socialclass,pupilprogressandschoolperformancean.docVIP

Social Class, Pupil Progress and School Performance: An Analysis in English Primary Schools Hugh Lauder, Daphne Kounali, Tony Robinson, and Harvey Goldstein. Abstract This paper raises fundamental questions about educational policy with respect to three key issues: the factors that create school success and failure, the related ways in which school performance is judged in terms of league table rankings and the role of social class, and in particular income, in pupil progress at primary (elementary) school. As a point of entry to these issues the paper investigates the effects of pupil composition in primary schools, finding that while there are small but significant compositional effects on pupil progress the inclusion of composition variables has a profound effect on rankings of school performance. These findings suggest that most value added analyses of schools are misleading. Underlying this problem is a systematic failure by policymakers to consider the way that social class affects pupil progress. However, it is also suggested that policies for increasing the incomes for those close to official poverty levels may have a beneficial effect on pupils’ progress. Key Words: Social Class, Pupil Progress, Accountability, Value Added Introduction This paper raises questions about educational policy with respect to three key issues: the factors that create school success and failure, the related ways in which school performance is judged and the role of social class and in particular income, on pupil progress at primary school. As a point of entry to these issues it investigates the effects of pupil composition in primary schools. It does this by studying factors affecting pupil progress in a sample of English Primary schools and contextualises findings within the current educational policies of the New Labour Government in England. The general issues, however, are more broadly relevant to educational systems elsewhere that involve elements of public acco