Effective primary pedagogical strategies in English and mathematics in key stage 2: a study of year 5 classroom practiceudfrom the EPPSE 3-16udlongitudinal study

摘要

The Effective Provision of Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE 3-16)udproject is a large scale, longitudinal, mixed-method research study that has followed theudprogress of 3000+ children since 1997 from the age of 3 to 16+ years.udA continuing question for EPPSE was whether pre- and primary school experiences orudchildren's early home learning environment (HLE) could reduce inequality. While the originaludstudies found that parents' socio-economic status (SES) and qualifications were significantlyudrelated to child outcomes, they also found that the quality of the early HLE was importantud(Melhuish et al., 2008; Sammons et al, 2004). Also important, and particularly relevant to thisudstudy, was the extent to which educational influences (pre-school and primary school qualityudand effectiveness) also shaped children’s educational outcomes. These reports wereudpublished as ‘Variations in Teacher and Pupil Behaviours in Year 5 Classrooms’ (Sammonsudet al, 2006) and ‘The Influences of Teaching Quality on Children’s Progress in PrimaryudSchool’ (Sammons et al., 2008).udThis earlier research found that overall teaching quality is a significant predictor of betterudcognitive progress for children, and specific aspects of classroom processes were found toudpredict both better cognitive progress and social/behavioural development. For example,udhigher levels of disorganisation were related to poorer progress in Reading and Mathematicsudand increased hyperactivity and quality of pedagogy showed a strong relationship withudchildren’s progress in Mathematics (Sammons et al., 2008).udSince educational influences are mainly exerted through teaching, this suggested that an indepthudevaluation of the pedagogical strategies used in the schools involved would be of bothudpolicy and practitioner interest. This study provides greater insights into effective primaryudpedagogical strategies in English and Maths.udPedagogy is a contentious term (see Ko & Sammons, 2010). Our definition is:udInstructional techniques and strategies which enable learning to take place. Itudrefers to the interactive process between teacher/practitioner and learner, andudit is also applied to include the provision of some aspects of the learningudenvironment (including the concrete learning environment, and the actions ofudthe family and community). (Siraj-Blatchford et al., 2002)udEffectiveness is another controversial term. In educational effectiveness research the focusudis on the teacher or school’s contribution to pupil progress (Teddlie and Reynolds, 2000)udMelhuish et al (2006:4) argued that:udPrimary schools where children make significantly greater progress thanudpredicted on the basis of prior attainment and intake characteristics can beudviewed as more effective (positive outliers in value added terms). Primaryudschools where children make less progress than predicted can be viewed asudless effective (negative outliers in value added terms).udThis study explores the associations between value added measures of school effectivenessudand variations in pedagogy.