A critical reflection on the reasoning behind, and effectiveness of, the application of the Pupil Premium Grant within primary schools

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Copeland
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Parental Engagement ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Home Learning Environment ◽  
Educational Issue ◽  
Home Learning ◽  
Additional Funding ◽  
Attainment Gap ◽  
The Impact

The Pupil Premium Grant was introduced in 2011 with the aim to ‘close’ the attainment gap within education between children classified as disadvantaged and their peers. However, recent research has shown that this gap appears to be widening across the education sector. This article explores the reasons why the Pupil Premium Grant was introduced, giving commentary on the political rationale behind the additional funding. It asks whether the Pupil Premium Grant can ever hope to counteract the impact of a child’s socioeconomic background, especially when successive governments have continually changed political educational interventions. Parental engagement is also discussed, and the influence of a home learning environment demonstrated. The impact socioeconomic background has on cognitive development is also highlighted. Finally, successful strategies for using the Pupil Premium Grant are debated. It is suggested that currently there is no way to determine whether the Pupil Premium Grant is counteracting such a deep-rooted educational issue.

scholarly journals What Impacts Early Language Skills? Effects of Social Disparities and Different Process Characteristics of the Home Learning Environment in the First 2 Years

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manja Attig ◽  
Sabine Weinert
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Home Learning Environment ◽  
Process Characteristics ◽  
Home Learning

It is well documented that the language skills of preschool children differ substantially and that these differences are highly predictive of their later academic success and achievements. Especially in the early phases of children’s lives, the importance of different structural and process characteristics of the home learning environment (HLE) has been emphasized and research results have documented that process characteristics such as the quality of parental interaction behavior and the frequency of joint activities vary according to the socio-economic status (SES) of the family. Further, both structural and process characteristics are associated with children’s language development. As most of the studies focus on single indicators or didn’t take the dynamics of parenting behavior across age into account, the present paper aims to investigate the associations of different characteristics of the home learning environment as well as their potentially changing impact on the language skills of 2-year-old children. Using data of 2.272 families of the infant cohort study of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), longitudinally assessed process characteristics (sensitivity in the sense of maternal responsivity to the child’s behavior and signals in mother–child interaction; maternal stimulation behavior which goes beyond the child’s actual level of action and development; frequency of joint picture book reading) and structural characteristics (mother’s education, equivalised household income, parental occupational status) were considered. Language skills (vocabulary and grammar) of the children at the age of two were measured by a standardized and validated parent report instrument (child language checklist). Results showed that (1) all three process characteristics of the home learning environment (HLE) are associated with the family’s SES; (2) across three assessment waves nearly all process characteristics predicted children’s vocabulary and grammar skills with some process-specific changes across waves; (3) despite separate direct effects of nearly all HLE-process characteristics in each wave, the amount of explained variance in a joint model including the HLE facets from each wave is hardly higher than in the separate models; and (4) socioeconomic background predicted both language facets of the children in each model even when controlling for the assessed process characteristics of the home learning environment.

scholarly journals How Finnish and Portuguese Parents’ Implicit Beliefs About Learning Actualize at Home

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristiana Levinthal ◽  
Elina Kuusisto ◽  
Kirsi Tirri
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Parental Engagement ◽  
Growth Mindset ◽  
Home Learning Environment ◽  
Implicit Beliefs ◽  
Holistic Development ◽  
Home Learning ◽  
Meaning System ◽  
Beliefs About Learning ◽  
At Home

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore parental engagement in the home learning environment, and parents’ implicit beliefs about learning underlying such engagement. Nineteen parents of school children between 7 and 12 years old were interviewed in two different cultural contexts, Finland (N = 10) and Portugal (N = 9). The interviews were subjected to inductive and deductive content analysis. Forms of parental engagement at home were similar in both countries, divided between two main categories: engagement with their child’s holistic development and engagement with the child’s schooling process. Parental narratives about engagement were, for the most part, embedded in a growth mindset (or an incremental meaning system). The most common actualizations of engagement included considering the child’s learning contexts and emotions; encouraging effort, persistence and practice; approaching difficulties as a natural part of learning and suggesting strategies for overcoming them. Parental practices of engagement were combined with the actualization of their implicit beliefs to create parental engagement–mindset profiles. Twelve parents were classified as having a growth mindset to support the child’s holistic development profile, and the other seven were distributed amongst the three remaining profiles. The study contributes to the growing interest on the association between parental engagement and their learning-related implicit beliefs, giving clear first-person illustrations of how both occur and interact in the home learning environment. Implications for practice are discussed.

scholarly journals Impact of a Hand Hygiene Curriculum and Group Handwashing Station at Two Primary Schools in East Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-187
Author(s):  
Stephanie E. Pasewaldt ◽  
Stephanie L. Baller ◽  
Sarah R. Blackstone ◽  
Lucy Bryan Malenke
Keyword(s):  
Hand Hygiene ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Environmental Interventions ◽  
Daily Group ◽  
School Based ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
The Impact

Proper handwashing reduces the transmission of deadly, preventable diseases. Schools, even those with limited resources, have the power to promote handwashing through simple, effective interventions. This study evaluated the impact of a school-based handwashing program consisting of two interventions: a hand-hygiene curriculum and group handwashing station. Quantitative and open-ended pre/postintervention surveys were administered to students at one primary school in Kenya ( n = 38) and at one primary school in Uganda ( n = 57). Matching procedures were followed at each school. Paired ttests for pre/postsurveys demonstrated an increase in students’ knowledge ( p < .001) and frequency of handwashing ( p < .001). After 6 months, students were still engaging in daily group handwashing. The curriculum increased knowledge, and the handwashing station enabled students to translate their knowledge into action. This study supports educational interventions combined with built environmental interventions should be used to promote handwashing behaviors and emphasizes the role of group handwashing stations.

The Impact of Educational Interventions by Socio-Demographic Attribute

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Hirshman ◽  
Michael Martin ◽  
Michael W. Bigrigg ◽  
Kathleen M. Carley
Keyword(s):  
Educational Interventions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Demographic Attribute

scholarly journals When and why do people act on flawed science? Effects of anecdotes and prior beliefs on evidence-based decision-making

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey L. Michal ◽  
Yiwen Zhong ◽  
Priti Shah
Keyword(s):  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Prior Beliefs ◽  
Learning Experiment ◽  
Apply Research ◽  
Evidence Quality ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Learning Interventions

AbstractToday’s citizens are expected to use evidence, frequently presented in the media, to inform decisions about health, behavior, and public policy. However, science misinformation is ubiquitous in the media, making it difficult to apply research appropriately. Across two experiments, we addressed how anecdotes and prior beliefs impact readers’ ability to both identify flawed science and make appropriate decisions based on flawed science in media articles. Each article described the results of flawed research on one of four educational interventions to improve learning (Experiment 1 included articles about having a tidy classroom and exercising while learning; Experiment 2 included articles about using virtual/augmented reality and napping at school). Experiment 1 tested the impact of a single anecdote and found no significant effect on either participants’ evidence evaluations or decisions to implement the learning interventions. However, participants were more likely to adopt the more plausible intervention (tidy classroom) despite identifying that it was unsupported by the evidence, suggesting effects of prior beliefs. In Experiment 2, we tested whether this intervention effect was driven by differences in beliefs about intervention plausibility and included two additional interventions (virtual reality = high plausible, napping = low plausible). We again found that participants were more likely to implement high plausible than low plausible interventions, and that evidence quality was underweighed as a factor in these decisions. Together, these studies suggest that evidence-based decisions are more strongly determined by prior beliefs than beliefs about the quality of evidence itself.

Agricultural education and Italian primary school teachers: the Romagna in the late nineteenth century

Modern Italy ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Omar Mazzotti ◽  
Massimo Fornasari
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Agricultural Education ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Primary School Teachers ◽  
Agricultural Revolution ◽  
Agricultural Knowledge ◽  
The Impact

This article examines the dissemination of agricultural education in primary schools in the Romagna, an important rural area in post-unification Italy. The topic is explored within a wider perspective, analysing the impact of institutional changes – at both the national and local levels – on the transmission of agricultural knowledge in primary education during the final quarter of the nineteenth century. Two particular elements of the process are examined: students, as the intended beneficiaries of the educational process; and teachers, who as well as having a key role in reducing the extent of illiteracy were sometimes also involved in disseminating agricultural knowledge. The transfer of that knowledge appears to have been a very challenging task, not least because of the scant interest that Italy's ruling class showed towards this issue. However, increasing importance seems to have been given to agricultural education in primary schools during the economic crisis of the 1880s, when the expansion of this provision was thought to be among the factors that might help to prepare the ground for the hoped-for ‘agricultural revolution’.

988 The Prevalence and Incidence of Gender Bias and Sexual Discrimination in Orthopaedics, and Mitigating Strategies: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Elbayouk ◽  
U Halim ◽  
A Ali ◽  
S Javed ◽  
C Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Gender Bias ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Sexual Discrimination ◽  
Orthopaedic Training ◽  
Orthopaedic Community ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The aim of this systematic review was to outline the prevalence and impact of Gender bias and sexual discrimination (GBSD) in orthopaedics, and to investigate interventions countering such behaviours. Method Original research papers pertaining to the prevalence and impact of gender bias or sexual discrimination, or mitigating strategies in orthopaedics, were suitable for inclusion. PRISMA guidelines were adhered to in this review. Results Of 570 papers, 27 were eligible for inclusion. A total of 13 papers discussed the prevalence of GBSD, whilst 13 related to the impact of these behaviours, and 6 discussed mitigating strategies. GBSD were found to be prevalent in the orthopaedic workplace, with all sources showing females to be the victims. The impact of GBSD includes poor workforce representation, lower salaries, barriers to career progression, and reduced academic output for females in orthopaedics. Mitigating strategies in the literature are focussed on encouraging females to apply for orthopaedic training programmes, by providing female role models, mentors, and educational interventions. Conclusions GBSD are highly prevalent in orthopaedic surgery, impacting females at all stages of their careers. Mitigating strategies have been tested but are limited in their scope. As such, the orthopaedic community as a whole is obliged to do more to tackle GBSD.

scholarly journals Effects of Climatic Conditions, Season and Environmental Factors on CO2 Concentrations in Naturally Ventilated Primary Schools in Chile

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4139
Author(s):  
Muriel Diaz ◽  
Mario Cools ◽  
Maureen Trebilcock ◽  
Beatriz Piderit-Moreno ◽  
Shady Attia
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Co2 Concentration ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Co2 Concentrations ◽  
The Impact

Between the ages of 6 and 18, children spend between 30 and 42 h a week at school, mostly indoors, where indoor environmental quality is usually deficient and does not favor learning. The difficulty of delivering indoor air quality (IAQ) in learning facilities is related to high occupancy rates and low interaction levels with windows. In non-industrialized countries, as in the cases presented, most classrooms have no mechanical ventilation, due to energy poverty and lack of normative requirements. This fact heavily impacts the indoor air quality and students’ learning outcomes. The aim of the paper is to identify the factors that determine acceptable CO2 concentrations. Therefore, it studies air quality in free-running and naturally ventilated primary schools in Chile, aiming to identify the impact of contextual, occupant, and building design factors, using CO2 concentration as a proxy for IAQ. The monitoring of CO2, temperature, and humidity revealed that indoor air CO2 concentration is above 1400 ppm most of the time, with peaks of 5000 ppm during the day, especially in winter. The statistical analysis indicates that CO2 is dependent on climate, seasonality, and indoor temperature, while it is independent of outside temperature in heated classrooms. The odds of having acceptable concentrations of CO2 are bigger when indoor temperatures are high, and there is a need to ventilate for cooling.

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