London Education and Inclusion Project (LEIP): A cluster-randomised controlled trial protocol of an intervention to reduce antisocial behaviour and improve educational/occupational attainment for pupils at risk of school exclusion

Abstract

Background: In 2011/12 about 6% of pupils in England who were in the last two years of compulsory education (Years 10 and 11) experienced one or more fixed period school exclusions a for disciplinary reasons and there are roughly 300,000 fixed period exclusions every year in England and Wales (Department for Education, 2013a). Excluded pupils are at a greatly increased risk of failing GCSE examinations, not being in employment, education or training (NEET) at ages 16-24, and having criminal convictions as adolescents or young adults. To date, little or no research has been conducted on programmes designed to improve outcomes for those at risk for fixed period exclusions. Similarly, there is very little research on the effects of school disciplinary procedures, such as fixed period exclusions, on outcomes for young people.

London Education and Inclusion Project (LEIP): Exploring Negative and Null Effects of a Cluster-Randomised School-Intervention to Reduce School Exclusion—Findings from Protocol-Based Subgroup Analyses

“…Minimisation [ 29 ] was used to assign schools to the treatment versus control condition. Allocation was undertaken using the MinimPy software developed by Saghaei and Saghaei [ 30 ] based on balancing factors previously identified in other research as being associated with an increased likelihood of exclusion: free school meal eligibility, special educational need (SEN) status, school size and school composition (mixed vs. single sex), and teacher reported baseline behaviour problems [ 4 ]. This process was selected as it offers several advantages over pure random allocation, some have even argued it is the “platinum standard” for randomisation [ 31 ].…”

“…Thus, the minimisation algorithm is a flexible allocation method in which the allocation of each subject (e.g. individual or school) is influenced by the existing overall balance of allocated subjects [ 4 ]. One consequence of focusing on balance is that minimisation can lead to unequal sample sizes in treatment allocation arms.…”

“…LEIP is a cluster-randomised controlled trial involving 36 London secondary schools. EiE-L aimed to reduce fixed-term school exclusions by targeting the interpersonal communication and broader social skills of young people identified by teachers as being most at risk of being excluded (see published study protocol, [ 4 ]). Intent-to-treat analyses of treatment main effects revealed that young people in treatment schools self-reported a higher occurrence of school exclusions than those in the control schools.…”

“…The intervention consisted of weekly group and one-to-one sessions delivered to young people in Years 9 and 10. Young people in control schools received a one-off hour-long employability skills workshop [ 4 ].…”

“…In this paper we examine whether EiE-L resulted in differential effects on young people based on pre-specified treatment and individual characteristics [ 4 ]. Our analyses focused on the potential moderating effects that these characteristics may have on the link between EiE-L and our primary outcome of fixed-term school exclusion.…”