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Previous grant-funded research projects in FELL
EPPSE 3-14: Transition from Primary to Secondary School
(DCSF, 2007-2008)
Staff: Dr Maria Evangelou, Professor Kathy Sylva (Department of Education); Brenda Taggart, Professor Iram Siraj-Blatchford (Institute of Education, University of London); Professor Edward Melhuish (Birkbeck College, University of London); Professor Pam Sammons (University of Nottingham)
The Effective Pre-school and Primary Education 3-11 (EPPE 3-11) project is a major longitudinal study investigating the influence of pre-school and primary school on children’s cognitive and social/ behavioural development in England with a sample of 3172 children. The present research uses sub-sample of more than 500 children and families to examine the current transition practices and highlights what helps and hinders a successful transition. In this study the term ‘Transition’ is used to address a child’s move and adjustment phase from primary to secondary school.
The result showed that the majority of Year 7 pupils had settled well and had a positive attitude towards their new school. The overarching question of the present EPPE Transition study was, ‘What is effective practice with regards to transition from primary to secondary schools?’ The aims of the project were to explore transition practices and identify successes and challenges in six Local Authorities. Furthermore, the study aimed to explore the processes that support pupils’ transition from primary to secondary school and to identify any hindrances to a successful transition. This involved identifying any background characteristics of pupils and families associated with positive transitions.
The study examined the experiences and perceptions of both pupils and their parents during the transition process and to describe the specific practices associated with positive and negative transitions (as reported by pupils and parents). The influence of child and family background characteristics such as socio-economic status (SES) and gender on the transition experience were also examined. By adopting a mixed methods approach, the study investigated the issues related to transition for four distinctive groups: Local Authorities, children, parents and schools. Officers in six Local Authorities were asked about the way transition was dealt within their Authority. Children in their first term at secondary school completed a questionnaire on their attitudes to, and experiences of transition, and the study also sought their parents’ opinions in order to illustrate the whole family’s experience. Finally, there were twelve case studies selected from the respondents of the child questionnaire who had positive experiences of transition. These involved interviews with the children and their primary and secondary school teachers. This provided further details of the systems supporting the transition processes.
The study identified a range of practices employed by schools intended to help support children's transitions. These included: the use of ‘bridging materials’, such as identical text books in both primary and secondary schools; the sharing of information between schools; visits to schools by prospective teachers, children and their parents; distribution of booklets about school rules; talks at the schools; ‘taster’ days, and other joint social events between schools. Most of the children in the study had a positive transition experience, but a noticeable minority did not. Eighty four per cent said they felt prepared on entry to secondary school, and that their family and/or teachers had helped them to prepare through encouragement, reassurances, addressing worries, explaining what to expect and how secondary school works, and by giving advice and tips on how to cope at their new school. A noteworthy minority, sixteen per cent, did not feel prepared when they changed schools.
The data analysis of the children’s questionnaire revealed five aspects of a successful transition: developing new friendships and improving their self esteem and confidence; experiencing curriculum continuity; showing an increasing interest in school and school work; having settled so well in school life that they caused no concerns to their parents; and getting used to their new routines and school organisation with great ease. Low SES and experiences with bullying were found to have an association with less positive transitions for children.
There will be opportunities in the future to follow the children’s progress over the next few years, and relate this to their early years. As the EPPSE project will continue to track children’s development into KS3, the findings from the Transition project will complement the model of analyses for children’s developmental progress at age 14 (Year 9). This will be achieved by using the current findings on a sub-sample as potential predictors to explore cognitive and socio/behavioural development in Year 9.
To download the research report, please click here:
www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RR019.pdf
To download the research brief, please click here:
www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RB019.pdf
National Evaluation of the Early Learning Partnership Project, NEELPP
(DCSF, 2007-2008)
Downloads:
Research Brief
Final Report
Appendices
What is the ELPP?
The Early Learning Partnerships Project (ELPP) is exploring ways of helping parents support their children’s early learning. A number of voluntary agencies are involved in the project, and are benefiting from training and financial assistance. The focus of the ELPP is to encourage parents to become involved in their children’s early learning through supportive partnerships with practitioners. The ELPP aims to demonstrate different approaches to parental involvement and raise awareness of its importance in the early childhood sector.
The Evaluation
The National Evaluation of the ELPP studies the different approaches to parental involvement used by various programmes across England, in order to find out more about ways of supporting parents with their child’s early learning. The overall aim is to evaluate different strategies used to involve parents in their children’s learning. It also examines the role of trained staff or volunteers in equipping parents with the skills needed to support their children’s learning at home.
The study is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and is based at the University of Oxford. As part of the study, the Oxford Research Team visits settings around the country which use different approaches to involving parents in their child’s early learning. Researchers visited settings in the summer of 2007 and carried out interviews with the project manager and other key staff or volunteers, as well as focus groups and some interviews with parents.
In addition, researchers carry our home visits. There will be a second visit to the setting later in the year to capture the ways that the programmes may develop over time, and the impact on families of using these services.
Who is carrying out the Evaluation?
The study is being carried out by Dr Maria Evangelou, Professors Kathy Sylva and Anne Edwards at the Department of Education, University of Oxford, and Teresa Smith at the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford.
Findings and Further Information
The findings will be reported on the website at the Department for Children, Schools and Families: www.dcsf.gov.uk
Learning Every Lesson (LEL)
(University of Oxford Research Development Fund, 2006-2007)
The aim of the LEL study is to investigate relationships between children’s general and situation-specific beliefs about their self-regulated learning. Self-regulatory learning comprises cognitive (e.g., agency beliefs, self-concept), motivational (e.g., intrinsic / extrinsic motivation), affective (e.g., positive and negative affect), and behavioural aspects (e.g., help-seeking), and is related to the context in which these beliefs develop (e.g., mastery or performance goal structure). Researchers administered a questionnaire to each participant at the beginning of the study and asked teachers to rate students’ learning strategies and teacher-student interaction. Students then completed a short questionnaire each lesson during a one week period using Personal Digital Assistants (PDA, i.e., “a handheld mini computer”). Data will be analysed using state of-the-art multilevel modelling techniques suitable for intensive longitudinal (diary) data.
Families, Children and Child Care, FCCC
(Tedworth and Glass-House Trusts, 1997-2007)
This project studies the different ways young children are cared for and how this influences the development of children. The research starts while families are planning and making their earliest child care choices and collects information from parents, care providers and children who are experiencing different child care arrangements. This is a unique study aimed at increasing our understanding of the influences of different types of early child care on children’s development up to the age of 5. It uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to study the pattern of child care use, type, duration and effects.
Childcare in the Millennium Cohort Study
(DfES, 2004-2006)
The ESCR-funded Millennium Cohort Study is following the lives of nearly 19,000 babies born between 2000 and 2002 in the four countries of the United Kingdom. It is the first new birth cohort study in the UK since the 1970’s, and one of the largest studies of its kind.
The MCS Childcare study is an extension study funded by the DfES. It uses quantitative methods to collect information on the pre-school provision experienced by a sample of the Millennium Children. Information is being gathered from 300 nurseries, playgroups, pre-schools and nursery schools in England. The data will present a ‘snapshot’ of childcare and education across the country and provide information about the provision attended by children from different backgrounds and with different needs e.g. children with EAL. It will also allow future analysis investigating the effects of different types of provision on children’s educational and social development.
Evaluation of Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative
(DfES, 2003-2006)
Staff: Teresa Smith, George Smith, Professor Kathy Sylva, Sandra Mathers, Kate Coxon, Maria Sigala, Caroline Lee, Emily Tanner (Oxford University); Lorraine Dearden, Alissa Goodman, Jonathan Shaw (Institute for Fiscal Studies); Ivana La Valle, Ruth Smith, Alice Bell (National Centre for Social Research).
The Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative (NNI) was launched by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in 2000 to increase the supply of childcare for working parents in poor neighbourhoods, whilst offering quality childcare and early learning.
The National Evaluation of the NNI was commissioned to evaluate the programme in light of its aims. The Quality and Child Outcomes Study, part of this large-scale evaluation, had two main strands. The ‘quality’ strand described the quality of provision offered by a random sample of Neighbourhood Nurseries. The aim was to establish whether the new nurseries created by the NNI provided sufficient quality to foster the development of their children. The ‘child outcomes’ strand explored the effects of early centre-based childcare on the social and behavioural development of children under the age of 3 in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The final report of the ‘quality’ and ‘child outcomes’ strand will be published in 2006.
Birth to School Study
(DfES, 1998-2005)
Research evidence over a number of years suggests that early intervention is more successful than later intervention in combating disadvantage and social exclusion.
The Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP) is a birth to 5 intervention programme that aims to improve the life chances of children from a disadvantaged area of Oxford by raising their educational achievement. From 1998 to 2004, PEEP was the subject of a long-term evaluation, the Birth to School Study (BTSS). The main aim of the BTSS was to investigate the effects of PEEP on the children and families from the community it served. Embedded within this aim were dual objectives: to determine if the intervention had an effect within the community as a whole and simultaneously, to determine whether it had an effect on the particular families who participated in the PEEP weekly sessions. The foci of these objectives were parental outcomes related to aspects of parent-child relationships, quality of the care-giving environment and maternal mental health and child outcomes related to cognitive and socio-emotional development. The six year span of the study afforded the opportunity to measure effects year by year from ages 1 to 5, and to measure the rates of progress of each group of children between the different points in time. The Birth to School Study, which began in 1998, is a longitudinal evaluation of the PEEP project. Initially, an epidemiological design was adopted to detect the impact of PEEP at the community level rather than its effects on individuals who participated. Six hundred children were recruited into the study and the outcomes measured reflect their language, literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional development.
Funded by the DfES Contract No EOR/SBU/2003/014 and by the Learning and Skills Council Contract No SE26003122
To view the full report and the Research Summary follow the links:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/SSU2005FR017.pdf
www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/SSU2005SF017.pdf
To read more about PEEP visit http://www.peep.org.uk/
Children’s Centre Feasibility Study
(DfES, 2006)
Carried out in partnership with the Department of Social Policy and Social Work (University of Oxford)
Staff: Teresa Smith, Dr Maria Evangelou, Professor Kathy Sylva, George Smith, Sandra Mathers, Kate Coxon, Maria Sigala (University of Oxford); Professor Lorraine Dearden, Alissa Goodman, Claire Crawford, Jonathan Shaw (Institute for Fiscal Studies);Dr Susan Purdon, Ivana La Valle (National Centre for Social Research); Professor Sarah Steward-Brown, Dr Yvonne Kelly, Dr Chris Dibben
This research is a feasibility study for an evaluation of new Children’s Centres in England. The Children’s Centre programme represents a major element in the government’s strategy to deliver integrated family support, children’s early learning and childcare services at the neighbourhood level. First proposed in the Inter-Departmental Childcare Review (November 2002), Children’s Centres will provide integrated services for parents with young children in every community, starting with the most disadvantaged areas.
The Feasibility Study for the National Evaluation of the Children’s Centre programme will identify a range of possible research strategies that might be employed in evaluating the Children’s Centre programme. It will set these out as a series of options. Areas for consideration include:
· The way that centres have been implemented in different areas;
· The different models of provision;
· The range of services and users taking part;
· Ways of assessing the quality of services provided;
· The degree to which services are delivered in an integrated way.
The feasibility study will also cover the key questions of how to measure programme impact on children, families and local neighbourhood, and the cost/benefits.
Other past research projects
Development of Student Teachers’ Agency Beliefs, ESRC small grant scheme, 2006-2007, Dr Lars Malmberg, Dr Hazel Hagger
Teaching and Learning: A Latent Variable Approach, John Fell Fund, 2006-2007, Dr Lars Malmberg
ICAN Early Talk Evaluation, ICAN Foundation, 2006-2007, Professor Kathy Sylva, Dr Laura Huxford, Fiona Roberts
Monitoring and Evaluation Monitoring and Evaluation of the Effective Implementation of the Foundation Phase in Wales (MEEIFP), Professor Kathy Sylva