The Effects of Pupil Composition in Primary .docVIP

Social Class, Pupil Composition, Pupil Progress and School Performance: An Analysis of Primary Schools Hugh Lauder, Daphne Kounali, Tony Robinson, Harvey Goldstein and Martin Thrupp This paper investigates the effects of pupil composition in primary schools. There has been considerable debate about the nature and effects of pupil composition, by which we mean the effects the student body may have on school outcomes independent of individual pupil characteristics such as their social class, gender, and ethnicity backgrounds and whether they have learning difficulties. The debate has been ‘alive’ since the publication of Coleman’s et al’s (1966) celebrated report because it is central to two related concerns: the nature of school effectiveness and appropriate policies to raise school effectiveness. With respect to the former Thrupp and Hirsch (2006) have argued that we can identify two ideal typical positions, the first claims that school effectiveness is a function of school management and teacher performance, while the latter claims that social factors (e.g., social class) determine pupil outcomes in schools. In this respect, pupil composition can be seen as one social factor that may be significant in determining pupil outcomes. However, they note that we can consider these two positions as at the ends of a spectrum and that much of the debate centres on the relative contributions of schools and teachers and social factors. In policy terms, the debate is crucial because if indeed it were to be the case that school management and teacher performance were key to school effectiveness, then the focus would be on the policy levels that would best raise school performance. It can be argued that policy makers have focussed, over the past twenty years, on these factors by enlisting the support of some school effectiveness and improvement studies (Goldstein and Woodhouse, 2000). Policy makers claimed that reference to social factors, is no more than an excuse for