the effect of school social mix on academic outcomes · the effect of school social mix on academic...

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

%


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


Teacher characteristics: years teaching

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%


>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.


Student needs

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Language diffs. Traveller Learning disability


Daily attendance <90%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

%


‘Nearly all’ pupils (teacher reports):

0102030405060708090

%

Enjoyschool

Well-behaved in

class

Showrespect

Rewardingto work with


Student engagement: liking teachers

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


%

Always Sometimes Never

Student engagement: liking Maths

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


%

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

Growing Up in Ireland

Research Conference 2010

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