James HALL[back]

Previous Education:

2005-2006: MSc, Educational Research Methodology, Department of Education, University of Oxford.  Dissertation, "Longitudinal effects of preschool quality upon the develoment of children at low or high risk of developing Special Educational Needs" (Distinction).

2001-2005: BSc (Hons), Psychology with Communications Engineering, Department of Psychology, University of Bath.  Dissertation, "A longitudinal investigation into the processes underlying gender's effect on cognitive development" (Distinction).

Research Skills

Statistical Analyses:  Structural Equation Modelling; Growth modelling; Multi‑level modelling (heirarchical linear modelling);  Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses; Multi-group analysis; MIMIC modelling; Latent class analysis.

Outline:
The D.Phil aims to discover if and why pre-school can mitigate the risks that promote vulnerability in the development of young children's cognitive and social skills. The rationale for this research draws on two observations, first that the provision of early education in the UK has undergone dramatic expansion since 1997 and second, that the contribution of programmes of early education to children's developmental pathways is currently unclear.

To investigate the effects of early education, a secondary analysis is being conducted of the longitudinal data belonging to the Effective Provision of Pre School Education (EPPE) project. Secondary analysis permits the study of a nationally representative sample of over 3,000 children from the average age of 3, across a period of 4-5 years, and ending with the children's completion of year two of primary school when approximately 7 years old.

Papers:

Hall, J.E. Sammons, P. Sylva, K. Melhuish, E. Taggart, B. Siraj-Blatchford, I. and Smees, R. (submitted). Measuring the combined risk to young children's cognitive development: An alternative to cumulative indices

Flouri, E. and Hall, J. (submitted).  Adverse life events and adolescent psychopathology:  Fathers' and Mothers' parenting as mediators

Sylva, K. Sammons, P. Taggart, B. Siraj‑Blatchford, I. Melhuish, E. and Hall, J. (2006). Tracking children with SEN through the Early Years: Can education make a difference? The Vernon-Wall Lecture for the annual meeting of the Education Section of the British Psychological Society, 2003

Hall, J. E. (2006). Rates of Return: What are 16-17 year-olds doing? Nuffield Review Briefing Paper, from www.nuffield14-19review.org.uk

Presentations:

Hall, J. (2007). Promoting and Protecting the Cognitive and Social Development of Children: The Contribution of Pre-School. Paper presented at the annual Research Students Conference, Department of Education, University of Oxford.

Hall, J. (2006). The Quality of Pre-schools Affecting the Development of Children at Low or High Risk of Special Educational Needs.  Paper presented to the Quantitative Special Interest Group at the Department of Education, University of Oxford

Hall, J. (2005). A Longitudinal Investigation into the Processes underlying Gender’s Effect upon Language Development. Paper presented at the annual South West Undergraduate Conference, Department of Psychology, University of the West of England. http://science.uwe.ac.uk/psychology/SWUC_2005.htm