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The Effect of School Social Mix on Academic Outcomes
Prof. Emer Smyth, Ms. Amanda Quail & Dr. Selina McCoy
Introduction• Does social context or the concentration of
disadvantage have an impact on children’s school performance?
• If it does, why does this occur?
• What are the implications for policy?
International Research• Difficult to compare studies
– Different measures of composition, different outcomes, different methods
– Unclear whether context matters• Where context does matter – why?
– Expectations– Academic orientation, curriculum– Behavioural climate– Peer effects
The DEIS Programme• Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools
(DEIS)– Introduced 2005, integrating existing measures– Targeting resources towards schools with higher
concentrations of disadvantage– Schools identified from range of Poverty Indicators
(ERC): including unemployment, local authority housing, free book grant eligibility
– 674 Primary schools• 340 Urban• 334 Rural
The DEIS Programme• Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools
(DEIS)– Main focus:
• Enhancing literacy and numeracy• Increased teacher allocation (particularly Urban
Band 1)• School planning• Access to additional supports – Home-School-
Community Liaison Officers, Library resources, ICT
Advantages of GUI data
• Large sample size – one-in-seven of all 9 year olds; allows us to examine the experiences of children from different social backgrounds
• Sampling of children within schools: link school-level, teacher-level and individual-level factors
• Information from multiple perspectives
8,500 nine-year olds
Home based component
School based component
Primary Caregiver
Secondary Caregiver Child Principal Teacher on
selfTeacher on
pupil
Centre based carer
Home based carer
Non-resident Parent
Academic Assessment
Vocabulary test Maths Test
9 year Quantitative Component
How do DEIS and non-DEIS schools differ?
• Social background of pupils• School resources• Teacher characteristics• School climate• Student engagement• Academic outcomes
Social class background of pupils
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS Non-disadvantaged
SalariatIntermediateSelf-employedLower serviceSkilled manualSemi/unskilledNonemployed
Degree-level qualifications (mother)
02468
101214161820
%
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS Non-disadvantaged
But not all disadvantaged children attend DEIS schools
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
% in non-DEIS schools
Semi/unskilled Nonemployed Lowest incomedecile
Mother primaryeduc.
School resources (perceived adequacy)
22.1
2.22.3
2.42.5
2.62.7
2.8
Infrastructure Learning resources
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS Non-disadvantaged
Teacher characteristics: years teaching
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS Non-disadvantaged
>30 years21-30 yrs11-20 yrs6-10 yrs2-5 yrs<2 years
School climate: Problems among >25% of intake
0102030405060708090
% of schools
Literacy Numeracy Emotional/behav.
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS Non-disadvantaged
Student needs
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Language diffs. Traveller Learning disability
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS Non-disadvantaged
Daily attendance <90%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
%
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS Non-disadvantaged
‘Nearly all’ pupils (teacher reports):
0102030405060708090
%
Enjoyschool
Well-behaved in
class
Showrespect
Rewardingto work with
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS Non-disadvantaged
Student engagement: liking teachers
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS Non-disadvantaged
%
Always Sometimes Never
Student engagement: liking Maths
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS Non-disadvantaged
%
Always Sometimes Never
Academic outcomes
80828486889092949698
100
Reading Maths
Urban band 1Urban band 2Rural DEISNon-disadvantaged
Influences on reading and maths scores
• What factors influence reading and maths scores?
• Do these factors account for the achievement gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools?– Social background: class, income, education– School resources– Teacher factors– School climate and student needs– Student engagement
Social mix effect: reading (difference from non-disadvantaged
schools)
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
Gross Background Resources Teacher Climate Engagement
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS
Social mix effect: maths(difference from non-disadvantaged
schools)
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
Gross Background Resources Teacher Climate Engagement
Urban band 1 Urban band 2 Rural DEIS
Conclusions• Concentration of disadvantaged children in
particular schools has an impact on their outcomes above and beyond that of their own background
• Achievement gap for children in the most disadvantaged schools (esp. urban band 1)
• These schools have children with more complex needs (e.g. literacy, numeracy and behavioural difficulties, lower attendance levels) but they have less experienced teachers
Conclusions (2)• Need to support schools in developing positive
behaviour and attendance policies and practices• Huge potential shown by positive attitudes of
children to school but emerging differences even at the age of 9 and need to know how their engagement develops over time
• Greater scale and complexity of difficulties supports the need for targeted funding
• But only a minority of disadvantaged children attend DEIS schools so targeted funding is not enough – a particular issue in the context of expenditure cuts
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