Emma Smith

An international comparison of equity in education systems

This paper uses pupil responses to the PISA study in 2000 for all EU countries. Using indicators of the pupil intakes to schools and their outcomes it computes segregation indices for 15 countries, and then tries to explain the resulting patterns in terms of the characteristics of national school systems. Segregation by sex in each country is explicable by its provision of single‐sex schools, religious schools, and the use of academic selection in allocating school places. Segregation by outcome is largely explicable by the use of academic (and other forms of) selection. Segregation by parental occupation or country of birth is lower in countries allocating places at school through elements of choice or with relatively little governmental control of schools rather than use of rigid catchment areas or selection. In all countries there are small gaps between the performance of boys and girls in reading, in favour of girls. This gap is generally smaller in countries with the highest overall scores. Overall, the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Finland and Denmark show less segregation on all indicators, while Germany, Greece and Belgium show the most. The UK has below average segregation in terms of all indicators except sex, despite a commonly held but unfounded view that segregation in the UK is among the worst in the world.

PITFALLS AND PROMISES: THE USE OF SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

ABSTRACT:  This paper considers the use of secondary data analysis in educational research. It addresses some of the promises and potential pitfalls that influence its use and explores a possible role for the secondary analysis of numeric data in the ‘new’ political arithmetic tradition of social research. Secondary data analysis is a relatively under-used technique in Education and in the social sciences more widely, and it is an approach that is not without its critics. Here we consider two main objections to the use of secondary data: that it is full of errors and that because of the socially constructed nature of social data, simply reducing it to a numeric form cannot fully encapsulate its complexity. However, secondary data also offers numerous methodological, theoretical and pedagogical benefits. Indeed by treating secondary data analysis with appropriate scepticism and respect for its limitations, by demanding that tacit assumptions about the unreliability of secondary data are applied equally to other research methods, and crucially by combining secondary data analysis with small-scale in-depth work, this paper argues for a return to prominence of secondary data analysis in its own right as well as becoming a central component of the new political arithmetic tradition of social research.

Women into science and engineering? Gendered participation in higher education STEM subjects

This paper considers gendered patterns of participation in post‐compulsory STEM education. It examines the trajectory of learning that takes students from A‐level qualifications, through undergraduate work and into employment or further study. It also uses a long‐term view to look at the best available evidence to monitor participation and attainment over an extended period of time. The findings suggest that almost three decades of initiatives to increase participation in STEM subjects have had little noticeable impact on the recruitment data and gendered patterns of participation persist in several subject areas. This is despite more women entering HE and little gender difference in the entry qualifications for STEM subjects. While more women are studying science, as broadly conceived, than ever before, recruitment to key areas, namely physics and engineering remains stagnant. However, for those women who do remain in the ‘science stream’ patterns of employment in graduate careers and further study appea...

Electroless deposition of metallic silver from a choline chloride-based ionic liquid: a study using acoustic impedance spectroscopy, SEM and atomic force microscopy

In this paper, we describe the first example of a sustained galvanic coating deposited on a surface from a non-aqueous liquid. We present the surface characterization of electroless silver deposits on copper substrates from a solution of Ag(+) ions in an ionic liquid based on a choline chloride (ChCl) eutectic. Through a study of these deposits and the mechanism of formation using acoustic impedance spectroscopy (QCM), probe microscopy (AFM) and electron microscopy (SEM/EDX), we demonstrate that sustained growth of the silver deposit is facilitated by the porous nature of the silver. This is in contrast to the dip-coating reaction of silver ions in aqueous media, where the reaction stops when surface coverage is reached. Electroless silver deposits of up to several microns have been obtained by dip coating in ionic liquids without the use of catalysts of strong inorganic acids.

Raising standards in American schools: the case of No Child Left Behind

In January 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law what is arguably the most important piece of US educational legislation for the past 35 years. For the first time, Public Law 107–110 links high stakes testing with strict accountability measures designed to ensure that, at least in schools that receive government funding, no child is left behind. The appropriately named No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) links government funding to strict improvement policies for Americas public schools. Much of what is undertaken in NCLB is praiseworthy, the Act is essentially equitable for it ensures that schools pay due regard to the progress of those sections of the school population who have traditionally done less well in school, in particular, students from economically disadvantaged homes, as well as those from ethnic minority backgrounds and those who have limited proficiency to speak English. However, this seemingly salutatory aspect of the Act is also the one that has raised the most objections. This paper describes the key features of this important piece of legislation before outlining why it is that a seemingly equitable Act has produced so much consternation in US education circles. Through an exploration of school level data for the state of New Jersey, the paper considers the extent to which these concerns have been justified during the early days of No Child Left Behind.

Understanding Underachievement: an investigation into the differential attainment of secondary school pupils

This article considers the notion of ‘underachievement’ as it is applied to pupil performance in school. It argues that rather than being a straightforward concept, underachievement is one where little consensus exists over its definition and measurement. Previous work on underachievement has tended to cluster around two manifestations of the issue. On the one hand, there is the comparative notion of differential achievement—often specifically low achievement—as used in media commentaries and, on the other, there is its definition in psychological research as the discrepancy between an individuals performance on a test of mental ability a subsequent school examination. Using a stricter definition of underachievement that takes into account a range of background as well as academic variables when predicting examination performance, this paper describes the construction of a model for predicting individual performance in future Key Stage 3 examinations. Individuals whose examination performance was then significantly lower than expected were termed underachievers. The composition of this group was examined in light of existing ‘moral panics’ about underachieving working-class boys.

Failing Boys and Moral Panics: Perspectives on the Underachievement Debate

The paper re-examines the underachievement debate from the perspective of the ‘discourse of derision’ that surrounds much writing in this area. It considers the contradictions and inconsistencies which underpin much of the discourse – from a reinterpretation of examination scores, to the conflation of the concepts of ‘under’ and ‘low’ achievement and finally to the lack of consensus on a means of defining and measuring the term underachievement. In doing so, this paper suggests a more innovative approach for understanding, re-evaluating and perhaps rejecting the notion of underachievement

Do we need more scientists? A long‐term view of patterns of participation in UK undergraduate science programmes

This paper reports the findings from an ESRC funded study which examined patterns of participation in higher education science programmes. Using data on applications and acceptances to university, the paper describes trends in the numbers of candidates who choose to study science and science‐related degree programmes in the UK over the last two decades. Two main findings emerge. The first shows that overall the sciences have retained their share of the undergraduate population during a period in which the sector has expanded rapidly. We find no evidence of a ‘swing’ from science. Indeed it is not the case that undergraduates are not studying science, rather, it is the type of science courses they are studying which has changed. The second finding suggests that large and small‐scale initiatives to increase recruitment to the sciences have had little lasting impact on the higher education participation data.

Is there a crisis in school science education in the UK

This paper reviews the extent to which contemporary concerns over the recruitment, training and retention of scientists have persisted among science education policy‐makers. Drawing upon key government reports that have been commissioned in order to review the position of science education and training over the last 90 years, we consider the historical context of contemporary “moral panics” about the position of science education in schools. Three themes emerge: the nature and purpose of the school science curriculum, the recruitment of science undergraduates, and the teaching of science in schools. The review suggests that many of the concerns which pre‐occupy us today, such as the perceived “quality” of the science teaching workforce, are the very same that existed when science was first introduced as a school subject. This raises issues about the role of policy in influencing educational change more generally but also questions whether there ever was a “golden age” for science education in the UK.

Is there a shortage of scientists? A re-analysis of supply for the uk

Abstract Despite a recent economic downturn, there is considerable political and industry pressure to retain or even increase the number of scientists in the UK and other developed countries. Claims are made that the supply of scientists (including engineers and mathematicians) is crucial to the economy and the health of the nation, and a large number of initiatives have been funded to address the problem. We consider these claims in light of a re-analysis of existing figures from 1986 to 2009, for young scientists passing through education and into employment. Science graduates are heavily stratified by social origin, and this sorting takes place during initial schooling just as it does with other ‘prestige’ subjects. The majority of science graduates then move into initial occupations that are not directly related to their degree, suggesting that at this stage of life at least, the demand for scientists trained in specific areas is more than met by existing numbers. We have no reason to believe that the situation is different to other vocational and non-vocational subjects, so perhaps science is not as special as politicians and business leaders imagine. Perhaps young people are put off careers in science by their education. Or perhaps the incentives are not right, leading to the ‘wrong’ kinds of students in science, and so wastage and inefficiency in the supply process. More pertinently, perhaps this vocational outcome is not how a developed country should assess the value and importance of scientific knowledge among its population.