Early Reading and Initial Teacher Training: conference for ITT providers
The TDA 'Early Reading and Initial Teacher Training:conference for ITT providers' was held on Tuesday 7th October at the Business Design Centre in London and was attended by delegates from ITT from across the country. The aims of the day were fivefold and included the opportunity to hear Sir Jim Rose give early feedback from the Independent Primary Review, to receive feedback from the Ofsted survey of early reading and 'to consult over the further support to be offered by the TDA and the Primary
EPPE: Influences on Children's Attainment and Progress in Key Stage 2: Cognitive Outcomes in Year 6
This is one of a series of documents reporting findings of a research project entitled ‘Effective Pre-school and Primary Education 3-11’ (EPPE 3-11) commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). This longitudinal study tracked a cohort of 2701 children from 950 primary schools from age 3 to the end of primary school (age 11 years) in order to investigate what kinds of early childhood provision are most effective in promoting children’s development during pre-sch
Ensuring the Best Start in Life: Targeting versus Universality in Early Childhood Development
This is a research paper published by the Institute for Research on Public Policy – an independent Canadian national non-profit organisation. This report identifies the strategies for enhancing the development of vulnerable children in Canada and focusing on early intervention programmes. The report explores four policy issues influencing early childhood education centres in Canada. The report is supplemented by American findings of initiatives involved in providing early childhood care.
'Improving Competences for the 21st Century: an Agenda for European Cooperation on Schools' and ‘C
On December 6th 2008 the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) announced the publication of two forward-looking documents on schools and schooling by the European Commission and the European Council. These are 'Improving Competences for the 21st Century: an Agenda for European Cooperation on Schools' published by the European Commission, and ‘Council Conclusions on preparing young people for the 21st century: an agenda for European cooperation on schools' produced by the European
Enhancing the communication learning environment of an early years unit
This research paper, presented at BERA 2001, reports on an action research project in which a group of teachers, nursery nurses and teaching assistants worked with an Open University consultant, Melanie Nind, to improve the language and communication provision in an early years unit. The project took an inclusive approach, rather than starting with a deficit model, through which the learning environment was enriched for all children. The development and evaluation of changes was guided by the co
TDA Standards Case Study: Group observation and discussion of model lessons in early training
A case study charting the experiences of trainees on a secondary PGCE programme in science, including the ways in which the provider tailored provision to provide opportunities for trainees to carry out group observation and discussion of model lessons in early training.
Government Action Plan in Response to Lord Laming
On 12 March 2009, Lord Laming published "The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report". The Government accepted the recommendations contained in the report and stated that they would publish a plan of action at a later date.
This action plan has now been released and outlines the Government's responses to the recommendations including how ‘Central Government' will work with ‘local government' and front line services. These, in turn, include teachers, teaching assistants, school
The Impact of Research on Policy
This is a publication from the British Educational Research Association (BERA) compiled by scholars based in three universities working within the education research sector, with a particular focus on Early Childhood studies. It assesses the impact of significant and contemporary education research on government policy.
TDA Standards Case Study: Use of Non-School Settings
A case study charting the experiences of a trainee on a primary (early years) undergraduate programme, including the ways in which the provider tailored provision to support the trainee in developing understanding of the complexities of leading and managing change.
2006 Childcare and Early Years Providers Surveys - Nursery Schools & Primary schools with nursery a
This review includes two research reports published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) based on surveys conducted by BMRB (British Market Research Bureau) during 2006. They are based on data collected on childcare and early years provision and its workforce.
Influences and leverages on low levels of attainment: a review of literature and policy initiatives
This report from the Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning (WBL), based at the Institute of Education, London, is a review of a wide range of literature and policy initiatives considering the influences and leverages on low attainment in schools. In the context of this report a leverage is an initiative, intervention or strategy which seeks to tackle low attainment. It looks at the influence on progression and attainment in early and mid childhood, adolescence and early adulthoo
Your child, your schools, our future: building a 21st century schools system
The latest education white paper, 'Your child, your schools, our future: building a 21st century schools system', was published on 30 June. Within this, the Government describes reforms to meet the ‘challenges and changes' facing schools, and how these build on the developments of the last 12 years; included within these are changes to the curriculum, school partnerships, leadership and responsibilities.
Teach For America Teachers’ Careers: Whether, When, and Why They Leave Low-Income Schools and the
This is a research report investigating reasons behind Teach for America (TfA) teachers’ careers choices, presented at the 2008 American Education Research Association annual conference in New York. The paper presents the results of a large-scale study using discrete time survival analysis to explore turnover in a sample of 2029 TfA teachers. Drawing on the responses of TfA teachers to an on-line questionnaire, a retrospective, teacher-period data set was produced which has permitted an examin
School Report Cards: Review of the use of school report cards internationally
One of the proposals within the recent white paper, 'Your child, your schools, our future: building a 21st century schools system', is the introduction of a School Report Card to measure school progress. This resource is a report of a small research project conducted by NFER into how these are used in other countries, and is intended to complement the work already undertaken in this area by the DCSF.
Independent Review of Mathematics Teaching in Early Years Settings and Primary Schools
On the 17th June 2008, Sir Peter Williams launched his final report on the Independent Review of Mathematics Teaching in Early Years Settings and Primary Schools. He produced a number of recommendations of ways to address the future needs of all young learners of mathematics.
Personalised Learning – A Practical Guide
This was launched by the DCSF in October 2008 to provide school leaders, School Improvement Partners and teachers with a guide showing how to implement key aspects of personalised learning. The guide makes substantial links to The Children’s Plan (DCSF, 2007) where the vision is of 21st century schools delivering excellent, personalised learning.
Drug Education: An Entitlement For All – A report to Government by the Advisory Group on Drug and
The report was compiled by the Drug Advisory Group in conjunction with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). It is a review of the effectiveness of drug and alcohol education from all sources for young people. The group met during the early part of 2008 and presented its report to the Government in mid-2008. The remit of the group was to examine the effectiveness of existing drug and alcohol education delivery, and to strengthen and highlight the role of schools and childrenâ
Communities in recession: the impact on deprived neighbourhoods
This ‘Round-up’ reviews the evidence from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s body of research and neighbourhood level unemployment data 1985-2009, comparing the social and economic consequences on specific deprived areas of the UK. Comparisons are made with two former recessions (of the early 1980s and 1990s) with the recession of 2008-9. It reports on the extent to which these identified communities shared in, or were excluded from, the benefits of the economic growth of the intervening yea
Equally prepared for life? How 15-year old boys and girls perform in school
This report uses data from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to explore gender differences in educational experiences. Student background, attitudes and characteristics are all seen to influence performance. Despite the fact that girls tend to outperform boys in school, boys are more likely to go on to earn more and hold positions of political and economic power. The authors argue that, if government policies are to aim for parity, education could be key. The rep
Methods: Observation
Professor Jerry Wellington provides a commentary on a sample chapter on observation from 'Research Methods in Early Childhood Education' by Mukherji and Albon. This chapter provides a helpful introduction to the use of observation, its historical background, different types of observation and some of the problematic issues involved in doing it - such as recording, reporting and the avoidance of bias.
