RESEARCH
The Latest Research
Report: Self-Paced Learning: Effective Technology-Supported Formative Assessment: Report on Achievement Findings (2011)
What? A new study by the Institute for Effective Education at the University of York has shown that self-paced learning could produce signifi cant gains in primary maths learning. In self-paced learning
Report: Literacy: A Route to Addressing Child Poverty? (2011)
What? This report from the National Literacy Trust (NLT) reviews existing research into the role of low literacy in poverty and disadvantage. Although many of the issues are widely known, the report aims to be a useful resource for those with an interest in child poverty. Key fi ndings include that children who grow up in poverty are less likely to do well on a number of outcomes, including literacy, wider education and
pupils answer, at their own pace, questions delivered directly to electronic handsets. The technology instantly marks the responses and feeds back the results to both pupil and teacher. Teachers can use this formative assessment to help pupils and guide future teaching. The study involved Year 5 pupils from seven primary schools across two local authorities, and ran over a 12-week period. In
health, but that children’s achievement can be predicted not only by parental income or social status, but also by the extent to which parents are able to create a home environment that encourages learning and aspirations. Children from poorer backgrounds have less advantageous “early childhood caring environments” than children from better-off families. Parents’ involvement in their child’s education is also key, with family involvement in school mattering most for children whose mothers have less education. The report says that
comparison to control pupils, pupils who used the self-paced learning technology made signifi cantly greater gains in mathematical learning.
Authors: Mary Sheard and Bette Chambers
Where? The report is available from the Institute for Effective Education website
www.york.ac.uk/iee.
current government policy sees entrenched poverty as resting on low achievement, low aspiration, and a lack of employment, and that literacy has a vital role to play in addressing all of these issues and breaking the cycle of poverty.
Authors: National Literacy Trust
Where? The report is available through the National Literacy Trust website
www.literacytrust.org.uk/research (see research reports).
Report: The Pseudoscience of Single-Sex Schooling (2011)
What? This article, which appeared in the journal Science (vol 333, 6050), argues strongly that single-sex education is “deeply misguided”, and that not all reforms lead to meaningful gains for pupils. Although it is a US study, the fi ndings could also apply in the UK. Findings include that although single-sex education outcomes may at fi rst appear promising,
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apparent advantages dissolve when other factors are taken into account, for example the “quality” of the pupil body, the demanding curricula, or other advantages. The authors also counter the argument that boys and girls learn differently, stating that “neuroscientists have found few sex differences in children’s brains beyond the larger volume of boys’ brains and the earlier completion of girls’ brain growth, neither of which is known to relate to learning”. Overall, they conclude that there
Better: Evidence-based Education winter 2012
is no well-designed research showing that single-sex education improves academic performance, but there is evidence that sex segregation actually increases gender stereotyping and legitimises institutional sexism.
Authors: Diane Halpern et al.
Where? The report is available through the Science journal website
www.sciencemag. org/content/333/6050/1706.full
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