The Progress of Pupils in Their First School Year across Classes and Educational Systems

• In Event: Educational Effectiveness in Elementary Schools

Abstract

Effectiveness research has pointed to the importance of teachers to pupil progress and suggests that countries are important when attainment is studied whilst controlling for background factors. But can the relative importance of classrooms and educational systems in relation to progress be estimated in a single analysis? This study compared progress of pupils in over 4000 classrooms across England, Scotland and Australian States and Territories. Large differences were found between classes and the educational systems both for reading and mathematics during the first year at school. This goes someway to confirming the great importance of teachers as well as the considerable differences between educational systems. It also shows that it is possible to conduct international studies of pupil progress.

Authors

• Peter B. Tymms, Durham University

• Christine Merrell, Durham University

• Helen R. Wildy, The University of Western Austrailia