Paul R. Jones

Using Baseline Assessment Data to Make International Comparisons.

International studies have concentrated on the achievements of children during or at the end of their schooling. But such data are difficult to interpret without knowing the progress that they have made since they started school. This article argues that the time has come to study the starting points of children as they begin their education. Such a study is doubtless difficult to design and this study reports an analysis of data from a baseline assessment carried out with thousands of children starting school in very different circumstances, with different languages and cultures and in different countries. It is a pilot international study. Although difficulties are exposed the analyses indicate that such a study is now possible and, it is argued, should be carried out.

Assessing school effects without controlling for prior achievement

The research findings presented in this paper illustrate how the “value added” of schooling can be assessed empirically using cross-sectional data. Application of the regression-discontinuity approach within a multilevel framework produces both an estimate of the absolute effect of 1 year schooling and an estimate of the variation across schools of this effect. In the study reported here, the approach was applied to both a cross-sectional and a longitudinal dataset. The research findings indicate to what extent different results are produced when cross-sectional as opposed to longitudinal data are analysed.

Young Deaf Children and the Prediction of Reading and Mathematics

Nearly 1000 deaf children were assessed upon entry to school, aged four and five years, using a broad baseline assessment, and then again one year later in reading and maths. Comparative data were also available for hearing children. These data were used to look at the prediction of the academic achievement of children with varying degrees of hearing loss. Despite past failures at establishing good predictors and despite the apparently very complex nature of the task, clear and simple prediction proved to be possible. The findings are discussed in terms of monitoring systems and research potential.

The importance of districts

Effectiveness studies have largely concentrated on the school as the unit of analysis, although an increasing number have directed their attention to the teacher as the main unit of interest. But policy is often directed through organisations at the district level or what is sometimes known as the Education Authority (EA). Few studies have explored their importance, but the seminal study by Willms (1987) stands out. This paper reports an analysis of 7 large national databases from England using 3-level multilevel models with pupils nested within primary schools that are in turn nested within districts. All tell the same story: The EA attended by pupils has almost no relevance to their progress.