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DfE reasearch: ‘Limited evidence’ holding degree in subject improves pupil outcomes

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

There is “limited evidence” that teachers holding a degree in the subject they teach improves pupils outcomes, according to a new study.

Research by the Department for Education has found that while there is evidence “specialist” teachers have a “small” positive impact on pupil outcomes at GCSE in maths, English and humanities, there is “no discernible effect” of “non-specialist” teaching at GCSE for modern foreign languages and science.

The DfE’s analysis – published in a research paper – categorises teachers as “specialist” or “non-specialist” on the basis of whether they hold a degree or other post A-level qualification in the subject they teach.

It is not possible to directly link data on individual teachers to pupil outcomes, so the analysis looks at the proportion of specialist teachers in a subject area at school level.

The DfE’s research reveals “mixed or limited findings” which “do not imply a causal link” between specialist teaching and pupils outcomes.

A “positive association” was found between specialist teaching in English and maths and GCSE attainment, but this was without controlling for other factors.

Looking at KS2 to KS4 value added – and again without controlling other factors – specialist teaching is “positively associated” with schools’ value added in English, maths and humanities. However there is “no relationship” between value added and specialist teaching in science and modern foreign languages.

When other variables are controlled for there is “no discernible effect” of non-specialist teaching on pupils’ GCSE outcomes in modern foreign languages and science.

While there is some evidence of a “positive impact” of specialist teaching on GSCE outcomes in English, maths and humanities, the DfE said this is “small in size”.

“In line with most previous research, there remains limited evidence of an impact of teachers’ academic qualifications in the subjects they teach on pupil outcomes,” the paper states.

The DfE admits there are limitations in its data. As well as not being able to link specific teachers to pupil outcomes, the department recognises “academic qualifications are not the only method of acquiring subject knowledge”.

The definition of “specialist” used in the research does not include continuous professional development  – or even native fluency in a modern foreign language – so it is possible teachers who have been defined as “non-specialist” may have equal or greater subject knowledge acquired through means other than a degree.

A DfE spokeswoman told TES: “We trust headteachers to run their schools and make the right decisions for their pupils, and the importance they place on ensuring pupils are taught by highly qualified teachers is clear.

“The latest figures show that 9 out of 10 secondary lessons are conducted by a teacher with a relevant post A-level qualification.”

Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, agreed that holding a relevant degree remained important to teaching.

“All the indications are that people need to be educated to degree level in their subject or a comparable subject related to what their mainstream teaching is,” he said.

“It would be extremely difficult for someone with an English degree to go on to teach maths.”

However Mr Trobe said “subject pedagogy” – the understanding of how to teach a certain subject well – was just as important as having the right degree.

[Source:- tes]

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Education

Ofqual on why exam performance improved after 2010 – and it’s not because of ‘dumbing down’ or pupil ability

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Exam paper

Performance rose as pupils and teachers became more familiar with the tests, exams watchdog finds

Any improvements in GCSE and A-level performance since 2010 are likely to have been caused by pupils and teachers becoming more familiar with the tests, rather than by an increase in students’ ability levels or a “dumbing down” of exam papers, according to a new report from the exams regulator Ofqual.

The study found that pupils’ performance – as measured by marks rather than grades – improved significantly in the first three years after the introduction of new A-levels in 2010-11 and new GCSEs in 2011-12, but that this improvement slowed after that time.

The improvements probably result from teachers gaining more experience of teaching the new specifications and pupils having more past papers to learn from, the report suggests.

Limits of familiarity

It says benefits brought about by growing familiarity with the tests usually last for about three years. After this, the “limits of familiarity” are reached and the effect no longer brings about significant improvements in performance.

Ofqual’s report says the fact that pupils’ marks rose in the wake of exam reforms suggested that familiarity, rather than other factors, was the cause: “One would expect that improvements due to [test familiarity] can be made more quickly than [those] due to [genuine improvements in ability], meaning that improvements due to test familiarity might explain a greater portion of the more rapid changes occuring in the first few years.”

It adds: “The fact that most [grade] boundaries exhibited relatively rapid increases which seemed to lessen after the third assessment year…is consistent with the proposition that post-reform improvements in performance are test-specific and related to student/teacher familiarity (rather than reflecting more general improvements in ability). This is because one would expect improvements to subside once the limits of test familiarity and preparedness are gradually reached.”

Allaying concerns

Ofqual said its research, which covers the period since 2010, would “allay concerns of a systematic ‘dumbing down’ of assessments”.

This was because it was “unlikely” that improvements in pupils’ performance were “due to assessments becoming easier”, it said, adding: “Changes in test familiarity is a more plausible explanation.”

Ofqual’s report uses increases in grade boundaries, rather than in final grades, as an indicator of rising pupil performance. An Ofqual spokeswoman said the use of “comparable outcomes” – a system that has ended grade inflation by linking overall GCSE and A-level results to pupils’ prior attainment – would prevent grades from dropping and then rising as a result of new exams, which are being introduced over a three-year period from 2017.

However, she added that the years of rising GCSE grades between 1988, when the qualification was first introduced, and 2012, were not caused by increasing familiarity with the tests. This was because, during this period, there was a “year-on-year steady increase” in grades, rather than sharp rises in the wake of new exam specifications.

[Source:- tes]

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Education

Lifetime ban for maths teacher who slapped pupil

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Failsworth School

A maths teacher who slapped a pupil in the face after “squaring up” to him has been banned from the profession.

Michael Nosiama, 31, was found guilty of hitting the boy at Failsworth School in Oldham in April 2015 after becoming agitated by his disruption in class.

A National College for Teaching panel was shown footage of an “angry” Mr Nosiama “goading” the pupil and making “violent physical contact”.

It said he was a “continuing risk” and banned him from teaching for life.

Mr Nosiama had taught at the Greater Manchester school for four months before the incident.

He was not present at the hearing but had said in written evidence that he “struck [the boy – referred to as Pupil A] in self-defence”.

However, the panel rejected this claim saying Mr Nosiama’s actions were “aggressive” and “deliberate”.

It found the teacher had “deliberately invited Pupil A outside for the altercation” and “provoked the incident for the purpose of Pupil A being potentially excluded,” it said.

The prohibition order states “due to the serious and violent nature of this case” and the failure of Mr Nosiama to develop “any insight into his behaviour”, he can never reapply to teach.

[Source:- BBC]

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