Extending pre‐school experience as preventive intervention: Relationships with later reading achievement

This study investigated the predictive validity of decisions made by a pre‐school teacher concerning the cognitive and social maturity of her pupils to enter formal schooling, based on their performance on the Neale Scales of Early Childhood Development.Thirty‐five children selected from the rolls of a Melbourne pre‐school which had maintained records over a ten‐year period were followed up in primary school and their reading ability assessed. Findings showed that subjects who had undertaken an additional pre‐school year following advice based on their Neale Scales’ performance were reading significantly better than those who had displayed similar developmental anomalies but who bad not been exposed to further pre‐school experience; moreover, the former were reading as well as or better than children selected on the basis of their pre‐school profiles as being ready for school.     

Peer tutoring in reading in Scotland: thinking big

A large‐scale randomised‐controlled trial of reading tutoring in 80 schools in Scotland used the Paired Reading (PR) technique. On long‐term evaluation, cross‐age PR was significantly better than regular teaching, but same‐age was not. On short‐term evaluation, PR pupils did significantly better than control pupils in both years, and cross‐age and same‐age were similarly effective. Low socio‐economic pupils, lower reading ability pupils, girls and reading with maths tutoring groups did significantly better. Implementation was good in parts, but some important aspects of technique were rare. Reading gains were significantly greater for those with mistakes about every 2 minutes and those who stopped reading to talk every 5 to 7 minutes. Significant gains in self‐esteem were seen in same‐age and cross‐age groups, and for tutees and tutors, but not for controls. The relationship of achievement gain to quality of technique and socio‐emotional gains is discussed, with implications for practice.     

Attitudes to Reading in English Primary Schools

This article reports on a two‐year research project investigating attitudes to reading held by teachers and pupils in a sample of English primary schools. The project draws on international and national surveys of reading engagement and the findings of previous research, but seeks to provide more detailed data relating to the attitudes of individual children and the strategies used by individual schools and teachers whose pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to reading. Results are related to previous research literature on reading motivation and attainment, and to motivational theory. In conclusion, it is argued that strategies which promote positive attitudes to reading need to be used alongside the teaching of reading skills in any effort to raise attainment.     

THE MEASUREMENT OF PERSONALITY‐‐III

During 1963, arrangements were made by the then Ministry of Education for a national experiment in foreign‐language teaching to be carried out in selected primary schools in England and Wales. The main purpose of the experiment, which came to be known as the Pilot Scheme for the teaching of French in primary schools, was to discover whether it would be both feasible and educationally desirable to extend the teaching of a foreign language to pupils who represented a wider range of age and ability than those to whom foreign languages had traditionally been taught. Under the Pilot Scheme, French was to be introduced into the primary school curriculum on an experimental basis from September 1964 onwards. The choice of French as the language to be taught was virtually inevitable, since it would have been impossible to provide an adequate teaching force for the implementation of the experiment if any language other than French had been chosen. In most of the schools taking part in the Pilot Scheme, French was to be taught throughout the primary stage of the experiment by class teachers who had received special in‐service training, rather than by specialist teachers of French. Arrangements were made to provide continuity of teaching at the secondary stage, so that all the pupils taking part in the experiment would be able to continue learning French without interruption for at least five years.

Once the experiment had been set up, it was agreed that its effects should be evaluated over a period of years by the NFER. In the event, the NFER evaluation spanned the period 1964‐1974, taking the form of a longitudinal study of three age‐groups or ‘cohorts’ of pupils attending the schools taking part in the experiment. The sole criterion on which pupils were chosen for inclusion in one of the experimental cohorts was their date of birth. In the first instance, French was to be taught to all eight‐year‐old pupils in the selected primary schools from September 1964 onwards; thereafter, the teaching of French was to be extended to a further year‐group each autumn, until it involved all pupils in the 8‐11 age‐range. Thus, the first cohort to come under study was composed of all pupils in the large primary schools taking part in the experiment who fell within the age‐range 8‐0‐8#lb11 on 1st September 1964 and all pupils in the small primary schools who fell within the age‐range 8#lb0‐9#lb11 on that date: this provided a sample of approximately 5.700 pupils. (A wider age‐range was sampled in the small primary schools, to avoid the creation of unworkably small groups.) The second cohort was composed of all pupils in the large primary schools in the sample who fell within the age‐range 8#lb0‐8#lb11 on 1st September 1965: this provided a sample of approximately 5,300 pupils. Pupils in the small primary schools were not represented in the second cohort, since most children of an appropriate age had already been included in the French classes set up for the first cohort.

Originally, the NFER evaluation was to have been based entirely on a longitudinal study of the pupils forming the first two experimental cohorts. It was hoped that the results of this study would provide sufficient information to enable valid conclusions to be drawn regarding the feasibility and advisability of teaching French at the primary level. As the experiment progressed however, it became clear that the pioneer status of the first cohort had entailed an atypical introduction to French. During the first year of the Pilot Scheme, for instance, difficult staffing problems were encountered which had not always been foreseen: in some primary schools, French teachers were absent without replacement for a whole term in order to attend intensive language courses in France; in others, no trained staff were available to teach French during the first term of the experiment, with the result that the first cohort pupils in these schools started to learn French one term later than the others in their age‐group. The first year of the experiment could therefore be regarded with some justification as an essentially exploratory period, calling into question the validity of using the results obtained from the study of the first cohort as a basis for future comparison. In view of these circumstances, it was considered advisable to extend the evaluation to a third cohort of pupils: those who would begin their study of French in September 1968. The third and final cohort to come under study was thus composed of all pupils in the large primary schools still taking part in the experiment who fell within the age‐range 8#lb0‐8#lb11 on 1st September 1968 and all pupils in the small primary schools who fell within the age‐range 8#lb0‐9#lb11 on the same date: this provided a sample of approximately 6,000 pupils. Inclusion in the experimental sample was again determined solely by the age of the pupil. This meant that the sample was drawn from all the socioeconomic strata normally represented within the national educational system and, in consequence, was characterized by a wide range of ability.

The time‐span of the evaluation did not allow all the pupils taking part in the experiment to be studied for an equal period of time. The pupils in the first and third cohorts were under study for a total of five years: three years in the primary school and two years in the secondary school. The pupils in the second cohort were under study for a longer period: three years in the primary school and five years in the secondary school. During the ten‐year period of the evaluation, the main aims of the study were: (i) to investigate the long‐term development of pupils’ attitudes towards foreign‐language learning; (ii) to discover whether pupils’ levels of achievement in French were related to their attitudes towards foreign‐language learning; (iii) to examine the effect of certain pupil variables (such as age, sex, socio‐economic status, perception of parental encouragement, employment expectations, contact with France, etc) on level of achievement in French and attitude towards foreign language learning; (iv) to investigate whether teachers’ attitudes and expectations significantly affected the attitudes and achievement of their pupils; (v) to investigate whether the early introduction of French had a significant effect on achievement in other areas of the primary school curriculum.

The main findings to emerge during the earlier years of the evaluation were published in two interim reports (Burstall, 1968, 1970); the recent publication of the final report (Burstall et al., 1974) brought together both the earlier and the later findings and provided an overall view of the effects of the experiment during both its primary and secondary stages. What follows is an attempt to review briefly the research evidence presented in the final report, but it must be borne in mind that limitations of space will inevitably impose a certain selectivity on this review.

     

Developing Attitudes towards Science Measures

In this study, we describe the development of measures used to examine pupils’ attitudes towards science. In particular, separate measures for attitudes towards the following areas were developed: learning science in school, practical work in science, science outside of school, importance of science, self‐concept in science, and future participation in science. In developing these measures, criticisms of previous attitude studies in science education were noted. In particular, care was taken over the definition of each of the attitude constructs, and also ensuring that each of the constructs was unidimensional. Following an initial piloting process, pupils aged 11–14 from five secondary schools throughout England completed questionnaires containing the attitude measures. These questionnaires were completed twice by pupils in these schools, with a gap of four weeks between the first and second measurements. Altogether, 932 pupils completed the first questionnaire and 668 pupils completed the second one. Factor analysis carried out on the resulting data confirmed the unidimensionality of the separate attitude constructs. Also, it was found that three of the constructs—learning science in school, science outside of school, and future participation in science—loaded on one general attitude towards science factor. Further analysis showed that all the measures showed high internal reliability (Cronbach’s α > 0.7). A particular strength of the approach used in this study was that it allowed for attitude measures to be built up step‐by‐step, therefore allowing for the future consideration of other relevant constructs.     

Behavioural Peer Tutoring: training 16‐year‐old tutors to employ the ‘pause,prompt and praise’ method with 12‐year‐old remedial readers

Abstract Eight 16‐year‐old, low achieving pupils were trained to tutor reading using the ‘Pause, Prompt and Praise’ method. The effectiveness of training such tutors was investigated through a tutorial programme in which these eight older pupils tutored eight 12‐year‐old remedial children who were retarded in reading. The programme consisted of 24 tutorial sessions conducted over eight weeks. Two matched control groups of remedial readers were also included in the experiment. One consisted of eight pupils tutored by a group of eight untrained tutors who tutored during the same sessions using the same materials. The second control group consisted of a third group of remedial readers who read silently, without a tutor. The experimental group of tutees, who had a mean pre‐test reading age of 8 years 4 months, made a mean gain of 6 months in reading accuracy by the end of the programme. The tutees of control group I who had received tutoring from untrained tutors made a mean gain of 2.4 months. The pupils of control group II who read silently without a tutor made a mean gain of 1.8 months. Analysis of covariance showed the gains of the experimental group to be statistically significantly different from the gains of the two control groups.     

Educational aspirations in inner city schools

This research aimed to assess the nature and level of pupils’ educational aspirations and to elucidate the factors that influence these aspirations. A sample of five inner city comprehensive secondary schools were selected by their local authority because of poor pupil attendance, below‐average examination results and low rates of continuing in full‐time education after the age of 16. Schools were all ethnically mixed and coeducational. Over 800 pupils aged 12–14 completed a questionnaire assessing pupils’ experience of home, school and their peers. A sub‐sample of 48 pupils, selected by teachers to reflect ethnicity and ability levels in individual schools, also participated in detailed focus group interviews. There were no significant differences in aspirations by gender or year group, but differences between ethnic groups were marked. Black African, Asian Other and Pakistani groups had significantly higher educational aspirations than the White British group, who had the lowest aspirations. The results suggest the high aspirations of Black African, Asian Other and Pakistani pupils are mediated through strong academic self‐concept, positive peer support, a commitment to schooling and high educational aspirations in the home. They also suggest that low educational aspirations may have different mediating influences in different ethnic groups. The low aspirations of White British pupils seem to relate most strongly to poor academic self‐concept and low educational aspirations in the home, while for Black Caribbean pupils disaffection, negative peers and low commitment to schooling appear more relevant. Interviews with pupils corroborated the above findings and further illuminated the factors students described as important in their educational aspirations. The results are discussed in relation to theories of aspiration which stress its nature as a cultural capacity.     

The Catch Up Project: a reading intervention in Year 3 for Level 1 readers (Research Note)

The Catch Up Programme is a literacy intervention designed for children who are behind with reading at the start of Year 3 (7 to 8 year‐olds). This paper describes pilot research that informed the project in its early stages of development, and the findings should therefore be treated with caution. The reading progress of a sample of 74 Catch Up pupils from 15 schools in three local education authorities was measured. This showed a considerable increase in pupils’ reading ages across a 10 week period. A smaller experimental study was also carried out in nine Oxfordshire schools (48 pupils) to compare a Catch Up sub‐sample with a Matched Time group and a Control group. Findings showed that the Catch Up pupils made considerably more progress during the same period than both the other groups.     

Academic self‐concept,reading attitudes and approaches to learning of children with dyslexia: do they differ from their peers?

This research aimed at exploring the motivation for reading of pupils with dyslexia, and to investigate whether they differ from their peers. A total of 32 pupils formed the LD group (22 boys and 10 girls, 5th‐ and 6th‐graders) who were diagnosed with dyslexia. A comparison group was formed of pupils who attended the same classes (N = 210), and these were divided into two groups (average/low performance, N = 115; high performance, N = 95), according to teachers’ ratings of pupils’ performance on reading. Self‐report measures were used to assess perceptions of academic ability, reading attitudes and approaches to learning. The results revealed that dyslexic pupils displayed lower academic self‐concept than the low/average and high performance groups on all domains, except Practical ability. Moreover, dyslexic pupils perceived reading less as a function of personal development, both enjoyment and utilitarian, as compared to their peers. Finally, the dyslexic group adopted the surface approach to learning, indicating an external motive, similarly to the average/low group, and adopted the deep approach to learning less as compared to their high achieving peers. The implications of these findings are discussed at pupil, teacher and classroom level.     

Overcoming Some Addition Difficulties

Abstract

In literature relating to elementary school reading it is commonly contended that attitudes toward reading influence achievement in reading and that teachers’ attitudes (and achievement) affect pupils’ attitudes and achievement. As yet there is little research support for this contention. In opposition is the view expressed in teacher effectiveness literature that there may be a degree of incompatibility between maximizing in pupils both desired cognitive (or achievement) outcomes and desired affective outcomes (for example, favorable attitudes). The validity of these two positions was assessed by administering reading attitude and achievement tests to 251 final-year student teachers and to the grade 4 through 6 pupils (approximately 900) of 48 of these teachers twice during the following year. One-way analyses of variance were used to investigate teacher-pupil relationships. Findings indicated that high achievement and high attitude in teachers were positively associated with high achievement and high attitudes in pupils; in the pupils of low achievement and low attitude teachers, achievement was low, but attitudes were more favorable than those expressed by the pupils of middle achievement and middle attitude teachers.     

Gender attitudes in school have changed mainly in peer relational factors over a period of 35 years

The aim of the study is to compare gender patterns of student attitudes toward school, teachers and peers in grade 6 over time. In 1967–68 and in 2003, 1500 pupils responded to the same 40‐item questionnaire. A confirmatory factor analysis was applied. In the gender comparison the within‐class level was used. The more traditional school factors, Interest in School, View of Teacher, and Work Atmosphere, showed no differences between the two time periods. The factor Interest in School showed that girls were more positive than boys. In contrast to this, changes with more positive attitudes had occurred especially in boys’ peer relational factors. In Relations with Classmates and in View of Fuss, the scores were now equal between the two genders, but in View of Peers, and Lack of Anxiety the boys’ attitudinal scores were significantly higher than those of the girls.     

A matter of attitude? Developing a profile of boys’ and girls’ responses to primary schooling

Much of the research investigating pupils’ attitudes towards school has been qualitatively‐oriented. This analysis explores the extent to which some of the differences between pupils can be rendered in quantitative terms. Drawing upon a survey of 1310 pupils in 21 primary schools, its main concern is to explore the extent to which there is a ‘gender gap’ in attitudes and responses to school. The question of whether schools participating in the research faced common or distinct challenges in terms of pupils’ attitudes was also of interest. Analysis confirms that, in line with previous research, primary girls were more favourably disposed towards school than primary boys. Factor analysis of pupil responses to an attitude questionnaire showed that girls were more positive in terms of engagement with school and pupil behaviour but that boys had higher academic self‐esteem. There were no differences between the two sexes in terms of relationships with peers. A cluster analysis identified the existence of five groups of pupils, some of whom have been highlighted in previous research using different approaches. These groups were: (1) the enthusiastic and confident; (2) the moderately interested but easily bored; (3) the committed but lacking self‐esteem; (4) the socially engaged but disaffected; and (5) the alienated. The gendered nature of some of these groupings was apparent: the first group was dominated by girls while the fourth and fifth were dominated by boys. However, analysis indicated that such gender‐based differences were, to some extent, matters of degree. Some 14% of primary boys, for example, were judged to be alienated, but so were 9% of primary girls. An analysis of the prevalence of each group within each of the participating schools showed that while many primary schools had similar overall pupil profiles, some faced specific challenges associated with having larger proportions of particular groups of children (for example the alienated, the socially engaged but disaffected or the committed but lacking self‐esteem). The implications of the findings for those concerned with interventions in relation to gender issues are briefly discussed.     

Reading Standards in Aberdeen 1962‐72

The 1962 reading survey in Aberdeen was repeated in 1972, with 99 per cent coverage of year‐groups (over 2,500) of 8‐year old and 11‐year‐old pupils: Reading comprehension tests used were NFER Sentence Reading Test AD and Test NS6. The 1972 averages on these tests were within one point of score of the 1962 averages: at age eight, the average was slightly but not significantly higher in 1972; at age 11, it was slightly and significantly lower. The children whose fathers were in semi‐skilled or unskilled jobs showed a particularly sharp decline in average performance over the ten‐year interval, whereas the standard of performance had improved or been maintained among children from professional homes.     

Associations between Secondary School Pupils' Definitions of Bullying,Attitudes towards Bullying,and Tendencies to Engage in Bullying: Age and sex differences

A self-report questionnaire about involvement in different types of bullying, what behaviours were regarded as bullying, and attitudes towards bullying, bullies and victims was completed by pupils in Year 7 (aged 11/12) through to Year 10 (aged 14/15) ( n = 170). Overall, direct verbal assault was the most commonly reported, and stealing the least frequently reported, type of bullying. For six specific types of bullying investigated, and for a composite measure of all types of bullying, significantly fewer Year 9 pupils than pupils in the other three years reported that they had behaved in these ways in the previous week. No significant sex differences emerged on these measures. These findings suggest that general patterns in bullying activities as a function of age and sex obtained in previous studies do not always hold. Although most pupils indicated that they thought that six out of eight types of behaviour viewed as bullying by researchers should be regarded as bullying, a substantial minority did not. The present study also extended bullying research by examining associations between pupils' definitions and attitudes towards bullying and their reports of bullying others. For one specific type of bullying, 'Forcing people to do things that they don't want to do', significantly fewer pupils who reported that they had behaved in this way than who reported that they had not done so included it in their definition of bullying. A consistent pattern of significant negative correlations of moderate size between attitudes and self-reported involvement in specific types of bullying were obtained. The implications of these findings for those concerned with tackling bullying in schools were discussed.     

TEACHER TRAINING AND SCHOOL PRACTICE

In their previous article (Educational Research, 13, 1) the authors discussed the attitudes of 1,000 pupils in selective secondary schools towards literature generally and towards GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ level examinations. In that article they explored pupils’ expressed likes and dislikes of texts prescribed by GCE examining boards; they now consider these same pupils’ preferences in their leisure reading, and conclude that present methods of teaching English often fail to take into account ‘consumer’ response, particularly in poetry and drama reading.     

Pupils’ attitudes to school and music at the start of secondary school

This study aims to explore pupils’ affective engagement with school and music during their transition to secondary school. A gender comparison is also being made to ascertain any differences that may exist between boys and girls during this time. A sample of 182 pupils completed two questionnaires (attitudes to school and attitudes to music) three times (at the end of Year 6, at the beginning and end of Year 7). A series of one-way repeated measures analysis of variance tests showed that pupils’ overall attitudes to school dropped significantly from the end of Year 6 to the end of Year 7 with their enjoyment towards school and their satisfaction with the work environment declining. Pupils’ attitudes to music presented a significant fall at the end of Year 7 after a slight improvement at the beginning of secondary school. Girls held consistently more positive attitudes towards school and music than boys. It is suggested that pupils’ attitudes are malleable and responsive to environmental change and, therefore, this problem can be remedied if appropriate interventions are put into place particularly regarding the teacher-pupil relationship and pupils’ perceived autonomy in their learning.     

Primary teachers’ changing attitudes and cognition during a two‐year science in‐service programme and their effect on pupils

Changes in 70 teachers’ confidence, attitudes and science understanding were tested before and after a major in‐service programme. Attitudes were assessed using a 49‐item Likert‐scale test that probed attitudes to practical science teaching and in‐service training. Multi‐choice and open‐ended questions measured understanding of electricity; melting, dissolving and evaporation; forces; and investigations. Data on pupils’ attitudes and cognition were also collected. After in‐service, teachers’ confidence about science teaching had improved significantly. The majority, but not all, had developed satisfactory levels of understanding and more positive attitudes. Four broad types of response were identified: high attainers who improved attitudes and confidence; teachers with limited science knowledge who found the course difficult but made improvements; unaffected professionals who were already working well and for whom the course had little effect; and disaffected teachers who showed low levels of confidence and competence throughout. Pupil cognition and attitudinal differences related to these types were also found.     

Who dares to disconnect in the age of uncertainty? Teachers’ recesses and ‘off‐the‐clock’ work

In 1999, all student teachers at secondary I level at the University of Bern who had to undertake an internship were asked to participate in a study on learning processes during practicum: 150 students and their mentors in three types of practicum participated—introductory practicum (after the first half‐year of studies), intermediate practicum (after two years of studies) and final practicum (after three years of studies). At the end of the practicum, student teachers and mentors completed questionnaires on preparing, teaching and post‐processing lessons. All student teachers, additionally, rated their professional skills and aspects of personality (attitudes towards pupils, self‐assuredness and well‐being) before and after the practicum. Forty‐six student teachers wrote daily semi‐structured diaries about essential learning situations during their practicum.

Results indicate that in each practicum students improved significantly in preparing, conducting and post‐processing lessons. The mentors rated these changes as being greater than did the student teachers. From the perspective of the student teachers their general teaching skills also improved, and their attitudes toward pupils became more open. Furthermore, during practicum their self‐esteem and subjective well‐being increased. Diary data confirmed that there are no differences between different levels of practicum in terms of learning outcomes, but give some first insight into different ways of learning during internship.     

Effect of the challenger experience on elementary children's attitudes to science

This research explored how the Challenger experience influenced over 655 elementary boys' and girls' general attitudes to science and space during the 5 months after their visit by examining their responses to four different attitude scales. These were administered to the 10‐ to 11‐year‐olds immediately before and after the Challenger experience as well as 2 and 5 months later. Knowledge tests were also administered before and after the visit. A sample of children completed an existing measure of anxiety. Although there were mainly positive outcomes immediately after the Challenger experience, there were some negative effects. There were also noticeable differences between boys and girls. Some 24% of pupils were inspired to become scientists. There was also less fear of space travel with a greater appreciation of the use of science to protect the planet after the visit. Most girls improved and maintained their attitudes toward science in society. A sizeable number of pupils were relatively unaffected by the experience and there was a significant negative effect on a small group of anxious girls. There are indications that previsit preparation and careful choice of roles during the simulation are important. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 979–1000, 2002     

The effect of school entrance age on academic achievement and social-emotional adjustment of children: Follow-up study of fourth graders

One hundred and thirty-seven fourth-grade pupils participated in a follow-up study of the effect of school-entrance age on academic achievement and social-emotional functioning. The sample included 73 oldest pupils, born in the months of January to March, and 64 youngest pupils, born in October to December of the same calendar year. Results indicated that differences between the two groups in academic and social-emotional measures, found when the subjects were in first grade, persisted in part to the fourth grade. The youngest subjects continued to score lowest in mathematics and in oral and silent reading comprehension; they were slower readers; and they had higher trait anxiety scores. In addition, the differences between the groups in oral and silent reading comprehension performance were found to increase over the years.