Why educational research is so Important and why it is having so
little impact
Peter Tymms
www.cemcentre.org
Outline• The potential of research• Changing policies• Structures
– Hierarchical nature of our system– Learning progress over the years– Male/female differences
• Conclusions - throughout
Research potential• Understanding
– Underlying causes– Theory– Prediction
• But:– Interaction– Complexity
• Nevertheless …..
Can you date this?
“Learning, alas will someday be smothered by … examination, competition, the calculation and publication of results.”
Reasons
• Dissatisfaction with the old system
• Forgetting the lessons of history
• New evidence and new theories
• New technology
• New politicians
Impact of Policies on Standards• Primary schools
– Hundreds of millions £– Impact on reading
• Tiny
– Impact on maths• Modest
• Secondary– ….
Changes in proportion gaining five A*-Cs at GCSE1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
19
75
19
80
19
85
19
90
19
95
20
00
Pe
rce
nta
ge
of
'15
ye
ar
old
s'2
Leaving Certificates
Summary
• Massive efforts to raise standards• More students staying on• More gaining qualifications• Levels of basic skills have remained fairly
constant• Higher grades are easier to obtain
Relative importance
Country
Cluster ClusterSchool
SchoolTeacher
Teacher
Pupil
Pupil
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Raw Value-added
With more detail
With year group X age interaction
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
In Summary• There are patterns to learning
– General growth curve– Learning follows teaching– Specific patterns by
• SES• Subject matter
• Delays can be problematic• Forcing the pace can be counterproductive• Little and often is best
Sex Differences• Gender differences in school performance
– How big are they?• By subject• By ages?
• Choice
Age 3-18
• Official data– A level– GCSE– End of KS3 & KS2
• CEM projects– ALIS– YELLIS– MidYIS– PIPS– ASPECTS
Choices pre-university: Most Female
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000
Sociology
Psychology
English Literature
Art and Design
Drama And Theatre Studies
Eng Lang and Lit
Male
Female
Pre-university: Most Male
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
Computing
Music Technology
P hysics
Mathematics (Further)
Economics
Information AndCommunications Technolog
Male
Female
Summary
• Attainment– Male Female But– Mathematics spread: Male > Female– Language based areas: Female > Male
• Choices – heavily gender based