Equity Gaps in Reading Performance: Examining the Intersections

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: School Effectiveness and School Improvement Round Table #2 (Table 11)

Abstract

This paper considers England’s data from the Progress in International Literacy Study (PIRLS 2021) to explore how some of the taken-for-granted categories often looked at in isolation to assess equity gaps (e.g. English as an Additional Language or EAL, ethnic group, and economic deprivation via the proxy of free school meal or FSM eligibility) might be more usefully looked at in terms of their intersections. Initial results show that while the lack of a significant difference in reading performance according to EAL classification is consistent across broad ethnic groups, differences in reading performance between pupils eligible and ineligible for FSM vary in size and significance across ethnic groups. Findings will be extended using multilevel analysis to investigate school variation.

Authors

• Ariel Mariah Lindorff, University of Oxford

• Jamie Stiff, University of Oxford

• Heather Leigh Kayton, University of Oxford