A large number of schools in the EPPE 3-11 sample are attended by only one EPPE 3-11 child (see Section 2) therefore we cannot calculate individual primary school effects from the EPPE 3- 11 sample data set. Instead other independent measures of the academic effectiveness of the primary school attended have been derived and are incorporated in multilevel models in this section to explore the influence of the primary school attended on promoting the academic attainments of the EPPE 3-11 children as is demonstrated in this section.
Analyses were conducted on the EPPE 3-11 data to establish the net impact of primary school academic effectiveness on cognitive outcomes without taking into account any characteristics of pre-school experience in the first instance (but all the other relevant background characteristics, see Figure 4.13 for an illustration of the strategy of statistical analyses). The value added
effectiveness measures for primary schools were calculated using National assessment data for all primary schools in England linking Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 results, and separate indicators were calculated for the different core curriculum subjects English, Mathematics and Science
(Melhuish et al., 2006a; 2006b). These measures are thus independently derived and provide a measure of the academic success of the primary school in promoting its pupils‟ academic
progress. The school‟s value added effectiveness in English was modelled as a potential predictor for EPPE 3-11 children‟s English outcomes in Year 6, and the school‟s value added effectiveness in Mathematics as a potential predictor for the sample‟s outcomes in Mathematics.
Figure 4.13: Strategy of statistical analysis of net primary school effects
From these analyses we conclude that the academic effectiveness of the primary school attended has a significant influence on EPPE3-11 children‟s longer term cognitive development (see Figure 4.14). It makes an identifiable and separate contribution to children‟s later attainment at Year 6, after controlling for child, family and HLE influences.
Figure 4.14: The impact of primary school on attainments in English and Mathematics at Year 6.
The Net Impact of Primary School Effectiveness: English and Mathematics in Year 6 0.07 0.15 0.24 0.38 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 English Mathematics E ff ec t S iz e Medium High to Very High
Reference Group: Low Effectiveness Child Factors Family Factors Home Learning Environment
READING
MATHEMATICS
Primary SchoolENGLISH
Children who attended a very highly, highly or medium effective primary school in terms of Mathematics have significantly better scores in Mathematics than children who attended a low effective primary school. The ES for the high to very high effective schools is 0.38 for
Mathematics, larger than that attributable to gender or eligibility for FSM, for example. Children who attended a very highly or highly effective primary school in terms of English also have better English attainment at the end of Year 6 than children who attend a low effective primary school, although the difference is less marked (ES=0.24)25
Different influences of primary school effectiveness for different groups of children
In this part of the report the analyses explore any differential influences of primary school academic effectiveness on children‟s cognitive attainments at Year 6. Two measures of
disadvantage are examined one being the Multiple disadvantage index and the second the highest qualification level of the parents.
Multiple disadvantage and the impact of primary school effectiveness
For the following analyses two disadvantage groups were developed: representing less and more disadvantaged children as described previously.
For attainment in English the results illustrate that the academic effectiveness of the primary school in English is relatively more important for the disadvantaged than for the less
disadvantaged children. Compared to a low effective primary school, disadvantaged children show higher attainment when they go to a highly effective primary school (ES=0.25) but not if they attend a medium effective school (ES=-0.05). By contrast, for less disadvantaged children there seems to be little difference whether they go to a medium effective (ES=-0.03) or to a high effective (ES=-0.03) school compared to a low effective one.26
The effectiveness of the primary school also shows differential effects on attainment in
Mathematics in relation to how disadvantaged children are in terms of the Multiple disadvantage index. Children with no or just one disadvantage tend to benefit from highly effective primary schools (ES=0.14) but not that much from medium effective schools (ES=0.06) compared with a low effective primary school. By contrast, more disadvantaged children show substantially higher attainment when they attend a highly effective (ES=0.43) or medium effective (ES=0.24) primary school compared to a low effective one. This demonstrates that primary school effectiveness is relatively more important as an influence on pupils‟ attainments at Year 6 for children who are more disadvantaged.
Parents’ qualification level and the impact of primary school effectiveness
For these analyses, again, the sample has been divided into two groups according to the highest qualification level of the parents.
Investigating the differential impact of primary school effectiveness, for English children of less qualified parents do not seem to differ in their attainment from medium or high academic effective primary schools compared to low effective ones (ES for medium effective = -0.07, ES for highly effective = 0.06). But children of moderate to highly qualified parents have higher attainment scores when they attend a highly effective primary school (ES=0.27). Medium effectiveness only shows a small effect compared to low effectiveness (ES=0.06).
Results for attainment in Mathematics in Year 6 lead to different interpretations. In Mathematics, the primary school effectiveness is especially important for those whose parents have low
qualification levels. Compared to those who attended low effective primary schools, children who
25
These findings are broadly in line with those reported in terms of independent NFER assessments made in Year 5 for the same sample
26
Children with missing primary school effectiveness scores show higher attainment in the group of advantaged children. The scores of these children are very likely not available because they attend private schools.
went to highly (ES=0.44) or medium academically effective (ES=0.35) primary schools have significantly higher average Mathematics scores at Year 6. The relative effectiveness of the primary school is also important for children of parents with moderate or higher qualifications, but the effect sizes 0.26 (highly effective) and 0.10 (medium effective) are not as strong as those identified for children with less qualified parents.
Overall taken together these findings are in line with other educational effectiveness research which indicates that school effectiveness varies more in subjects such as Mathematics, and that disadvantaged children are more susceptible to school effects (Scheerens & Bosker 1997).