Promoting quality and equity in socially disadvantaged schools: A group- randomisation study

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThis study investigates the impact of the Dynamic Approach to School Improvement (DASI) on promoting quality and equity. Forty primary schools in socially disadvantaged areas were randomly split into two groups. The control group was supported to develop action plans, whereas the experimental group used DASI. To investigate the impact of DASI on quality, student achievement gains in mathematics were measured. Using multilevel analyses the experimental schools managed to promote student achievement more than schools of the control group. To investigate the impact of DASI on equity, the impact of the socioeconomic status (SES) on student achievement was measured. The effect of SES was reduced only in the experimental schools. Implications for research, policy and practice are drawn.

Searching for differential teacher and school effectiveness in terms of student socioeconomic status and gender: implications for promoting equity

“…So far, researchers in the field of EER have made use of studies searching for differential effectiveness to identify whether specific factors can be treated as generic or whether they have differential effects (see Kyriakides, 2007). By reanalysing these two effectiveness studies Kyriakides & Creemers, 2009), we argue that studies on differential teacher and school effectiveness can address issues about the relation between quality and equity and may contribute to designing school-based interventions aiming to promote both dimensions of effectiveness (Charalambous et al, 2018).…”

Examining the Factors Affecting the School Engagement of At-risk Students Attending Disadvantaged Schools

“…Coleman Raporu gibi önemli araştırmalarca da vurgulandığı üzere, aile ve toplumun yüksek eğitim ve gelişmişlik düzeyi, öğrenci başarısında okulun etkisini azaltırken, toplumsal gelişmişlikteki düşüş öğrenciler üzerinde okul etkisini artırmaktadır (Coleman vd., 1966;Heyneman ve Loxley, 1983). Benzer şekilde, sosyoekonomik dezavantajların öğrenciler üzerindeki etkilerinin okul içi uygulamalarla azaltılabildiğini gösteren bulgular (Charalambous, Kyriakides ve Creemers, 2018;Strand, 2014), bu konuda okul düzeyindeki politika ve uygulama alanının önemini göstermektedir. Yine araştırmalar, ilköğretimden ortaöğretime doğru ilerledikçe yani sınıf düzeyi yükseldikçe, öğrencilerin okul bağlılıklarının azaldığını ortaya koymaktadır (Bellici, 2015;Finn, 1993).…”

Improving quality and equity in schools in socially disadvantaged areas

“…In addition, recent effectiveness studies aim to determine whether effective schools can reduce the initial differences observed in student outcomes which can be attributed to student background factors that are unlikely to change (e.g. Charalambous, Kyriakides, and Creemers 2018;Kyriakides, Creemers, and Charalambous 2018b).…”

“…This, however, implies that the 'one-size-fits-all' approach is not effective in addressing issues of equity in education. Instead of providing the same learning opportunities to all students, it is argued that schools should provide increased learning opportunities to students who do not come from favourable backgrounds, so as to compensate for the original injustices these students may face (Charalambous, Kyriakides, and Creemers 2018;Kelly and Downey 2010). Accordingly, this type of positive discrimination is not only considered by some as acceptable, but, in fact, essential to promote equity actively in schools, especially against the backdrop of international research evidence identifying relationships between student performance and socio-economic status.…”