Sean Demack

Minding the Gap: Ethnic, gender and social class differences in attainment at 16, 1988‐95

This article presents analyses of attainment variations for five cohorts of school leavers between 1988 and 1995. Social class, ethnicity and gender variations in educational attainment at 16 are examined using data from over 80,000 young people in England and Wales. This is the only representative data set that allows analyses of educational variations in England and Wales across social class, ethnic and gender groups simultaneously. The preliminary analyses showed an underrepresentation of some ethnic and lower social class groups in the independent education sector. The attainment analyses thereafter are for state school pupils only. Between 1988 and 1995, attainment differences relating to social class, ethnicity and gender are all seen to increase. In terms of the percentages leaving compulsory schooling with five or more high grade passes (grade A*‐C at General Certificate of Secondary Education), the social class gap of 50 percentage points widened to 56 percentage points, the ethnicity gap from 14 to 20 percentage points and the gender gap from 5 to 10 percentage points. The uneven improvement in educational attainment across ethnic, social class and gender groups is a cause for concern. For certain subgroups there appears to be little or no improvement over the 8 years. These findings relate to a period of considerable political intervention within the British compulsory education system. They suggest that policies focused on raising educational standards may be at variance with the aim of reducing educational inequality.

An exploration of the management practices and processes most closely associated with high levels of export capability in SMEs

Purpose – To take a more holistic and integrated view than in existing studies of export capability among small and medium‐sized enterprises, by exploring the key components of marketing management, and the blend of processes, practices and activities most closely associated with high levels of overall export performance.Design/methodology/approach – The principal research instrument is the export marketing profiling system developed by the authors over a five‐year period, which provided the framework for data collection and analysis. Findings are derived from 250 semi‐structured interviews conducted in SMEs in the Yorkshire and Humber region of the UK.Findings – The study identified 17 key practices, processes and activities that, taken together, are closely associated with export performance. They relate primarily to export marketing strategy, and suggest that a blend of capabilities in the areas of knowledge management (including market research and marketing intelligence), relationship‐building, produ...

Multiple Levels of Influence on Older Adults’ Attendance and Adherence to Community Exercise Classes

Purpose: To examine the influence of individual participant, instructor, and group factors on participants’ attendance and adherence to community exercise classes for older adults. Design and Methods: Longitudinal data from 16 instructors, 26 classes, and 193 older participants within those classes (aged 60–100 years) were examined. Data were collected using questionnaires on individual participants’ demographics, attitudes, health perceptions and conditions, and group cohesion. Instructors’ demographics, training, background, experience, attitudes, and personality were collected. Group factors included class type, cost, transport, and whether the class was held in an area of deprivation. Outcomes (attendance/adherence) were collected through attendance records. Results: Multilevel modelling (MLwiN) revealed both instructor and individual participant variables were important in understanding attendance and adherence. Individuals’ housing, education, mental well-being, group cohesion, and attitudes were important predictors of attendance at 3 and 6 months. Instructors’ age, gender, experience, and motivational training were important at 3 months, whereas instructor personality was important at both 3 and 6 months. Having attended longer than 6 months at baseline, participants’ attitudes, weeks offered, instructors’ personality, and experience were associated with adherence at 6 months. Implications: Results suggest that instructors’ characteristics alongside individual participant factors play a role in influencing participants’ attendance to exercise classes. These factors should be considered when setting up new programs.

A method for evaluating workplace utility

Acquiring office buildings that provide the required level of utility, and maintaining the buildings in that state, should be a priority for any organisation. Failure to do so may give rise to increased churn, reduced productivity, higher employee turnover, increased staff absenteeism and rising health care costs related to heightened stress. There is, however, no single measure of office building utility. Discusses the development of a valid and reliable scale for measuring the utility of public sector office buildings. Data collection involved the use of focus groups and an online survey of 1,800 building occupants. The findings suggest that the utility of public sector office buildings can be measured using a 22‐item scale comprising four dimensions. The potential applications of the scale and its use in current research are examined.

Summer Active Reading Programme : evaluation report and executive summary

This reports an efficacy trial of a reading for pleasure book-gifting and summer events programme at the transition from primary to secondary school. The trial involved 205 pupils transitioning from 48 primary schools to 10 secondary schools. A process evaluation comprising observations, questionnaires and focus groups examined engagement, stakeholders perspectives and fidelity of implementation.

QuantCrit: education, policy, ‘Big Data’ and principles for a critical race theory of statistics

Abstract Quantitative research enjoys heightened esteem among policy-makers, media, and the general public. Whereas qualitative research is frequently dismissed as subjective and impressionistic, statistics are often assumed to be objective and factual. We argue that these distinctions are wholly false; quantitative data is no less socially constructed than any other form of research material. The first part of the paper presents a conceptual critique of the field with empirical examples that expose and challenge hidden assumptions that frequently encode racist perspectives beneath the façade of supposed quantitative objectivity. The second part of the paper draws on the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) to set out some principles to guide the future use and analysis of quantitative data. These ‘QuantCrit’ ideas concern (1) the centrality of racism as a complex and deeply rooted aspect of society that is not readily amenable to quantification; (2) numbers are not neutral and should be interrogated for their role in promoting deficit analyses that serve White racial interests; (3) categories are neither ‘natural’ nor given and so the units and forms of analysis must be critically evaluated; (4) voice and insight are vital: data cannot ‘speak for itself’ and critical analyses should be informed by the experiential knowledge of marginalized groups; (5) statistical analyses have no inherent value but can play a role in struggles for social justice.

They can’t handle the race agenda : stakeholders’ reflections on race and education policy, 1993-2013

Abstract This paper explores the personal reflections of educators and contributors to policy on the shifting status of race equality in education policy in England between 1993 and 2013. The interview participants included some of the most notable figures active in race equality work in England. Part of the paper’s significance is its focus on the perspectives of actors with longstanding involvement in the field of race equality, who have witnessed changes in policy over time. As “stakeholders” with direct involvement in education policy-making and enactment, the participants tended to focus on three historic policy moments. These were: measures aimed at closing ethnic achievement gaps that began in the early 1990s; the diversity and citizenship agenda that featured in New Labour’s term; and the Macpherson Report (1999) and the subsequent Race Relations (Amendment) Act (2000). Participants’ narratives converged in a largely pessimistic view of 1993–2013 as a period in which race equality policy had gained momentum, touched the policy mainstream – but then failed. By the end of the New Labour administration (1997–2010) and the start of the subsequent Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition government (2010–2015), explicit focus on race equality in education policy had, in the views of the participants, been severely diminished.

Innovation, evaluation design and typologies of professional learning

ABSTRACT Background: Current policy discourses emphasise the importance of evidence in education, including evidencing the impact of teacher professional learning on student outcomes. Randomised controlled trial (RCT) designs are promoted to measure ‘impact’. Recent debates about this reflect longer standing methodological disputes. Advocates of comparative approaches contend that these are uniquely capable of establishing causality. However, others dispute this and consider their application in education as often being flawed. Whilst acknowledging the importance of these debates, our concern is how RCTs and similar evaluation designs are specifically used to evaluate innovations in which professional learning is important. Purpose: Arguably, professional learning is often under-theorised within experimental and quasi-experimental designs. The purpose of this paper is to address this by encouraging developers of innovations and evaluators to consider a proposed typology of professional learning and other important relevant methodological issues. This is so that developers of innovations that involve professional learning are better able to theorise their endeavours and to support more appropriate design of RCTs and other forms of evaluation of innovations. Sources of evidence: Theoretical and methodological literature from diverse fields is drawn on, namely: descriptions of RCT implementation and process evaluation designs; research on effective professional development; and theoretical models of professional learning. Insights and theories from this literature are used to develop and illustrate the typology and to identify methodological concerns and potential ways to address these. Main argument: In trials of those innovations that involve professional learning, there is both assessment of the extent to which professional learning occurs and also of whether resulting changes in practice improve outcomes. A novel typology of three different ways that professional learning may occur in innovations is proposed. This is related to the centrality (or not) of professional learning to the innovation’s success and related to the form and purpose of the professional learning involved. The three analytical categories described are pedagogical professional learning, technical professional learning and curriculum professional learning. Based on this typology, features of professional learning that are likely to lead to impact on student outcomes are discussed. Tensions are identified between the implementation of experimental and quasi-experimental designs and interpretation of resulting evidence. Further, tensions are identified between the complex and recursive nature of pedagogical professional learning systems and the models of linear pathways in some RCT designs. This is illustrated by discussing examples of innovations and trials. Conclusion: The proposed typology and greater theorisation of professional learning can support more robust evaluation design. It is important to assess rigorously teacher learning alongside changes in student outcomes.