John Gray

The search for a fairer way of comparing schools’ examination results

Abstract The basic question we address in this paper is a straightforward one. How can ‘fairer’ comparisons be made between the results of individual secondary schools? This is a question which has preoccupied researchers of school effectiveness over much of the past decade. It is one, however, which has assumed still greater importance in the light of the recent requirement of the 1980 Education Act, in a climate of demands for greater ‘accountability’ in the public sector, that schools should publish their examination results. The paper explores some of the prevailing approaches to judging schools’ effectiveness, with particular reference to the use and interpretation of public examination results as measures of school performance, and utilizes data that have been collected from a small number of local education authorities to demonstrate the current ‘state‐of‐the‐art’. It concludes that although judgements about schools’ performance and effectiveness abound, appropriate frameworks for the comparison of...

Slants on Slopes: Using Multi‐level Models to Investigate Differential School Effectiveness and its Impact on Pupils’ Examination Results

ABSTRACT Does the influence on academic progress, which a school exerts on its pupils’ achievements in public examinations, differ for pupils of differing levels of ability? The study on which this paper is based used data from a number of English local education authorities (LEAs) and showed that, in general, when finely‐differentiated measures of pupils’ prior‐attainment were employed, the rate of progress was uniform for most schools within the differing sets for which data were available, whilst the level varied substantially between schools. The analysis contrasts these findings with others where a grouped prior‐attainment measure was used, and evidence for ‘differential effectiveness’ was detected; the paper seeks to account for the substantially different conclusions to which the work leads.

A Competitive Edge: Examination Results and the Probable Limits of Secondary School Effectiveness.

ABSTRACT This paper provides some estimates of the probable limits of secondary school effectiveness measured in terms of public examination results. Using data from several British local education authorities, the analysis demonstrates that knowing something about the intakes to secondary schools, either in terms of measures of social background or prior attainments, yields good predictions of subsequent outcomes measured in terms of fifth‐year examination performance. At the same time, it suggests that there is still scope for school effects to operate. Previous research on American high schools by Jencks and others seems somewhat to under‐estimate the likely effects of differences between secondary schools in Britain; Rutters more recent research on inner London schools, in contrast, probably overestimates them. The paper concludes that by attending one of the ‘more effective’ secondary schools in the state sector pupils secure a ‘competitive edge’ in terms of examination results over their less fortu...

HMI's interpretations of schools’ examination results

This paper investigates the ways in which HMI evaluate the performance of secondary schools in public examinations. It examines the 35 ‘long’ reports (i.e. those covering full inspections) published in the first year in which reports became publicly available, 1983. Four evaluative frameworks are identified as having been employed, and the manner in which these were utilized is analysed. The paper questions whether the strategies adopted are equally fair to all schools, and to what extent understanding of schools’ contexts (especially knowledge about ability levels at intake) is brought to bear in the summary assessments made.

The black‐white gap in examination results: A statistical critique of a decade's research

Abstract This article reviews major British studies of differences between ethnic groups in examination results that have appeared in the decade since the Swann Committee was given the task of assessing the education of children from ethnic minority groups. The extent to which the studies illuminate the relative importance of social background, community cultures and related factors is addressed, as is the question of whether schools affect childrens performance. Comment is made upon the influence of the underlying conceptual framework and the statistical procedures employed. While earlier studies gave considerable emphasis to social background, and thus ran the risk of ‘blaming the victim’, later studies have increasingly corrected this weighting by highlighting the potential role of the school. It remains unclear, however, whether schools are the major contributing factor and further research is needed to answer the questions which the Swann Report raised.

MULTILEVEL MODELS: ISSUES AND PROBLEMS EMERGING FROM THEIR RECENT APPLICATION IN BRITISH STUDIES OF SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses various ways by which the application of multilevel approaches to the study of school effectiveness might enhance the understanding. Their application, to date, would certainly appear to promise better, albeit more conservative, estimates of the extent of differences in effectiveness potentially attributable to schools themselves. The claims for the multilevel model are both powerful and provocative. The biggest contribution, from the introduction of three and more level modeling to the study of school effectiveness is to bring forcibly to researchers attention the importance of understanding the interrelationships between different levels in a nested system. One of the major consequences of this recent development of more powerful and more sensitive techniques for handling large-scale studies may be to lead researchers of school effectiveness to an informed rediscovery of the scope and potential of smaller-scale studies; improvements in their focus, design, and use of resources would be an appropriate outcome as well.

School Effectiveness Research: Key Issues.

Summary Recent research evidence and political demands that schools should be held more accountable, notably through the publication of examination results, have combined to focus attention on strategies for judging schools’ effectiveness. The article identifies a number of key areas for further research. These include: better evidence for the size and stability of school effects; closer attention to the values and assumptions underlying particular measures of outcomes, as well as more research into the relationships between them; more appropriate strategies for controlling for differences in intakes to different schools; larger samples of schools; and more open‐ended approaches to the study of differences in school processes, employing qualitative techniques to complement quantitatively‐defined frameworks.

Towards Effective Schools: problems and progress in British research

Abstract A number of recent studies have questioned the conclusion that ‘schools dont make a difference’. A brief review of earlier studies suggests a number of key questions which would result in significant increments to our knowledge and understanding of issues of school effectiveness. More recent studies are then examined in the light of these criteria and, in turn, suggest some further questions. It is argued that the research base for any conclusions about school effectiveness is weaker than previously thought but that, in general, the findings from all the studies are fairly consistent. Some suggestions for reanalysing existing studies and for extending the range of questions addressed are put forward.

Reading Progress in English Infant Schools: some problems emerging from a study of teacher effectiveness*

Summary A number of researchers have emphasised the ‘importance of the teacher’ in criticising studies of school effectiveness. This position has gained considerable support from practitioners who argue that some teachers are better than others and that experienced practitioners know a good teacher when they see one. Studies of teacher effectiveness are, however, notoriously difficult to design and conduct; they are rarely replicated. The paper presents evidence from one such attempt involving the teaching of reading in English infant schools and comes up with some unexpected results. * Paper presented to The Symposium on Recent Research in Primary Education at the Annual Conference of the British Educational Research Association, Leeds, England, September 1978.

In the aftermath of inspection: the nature and fate of inspection report recommendations

ABSTRACT The effects of school inspections on school improvement have hitherto been assumed rather than documented. This paper describes a study of the consequences of five primary‐school inspections carried out by local inspectors in different authorities. The inspections are of especial interest because they took place in the period immediately before the introduction of the new inspection arrangements ushered in by the Education (Schools) Act 1992 and, in many respects, foreshadow them. The study focused, in particular, on the extent to which the schools had implemented the main recommendations arising from their inspection reports about a year after they had been inspected. The recommendations made in the reports about the schools were found, in the main, to have a managerialist bias with only a small number directly concerned with teaching and learning. Towards the end of the first year following the inspections only a small proportion of recommendations had been ‘fully implemented; ‘some progress’ ...