ARRT Community: Primary Education

Standards in English primary education: the international evidence

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:58:59 GMT

Title: Standards in English primary education: the international evidence

Authors: Whetton, Chris; Ruddock, Graham; Twist, Liz

Abstract: This review examines international survey evidence on the performance of English children of primary school age in relation to those from other countries. It starts by setting out the context of these international surveys and specifies those which are discussed here. It examines the methodological basis of the surveys, noting criticisms and problems, before considering the survey findings in mathematics, reading and science. The strengths and limitations of the data are assessed, and implications for the future international monitoring of educational standards are identified.

Standards and quality in English primary schools over time: the national evidence

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:58:59 GMT

Title: Standards and quality in English primary schools over time: the national evidence

Authors: Tymms, Peter; Merrell, Christine

Abstract: This survey concentrates on changes in standards and quality in English primary schools. ‘Standards’ are taken to mean the levels attained rather than the levels which are set as expected. ‘Quality’ is taken to mean a judgment about the level attained against an implicit or explicit view of what is appropriate. Levels of academic attainment (mathematics and reading) form the mainstay of work which has been carried out, and of this review, but seven separate areas are set out which form a complete structure for monitoring, of which academic attainment is just one part.Generally, mathematics and reading standards have remained fairly constant for some time although both have risen recently. Reading has risen very slightly and mathematics has risen moderately.A plea is made for a more thorough evaluation of education initiatives and their impact on standards, and for linked cost benefit analyses.

The quality of learning: assessment alternatives for primary education

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:58:59 GMT

Title: The quality of learning: assessment alternatives for primary education

Authors: Harlen, Wynne

Abstract: Why and how we assess our pupils has an enormous impact on their educational experience and consequently on how and what they learn. This paper provides a critical review of the assessment system in England in the light of evidence from research and practice. It begins by considering the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of assessment and then, in section 3, describes how the various purposes and uses of assessment are met in England, in the other countries of the UK and in France, Sweden and New Zealand. In the fourth section alternative methods of conducting pupil assessment for different purposes are considered in relation to their validity, reliability, impact on learning and teaching and cost. The main points from this analysis are drawn together in the final section, indicating viable alternatives to tests and to the high stakes use of measures of pupil achievement.

Primary Workforce Management and Reform

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:58:59 GMT

Title: Primary Workforce Management and Reform

Authors: Burgess, Hilary

Abstract: This report provides an overview of the impact ofpolicies upon professional workforce management, reform and support and assesses recentdevelopments in England and Wales and elsewhere in the UK. A brief comparison with the USA provides a global context for understanding key issues that impact upon teachers and other professionals in primary schools.

Primary Teachers: initial teacher education, continuing professional development and school leadership development

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:58:59 GMT

Title: Primary Teachers: initial teacher education, continuing professional development and school leadership development

Authors: McNamara, Olwen; Webb, Rosemary; Brundrett, Mark

Abstract: This survey of the teacher education and training in England has been structured into threesections covering the key areas of initial teacher education (ITE), continuing professionaldevelopment (CPD) and the training of education leaders. The final section looks acrossthese and draws out some common themes. Each of the authors has chosen to work on oneof the three areas reviewed and contributed to the analysis which gave rise to the themes andissues identified in the concluding comments. The survey covers an area so extensive as tomake systematic review an unrealistic prospect; whole books, indeed entire series of books, have been written on each of these individual strands. The survey thus does not purport to be exhaustive but will present an overview of the professional learning landscape.

Primary Schools: the professional environment

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:58:59 GMT

Title: Primary Schools: the professional environment

Authors: Jones, Liz; Pickard, Andy; Stronach, Ian

Abstract: The authors of this report for the Primary Review were charged with presenting anassessment of the current state of the professional environment of the English primaryschool. We decided to overview the salient issues, and then to identify a number of centralthemes whose understanding seemed to us to be of central importance. It was clear also thatsustained empirical research of life inside primary schools, or indeed any schools, of the kindpublished in the 1980s heyday of ethnographical sociology is now limited. We found thatwhat empirical studies did exist had also become more theoretically impoverished over the years. Atheoretical and simplistically evaluational approaches tend to dominatecontemporary academic published writing. This is not to deny that there is significant andcritical work being done by the likes of Pollard and Alexander (see, for example, Pollard &Triggs 2001 and, in the international comparative field, Alexander 2001). Nevertheless, there seem to be large enclaves of sponsored research that did not seem able or willing to critically contest the realities of contemporary schooling.

Primary Schools and Other Agencies

Mon, 26 May 2008 12:31:18 GMT

Title: Primary Schools and Other Agencies

Authors: Barron, Ian; Holmes, Rachel; MacLure, Maggie; Runswick-Cole, Katherine

Abstract: This report examines the shifting relationships that have obtained over the past four decades between education and the various agencies with which primary school children in the UK may come into contact. The report deals primarily with agencies concerned with health, social care and the law. Based on an analysis of key policy texts, legislation and primary research studies, the report describes the changing configurations of provision for children deemed to be in need of support or intervention from agencies beyond the school. It identifies major shifts of policy and practice, culminating in the wide-reaching reforms of the post-1997 Labour governments. However the report also notes that two key assumptions have persisted across the decades. Firstly, the role of external agencies has consistently been construed as one of compensating for the deficits of the ‘insufficient child’ or family, although definitions of such deficits have varied over time. Children and families who have recourse to agencies continue to be tacitly defined as deficient with respect to an idealised, if invisible, ‘normal’ child or family who does not need additional support. Secondly, the desire for improved co-ordination amongst schools and other service providers has been a goal of policy from the 1960s onwards. Yet, while the ‘joined-up’ architecture of the most recent reforms represents a major move towards ‘extended’ provision and fuller collaboration, its effectiveness in serving the interests of children remains to be established. Early research suggests that barriers to communication and collaboration across professions are deep-seated and resistant to change.1.

Children's Lives Outside School and their Educational Impact

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:58:59 GMT

Title: Children's Lives Outside School and their Educational Impact

Authors: Mayall, Berry

Abstract: The Primary Review is being carried out in the context of a number of theoretical and policy-relevant developments in the study of children and childhood. Whilst Plowden (1967) could confidently, it seems, rely on Piagetian concepts – a universalist vision of the child as individual explorer programmed to develop through identifiable stages – more recently other ideas within developmental psychology and sociology and the rights movement have come to prominence. All three conceptualise children as active participants in social relations and learning.

Parenting, Caring and Educating

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:58:59 GMT

Title: Parenting, Caring and Educating

Authors: Muschamp, Yolande; Wikeley, Felicity; Ridge, Tess; Balarin, Maria

Abstract: In this survey of published research we review changing patterns in the structure of the families and identify trends in parenting and caring for today’s generation of primary school children. We reveal how the reduction in the number of children born, the increase in the proportion of lone parents and the increasing age at which women have their first child have resulted in greater diversity of family forms, and parenting and caring practices. The impact of these changes on primary education is discussed through a review of the impact of government policy in relation to the role of parents and the home-school relationship. We conclude that the diversity in family structures brings with it complex administrative demands for home–school communication and a complex array of family relationships for teachers to understand and engage with. The school remains a primary source of community-based support for working parents and carers, although the impact of complex employment arrangements adds to the demands for child care support beyond the school day.The most challenging home circumstance, which cannot be viewed optimistically, is the increasing number of children living in relative poverty. Poverty remains a significant factor in the lives of many children with the inevitable impact in terms of health and wellbeing and a child’s capacity to engage fully in school activities, both financially and emotionally.Further research is needed into the lives of children and how their complex family relations, and the caring roles which many children undertake, impact on their education. In reality home-school relationships are between individual parents and individual teachers who both have the interests of the child at heart. Parents are not a homogeneous group but neither are teachers, and attempts to improve the relationship between both groups need to acknowledge the strengths and expertise of both. Teachers need to establish more fruitful links between home and school which build on the support for children’s learning that already exists in the home and community. Further research as to how this can happen would be helpful.

Children and their Primary Schools: pupils' voices

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:58:59 GMT

Title: Children and their Primary Schools: pupils' voices

Authors: Robinson, Carol; Fielding, Michael

Abstract: This report draws on evidence from published empirical studies which explore pupils’ and,in a minority of cases, former pupils’ perspectives on aspects of their primary education. Theoverall aim of the report is to summarise and assess the findings and explore theirimplications for the future of primary education in the United Kingdom (UK). The reportconcentrates on findings from some key UK based studies, as well as findings from a rangeof other UK based studies which have focused on eliciting pupils’ own perspectives of theirexperiences at primary school. Findings from studies from outside the UK are not, therefore,included in this report, nor are findings which report teachers’, as opposed to pupils’,perceptions of pupil experiences.In particular, the report focuses on pupils’ perceptions of the purposes of their primaryschools, and their perceptions of learning, teaching, the curriculum and assessment, as wellas pupils’ views on transfer from primary to secondary school. There is little evidence fromformer pupils, and data relating to pupils’ perspectives on the culture and organisation ofthe school, and to their aspirations and preferences in respect of their own futures, are alsovery limited due to the lack of literature focusing on these areas. The literature also provided very little evidence to allow comparisons to be made in pupils’ perspectives across different social and culture groups.