CAPITULO III. RESULTADOS, ANALISIS Y DISCUSIÓN
4. CONCLUSIONES
How do the 56 per cent of primary schools with newcomer students differ from the 44 per cent of those without? Table 4.2a presents the results of the model which investigates the association between denomination of the school (Catholic/Non-Catholic); school location (urban/rural); disadvantaged status; Irish medium and school size, and the presence of newcomer students (detailed model results presented in Table A4.2a). The model indicates that urban primary schools are more likely to have newcomer students than rural schools. This is presumably related to the distribution of jobs and the fact that the families of newcomer students are more likely to live in cities (see Chapter 1). Disadvantaged schools are almost twice as likely to have newcomer students as non-disadvantaged schools: this is consistent with international patterns. Irish medium primary schools are less likely to have newcomers than other schools. Catholic schools are slightly less likely than non-Catholic schools to have newcomer students, most likely reflecting religious diversity among the immigrant population. Finally, school size is strongly associated with the presence of newcomer students: the larger the school, the more likely it is to have newcomer students. This is particularly true of schools with over 200 pupils (see Table A4.2a).
Table 4.2a: Factors Associated with Having any Newcomer Students (Primary Schools)
Coefficients
Catholic School (-)~
Urban (+)*
Designated disadvantaged status (+)*
Gaelscoil (-)***
School Size:
100 to 199 students (+)***
200 to 399 (+)***
Over 400 (+)***
(Ref: Less than 100)
Constant n.s.
Notes: From a logistic regression model. *** p<=0.001; **p<=0.01; *p<=0.05; ~<=0.1.
Source: Survey of Principals, primary schools.
Table 4.2b presents a model that looks at the factors associated with the proportion of newcomer students in primary schools (Table 4.2b and Table A4.2b in the Supplementary Tables). Urban primary schools have a substantially higher proportion of newcomers than rural schools; once again this is related to the fact that immigrants are more likely to live in urban areas. Compared to non-disadvantaged schools, urban disadvantaged schools have a much higher proportion of newcomer students, even controlling for whether the school is urban or rural. Rural disadvantaged schools do not differ from non-disadvantaged schools in this regard. School size plays much less of a role in understanding the proportion of newcomers than in understanding whether the school has newcomers or not.28 The proportion of newcomer students is somewhat lower in Catholic
28 The one exception to this pattern is that the small number of primary schools with more
than 400 pupils have a higher proportion of newcomers than schools with less than 100 pupils.
APROFILE OF SCHOOLS CATERING FOR NEWCOMER STUDENTS 51 schools than in non-Catholic schools, most likely reflecting the diversity of religious beliefs found among the newcomer population.
Table 4.2b: Factors Associated with a Higher Proportion of Newcomer Students (Primary Schools)
Coefficients
Constant (+)***
Catholic School (-)~
Urban (+)**
Designated disadvantaged status - rural n.s. Designated disadvantaged status - urban (+)***
Gaelscoil n.s.
School Size:
100 to 199 students n.s.
200 to 399 n.s
Over 400 (+)~
(Ref: Less than 100)
Notes: From a linear regression model. *** p<=0.001; **p<=0.01; *p<=0.05; ~<=0.1.
Source: Survey of Principals, primary schools.
The models of distribution show some variation by known characteristics, but overall much of the variance in both which schools have newcomers and the proportion of newcomers remains unexplained. This is presumably because some of the distribution of newcomer students is explained by factors unrelated to schools, for example, the spatial distribution of migrants in Ireland. Some schools have newcomer students because migrants and their children are living in the school catchment area; others do not, as there are no migrants in that area. The distribution of newcomers may also be related to whether there are sufficient places available in the school, and if not, what mechanisms schools use to select applicants. This latter point we investigate further in Section 4.3 on admissions below, which draws on both survey data and qualitative interviews.
We find some evidence, consistent with international findings, that newcomer students in Ireland tend to attend schools with a socio- economically more disadvantaged student intake. Designated disadvantaged schools are both more likely to have newcomer students at primary level and, at both primary and second level, disadvantaged schools tend to have a higher proportion of newcomer students. To investigate this further, we look at the associations between more general indications of learning difficulties in the school and the proportion of newcomers in the school. These indicators are whether over 10 per cent of the students in the school have literacy problems, numeracy problems, emotional/behavioural problems and absenteeism. They are derived from a survey question which asks all school principals to estimate, in bands, what proportion of students in their school have difficulties in these areas (for the exact wording of the questions see the questionnaire in Appendix 1). Figures 4.3a and 4.3b compare the proportion of newcomers in schools with and without these difficulties in second-level and primary schools respectively.
52 ADAPTING TO DIVERSITY:IRISH SCHOOLS AND NEWCOMER STUDENTS
Figure 4.3a: Proportion of Newcomers in Schools Where More than 10 Per Cent of Students Have Learning and Behavioural Problems, Compared to Schools Where Less than 10 Per Cent Have Learning and Behavioural Problems (Second-level)
4.9 7.1 5.2 6.5 5.0 8.5 5.2 7.1 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 No literacy problems Literacy problems No numeracy problems Numeracy problems No behavioural problems Behavioural problems No problems w ith absenteeism
Absenteeism problems
There is an association between all of these factors and the proportion of newcomer students at both primary and second-level schools. For example, at second-level, the proportion of newcomers is 8.5 per cent in schools where over 10 per cent of students have behavioural problems, and 5 per cent in schools where fewer than 10 per cent of students have behavioural problems. Thus, newcomers are more likely to attend schools where there is a higher prevalence of behaviour problems among the existing intake of students. A similar pattern is repeated for other difficulties.
Figure 4.3b: Proportion of Newcomers in Schools Where More than 10 Per Cent of Students Have Learning and Behavioural Problems, Compared to Schools Where Less than 10 Per Cent Have Learning and Behavioural Problems (Primary Level) 5.2 8.0 5.1 8.6 5.8 10.8 5.7 13.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 No literacy problems Literacy problems No numeracy problems Numeracy problems No behavioural problems Behavioural problems No problems w ith absenteeism Absenteeism problems
APROFILE OF SCHOOLS CATERING FOR NEWCOMER STUDENTS 53 At primary level, schools with over 10 per cent of students having behavioural problems have almost 11 per cent newcomers, compared to just under 6 per cent newcomers in other schools. Similar patterns emerge for the other problems listed at primary level and these are all statistically significant.
Schools with a greater proportion of Travellers also have a greater proportion of newcomer students. There is a positive correlation29 of 0.28 between the proportion of newcomers and the proportion of Travellers within second-level schools, 0.35 at primary level; both correlations are statistically significant. In second-level schools, there is also a statistically significant correlation between the proportion of newcomers and the proportion of students with learning disabilities (0.23).
This suggests that some schools are dealing with, not only a larger proportion of newcomer students, but also considerable literacy, numeracy, behavioural and attendance difficulties, and a high proportion of other disadvantaged groups like Travellers, which could place a considerable burden on their resources. There is also a possibility that newcomer students may raise the standard and learning expectations in schools with a disadvantaged student intake.