in September 1999 "as one of the Government’s key policy initiatives for redressing educational disadvantage and under-performance in schools located within the most deprived urban areas of England. It adopted a multi-strand approach to raising standards and performance and emphasised the use of locally-based partnership approaches and targeted provision."

The report believes that there are a number of things that schools can do to
improve pupil attitudes to learning, the factor most strongly associated with higher
levels of attainment. Positive attitudes to education, good behaviour and higher levels
of attainment were significantly more evident in schools in which young people
believed that they were listened to and treated with respect, in which there was a
culture of praise and support, in which young people they felt had opportunities to
discuss their progress and in which teachers were clear about (and enforced) acceptable standards of behaviour. The EiC initiative, through its Leadership Strand
and through its promotion of a focus on teaching and learning strategies, could be in a position to strengthen these developments

Excellence in Cities: managing associated initiatives to raise standards

This November 2005 report, on the Ofsted site, claims to examine the significant progress made by the Excellence in Cities initiative and its associated programmes on raising standards and promoting social inclusion. It highlights what has been crucial in making the initiative a success, such as strong leadership and management, and where improvements can yet be made, including the further development of monitoring and evaluation procedures.

Monitoring and evaluation continue to be themes which provide most difficulty in many such schemes. However, overall, this report provides positive feedback on EiC.

Inclusion of disabled children in primary school playgrounds

Based on qualitative research focusing on disabled children, this Joseph Rowntree Foundation study investigated the play in playgrounds of six schools in Yorkshire. It claims to reveal how disabled children were included in play and identifies both organisational, social and physical barriers and good practice to the inclusion of these children in play at both playtimes and lunch-times.

UNCORRECTED TRANSCRIPT OF ORAL EVIDENCE House of COMMONS MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE EDUCATION AND SKILLS committee SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS Monday 31 October 2005 BARONESS WARNOCK Evidence heard in Public Questions 1 - 47

This evidence may not stay here for long . . .

Baroness Warnock's views on the interpretation of her original report, commissioned as far back as 1974 by Margaret Thatcher who was then sec of state for education.

Neither witnesses nor Members have had the opportunity to correct this record. The transcript is not yet an approved formal record of these proceedings

Early in this transcript, Baroness Warnock states, "I think if one reads the first report, the real report, carefully - and I re-read it again - I do not think we ever wanted our recommendation about integration to be taken quite as far as the Government now seems to be taking it with their policy of inclusion."

Absolutely worth a close read.

Learning Behaviour: The Report of The Practitioners' Group on School Behaviour and Discipline

This October 2005 report is an excellent analysis of school behaviour and discipline. The examples of good practice which it cites are those which experience says are practical and which work. One aim of the report is to begin the process of spreading good practice amongst all schools as new challenges arise.

Some of the measures to improve behaviour are painfully simple but which are often left out or avoided. For example, it is recommended that senior staff patrol the school at key times and at key locations. And that the Head "walks the school" every day. This particular feature was mentioned by one of our business mentors who was astonished that our Head didn't walk the school every day. As a manager of a successful business he couldn't understand why this did not happen.

Essential reading for all.

Improving behaviour and attendance in secondary schools

From Ofsted, (July 2005) this brief report looks at the outcomes and successes of the DfES-funded Behaviour Improvement Programme. They conclude that, "most schools did use funding effectively and, as a result, brought about change."

The equivalent primary school report can be viewed here.

Good School Meals Can Calm Students

What happened after a Appleton Wisconsin school replaced the cafeteria's processed foods menu with a nutritious selection of whole food dishes. Fresh salads, fruit, whole grain bread and meats cooked to old-fashioned recipes took over from burgers, fries and burritos. They also withdrew the soda and snack machines. Slowly but surely, the students' behaviour changed. The fights and weapons violations ceased and peace began to reign. The students became calm and well-behaved. They also started to focus in class.

On the School Nutrition Association website

When quiet kids get forgotten in class

From the April 26th 2005 edition of the Christian Science Monitor,

This article notes that teachers sometimes make the mistake of assuming that students who don't speak up have little to contribute. It reveals that the "quiet" child is not always accepted in the classroom. Lynne Henderson, visiting professor of psychology at Stanford University, the qualities that many quieter children express - thoughtfulness, studiousness, conscientiousness - are among those most needed for the complex problem-solving required by today's information-oriented economy.

Very worth a read.

Food for thought

From the BBC, more on how healthy eating can affect positively children's behaviour and sociability.

A study of children and young people who present challenging behaviour

This literature review, from the University of Birmingham, was commissioned by Ofsted as part of a large scale survey, to inform the report Managing Challenging Behaviour (Ofsted, 2005).

The purpose of this research was to:

review published material to determine the range of characteristics and
definitions of challenging behaviour used by academic researchers and
practitioners
survey a range of educational practitioners about their understanding of
behaviour that presents challenges to settings, schools and colleges
determine factors that account for effective practice in relation to pupils with difficult behaviour.

Managing Challenging Behaviour

This March 2005 report from Ofsted gives an account of behaviour in schools based on national evidence and provides an analysis of behaviour in a range of educational settings based on visits by Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI).

The report notes that the most common form of poor behaviour is persistent low-level disruption of lessons that wears down staff and interrupts learning.

To help resolve difficulties, schools should:

focus on improving the quality of teaching and the provision of an appropriate curriculum that engages the more difficult pupils
do more to improve the literacy and other communication skills of pupils with difficult behaviour
improve systems for tracking academic and social development, and make better use of this information to help pupils improve and manage their behaviour
provide more systematic training for senior managers, teachers and assistants in behaviour management and in child and adolescent development
review the way they link with parents underline the need for consistency among staff in the way expectations of behaviour are set and maintained.

Worth a quick read I think.

Uniform Effects

(This link may expire quickly so log on to the edweek site and search on "uniform")

Research on the effects of a school uniform policy, featured on the EdWeek.org site, seems to show that uniform policies don’t curb violence or behavioural problems in schools. They don’t cultivate student self-esteem and motivation. They don’t balance the social-status differences that often separate students. And they don’t improve academic achievement. (In fact, uniforms may even be associated with a small detrimental effect on achievement in reading, research shows.)

Research by David L. Brunsma, an assistant professor of Sociology at the University of Missouri.

More research on this theme here:

Learning for Tomorrow's World: First Results from PISA 2003

On the OECD PISA site, (Programme for International Student Assessment) this report presents initial results from the PISA 2003 assessment. The report goes well beyond an examination of the relative standing of countries in mathematics, science and reading. It also looks at a wider range of educational outcomes that include students’ motivation to learn, their beliefs about themselves and their learning strategies.

PISA 2003 asked students about four aspects of their approaches to learning mathematics:

• Their motivation:

whether they are interested in and enjoy mathematics, whether they believe it will help them fulfil their goals, whether they feel positive about their school and whether they feel that they belong there;

• Their self-related beliefs:

how confident they are in their ability in mathematics (“self-concept”) and their capacity to overcome learning challenges that they find difficult (“self-efficacy”)

• Emotional factors:

specifically, how anxious students feel when learning mathematics;

• Learning strategies:

the extent to which students “memorise” new information, “elaborate” it by thinking about how it relates to what they have already learned and “control” their own learning by checking that learning goals are being reached.

Excellence in Cities: The Primary Extension - Real Stories

This December 2004 report, part of the Ofsted series, Improving City Schools, evaluates the impact of the Excellence in Cities (EiC) initiative in primary schools which the government introduced to improve educational achievement and promote social inclusion in disadvantaged areas.

Whilst there is evidence of improvement, especially regarding social inclusion and attendance, Ofsted note the need for improved target-setting, monitoring and evaluation. Additionally, they found that schools have increased their awareness of the barriers that pupils face and have developed appropriate intervention strategies.

Out of School : a survey of the educational support and provision for pupils not in school

This December 2004 MS Word document from Ofsted highlights good and bad practice in the provision for students not in school. Useful maybe are the indicators which might be used to identify students at risk of exclusion. Also valuable is a list of actions taken by schools to reduce students' vulnerability. (Hyperlink E in the report).

I'd like to think that some of the actions and strategies used by the Rhyddings Raising Achievement Project also help reduce students' vulnerability to exclusion.

Special Educational Needs and Disability : Towards Inclusive Schools

From Ofsted, October 2004, this report examines the extent to which the inclusion framework set out in 2002 has had an impact more generally on the capacity of schools to cater effectively for a wider range of needs. It finds that there has been some improvement in practice but that expectations of achievement are often neither well enough defined nor pitched high enough. Evaluation of SEN provision is also limited and quality of work is inconsistent.

Student Engagement at School - A Sense of Belonging and Participation

Based on PISA 2000 data, this report examines several aspects of student engagement at school. Executive Summary here. The report notes:

Two particular messages for policy arise from this picture. One is that different kinds of school intervention are needed to help people with different kinds of problem – those just targeted at lower performing students, for example, will not reach most of those students who lack a sense of belonging or who are regularly absent. The other is that efforts to increase school engagement may not result in large gains in academic performance. Rather, the justification for such interventions needs to derive from the benefit of school engagement as an outcome in its own right – and one that will affect students’ futures as adults.

Also,

The prevalence of disaffected students (with low sense of belonging or low participation) is only weakly linked to students’ social background.
Students in schools with strong levels of engagement tend to perform well.
Students attending schools where there is a concentration of students from families with low socioeconomic status are more likely to be disaffected, suggesting probable peer effects
In schools with a strong disciplinary climate, good student-teacher
relations and high expectations of students, engagement is on average higher. This suggests that the culture of schools plays a key role.

Small Schools Get Results

Chicago's Small Schools initiative website. How small schools can reduce disaffection. Not rocket science but it may take the UK a while to get around to this sort of thinking.

In N.Y.C., Fast-Paced Drive for Small Schools

The push for smaller, less alienating small schools in New York City continues. This Education Week report details some of the issues involved. Look out for this initiative to cross the Pond . . . in a couple of years' time?

Can All Teachers Teach All Students?: Student Characteristics and Teacher Tolerance

This paper from David Podell and Nelly Tournaki was presented at the AERA Annual Meeting 2002. They note:-

"While inclusion of students with special needs in regular classes is being embraced in some school districts as a top-down policy, this study highlights the danger of presenting teachers with students possessing a range of difficulties greater than their tolerance can withstand. It suggests that, for inclusion to succeed, teachers will need greater resources than they presently receive. Further preparation in the teaching of students with special needs, the availability of specialized services, and the presence of mentors and consultants may enable teachers to expand their tolerance level."

These issues are very much to the fore as inclusion is implemented in the UK.

Excellence in Cities: City Learning Centres

The network of City Learning Centres (CLCs) is one element of the Excellence in Cities (EiC) programme run by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). CLCs have been set up to provide learning opportunities based on information and communication.

This report looks at the first year of CLCs. It notes, "In many of the lessons observed, pupils were engaged in work using ICT that was of a higher level and greater breadth than is usual in their schools. Their responses were generally good. ICT capability was above average in six out of the ten CLCs, with pupils involved in both guided and experimental learning with high-quality results."

Excellence in Cities and Education Action Zones : management and impact

This report, from Ofsted, "evaluates the management and effect of two major programmes, Excellence in Cities (EiC) and Education Action Zones (EAZ), introduced by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to improve educational achievement and promote social inclusion in disadvantaged areas."

One positive key finding is that "Excellence in Cities and Education Action Zone programmes are making an important difference to schools in disadvantaged areas. They are providing pupils with a broader range of opportunities and helping to raise their aspirations, confidence and self-esteem."

(If the above link has moved then try here or search from the Ofsted front page.)

Interventions for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties in primary schools

This review aimed to summarise existing research findings about effective strategies for supporting primary-aged pupils with EBD in mainstream classrooms in order to inform and guide professional practice. It was carried out as a collaborative effort between the NFER and the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating (EPPI-Centre) at the Social Science Research Unit, University of London Institute of Education.

Smaller Schools Reduce Harmful Impact of Poverty on Student Achievement

New research shows that smaller schools in four widely divergent U.S. states reduce the harmful effects of poverty on student achievement. Smaller schools help students from less affluent communities narrow the academic achievement gap (as measured by state sanctioned standardized tests) between them and students from wealthier communities.

A NEW ERA: Revitalizing Special Education for Children and their Families

This is the July 2002 report of the US Presidential Commission on Special Education. Many of its findings mirror the Special Needs experience here in the UK. For example, Finding 1 notes,

"the current system often places process above results, and bureaucratic compliance above student achievement, excellence, and outcomes. The system is driven by complex regulations, excessive paperwork, and ever-increasing administrative demands at all levels—for the child, the parent, the local education agency, and the state education agency. Too often, simply qualifying for special education becomes an end-point—not a gateway to more effective instruction and strong intervention." Another MUST READ.

The Costs and Causes of Low Self-esteem

This review of the available research evidence, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and carried out by Nicholas Emler (London School of Economics), provides an alternative view of the effect of low self-esteem on a broad range of psychological and behavioural problems.

Alternative curriculum programmes at Key Stage 4 (14-16 yr-olds)

(Clicking the link above starts an MS Word .doc download).

This paper from M.A.Cullen, evaluates outcomes in relation to inclusion - part of NFER’s research on alternative curriculum programmes for 14-16-year-olds. Perhaps most useful are the descriptions of the alternative programmes themselves, although Cullen notes that more than this is needed:-

"In a society that allows a widening gap between rich and poor, inclusion for our most vulnerable young people is likely to require longer-term support and intervention than can be achieved through alternative programmes at key stage 4."

Investigating the reintegration of permanently excluded young people in England

This February 2000 report from Carl Parsons and Keith Howlett at Canterbury Christ Church University College, was commissioned by Include, a charity involved in promoting the inclusion of all students into school.

Especially useful is the section reporting on effective practice with disengaged and excluded pupils. With the promotion of inclusion this report suggests some useful ways forward.

(Thanks to SNIP for bringing this to my notice. - http://www.snip-newsletter.co.uk/ )

Factors relating to curriculum provision which are common amongst excluded pupils

This research, commissioned by the QCA in 1997, focused on the curricular experiences of individual pupils who had been, or were currently, excluded from school. It examined aspects of the curriculum in which they experienced success and areas in which they encountered difficulties, as well as perceived reasons for those successes and difficulties. Additionally, it gathered views about aspects of the curriculum which should have been provided (which were either not available, or not provided in sufficient depth) for that particular pupil.

Interesting and useful reading.

Promoting Positive Behaviour

This is the March 1997 report of a study based upon the introduction of a behaviour scheme by Joan G Mowat, Woodfarm High School, East Renfreshire, Scotland. Lots of good practical points and ideas.

Improving Attendance and Behaviour in Secondary Schools

During 1999/2000, the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) undertook a series of ten inspections of secondary schools with a specific focus on truancy and exclusion. The inspections were part of the response to the Government’s Social Exclusion Unit 1998 report, Truancy and Exclusion from Schools.

The report outlines key features of schools which are showing improvement. The points made are generally sound and are presented in a less abrasive manner than in some Woodhead era reports. Most noticeably the report makes the point that,

"Concern about attendance and behaviour in schools can sometimes mask the fact that most pupils attend school every day and that the great majority of pupils who attend behave themselves and work well with one another and their teachers. The overwhelming majority of teachers manage the behaviour of pupils well, day in and day out." (Para 5)

Working Out Well: Effective Provision For Excluded Pupils (Link updated 25/3/02)

This is the a link to the book and downloadable conference paper (Word .doc format) from NFER. Try searching the NFER site if the page has been moved.

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