Peter Daly

How Large are Secondary School Effects in Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT This study is concerned with estimates of secondary school effect size in Northern Ireland. Utilising data from a random sample of the regions schools, four indices of pupil achievement variation in public examinations are employed. These outcome measures are (i) overall examination achievement ‐ a composite weighted measure ‐together with achievement in General Certificate of Education examinations in (ii) English, (iii) Mathematics and (iv) Chemistry. Examinations of this type are taken, typically, by pupils aged 16 years (the statutory leaving age), at the end of their fifth year of secondary education. Using a two‐level hierarchical linear regression model, the paper considers variation in school effect size by outcome criterion. Variation is measured in standard deviation units and in terms of the proportion of achievement variance “explained” by schools after adjustment for pupil‐intake differences. Comparisons are made with recent findings for Scotland and for England.

Science course participation and science achievement in single sex and co‐educational schools

Abstract There has been a renewal of interest in discussion about the appropriateness of single sex schooling, especially for girls, at the secondary school stage, partly reflecting a degree of disillusionment with economically driven policies of large‐scale co‐education. There is some common ground in the feminist and ‘traditionalist’ contributions to this discussion. In the light of these developments, this paper addresses issues related to the comparative impact of single sex and co‐educational secondary schools on pupil participation in science courses and on pupils’ attainment in public examinations taken at the end of the period of compulsory schooling in Northern Ireland. A multi‐level modelling approach to the re‐analysis of survey data is used. Attendance at single sex schools did not appear to confer participation or attainment advantages on pupils.

Determinants of the uptake of Mathematics in Northern Ireland: Evidence from the 1980s and 1990s

The paper uses data from three studies of Northern Ireland pupils covering the period 1980 1991 to consider the determinants of examination entry and attainment in Mathematics. The main themes with which the analysis is concerned are gender inequalities, and differentials in the performance of single-sex and co-educational schools. The central focus of the analyses is the degree to which these differentials are significant once the individual, family and school background have been taken into account. Public examination entry and attainment in Mathematics taken at or near the end of compulsory schooling are the outcome measures. The first stage of the analysis is based on a two-level logistic regression of examination entry controlling for family and individual background and, given the selective nature of the Northern Ireland education system, grammar school attendance. In the second stage of the analysis, similar controls are used to examine Mathematics attainment. Overall, school differences relating t...

Inequalities in the uptake of science at GCSE: evidence from Northern Ireland

Abstract The paper analyses the impact of individual/family background and school characteristics on science uptake at GCSE in Northern Ireland using survey data by means of a series of multilevel logistic models. Selecting two outcome variables (science’ in its widest sense and a more restricted definition of ‘hard’ science), it shows that attendance at grammar school and parental labour‐market status are significant determinants of science uptake, and attendance at grammar school, parental labour‐market status, gender and religious background of ‘hard’ science uptake. The paper concludes by looking at the policy implications of inequality in the curriculum and suggests that the introduction of GCSE has not eradicated gender and religious inequalities in ‘hard’ science uptake. However, despite evidence that subject type of GCSE pass is no longer important for the employment chances of young people because of the restructuring of the youth labour market, considerations of equity, social justice and acces...

Gender and Task Interaction: instant and delayed recall of three story types

ABSTRACT Measures of immediate and delayed recall of stories were collected for pupils aged 8 and 11 years attending three primary schools. In the story where the protagonist was a violent male the boys performed better than the girls in both age groups. In the two stories which featured female protagonists the girls’ scores for both immediate and delayed recall were higher than those of the boys. The statistical analysis suggests that most of the variability on the recall measures is related to story type differences rather than to individual pupil differences.

Public Accountability and the Academic Effectiveness of Grant‐Aided Catholic Schools

ABSTRACT This paper is offered as a contribution to a debate about the public accountability of church‐affiliated schools grant‐aided by the state. The paper provides an account of two parallel secondary school systems in Northern Ireland, popularly described as ‘Catholic’ and ‘Protestant’, in effectiveness terms. The outcome measure is academic performance in public examinations taken by pupils at the end of the period of statutory schooling. The paper extends earlier work of the author by focusing on Catholic schools in the light of access to a second and more up‐to‐date data set and to recent Scottish findings. Having indicated ‘raw’ performance differences between the two sectors, a value‐added approach to performance measurement is presented. Doubt is cast on aspects of the received wisdom concerning the superior academic performance of Protestant‐educated pupils.

Citizenship Education and Post-16 Students: A Habermasian Perspective

This article is based on a research project carried out at the Graduate School of Education, Queens University Belfast. The researchers conducted a study of discussion-based citizenship education for post-16 students in Northern Ireland (UK) over a period of 18 months. One of the researchers designed and delivered a course of citizenship education for students in a case study school (100 of whom were involved). This course was constructed within a theoretical framework that drew heavily upon the work of Jurgen Habermas. The results of the study showed that an overwhelming majority of the students involved gave comprehensive and positive evaluations of a citizenship course that was reliant upon a discussion-based form of education. This article argues that such courses, premised on the need to encourage communicative competence amongst young people, should be offered to all students within the non-compulsory education sector in the UK and beyond.

Politics and education in Northern Ireland—an analytical history

There is a complex and fundamentally important relationship between politics and education in Northern Ireland. Indeed, the political and educational history of Northern Ireland provides an important starting point for any debate about the reconstruction of modern Northern Irish society. The continuing conflicting cultural and political identities and allegiances of the unionist and nationalist communities can almost certainly be better understood within the context of the political and educational systems. This essay is designed to underline the close connection between cultural/political identity and education in Northern Ireland.